IntellIgence
New $50M GE and StandardAero Engine Icing Test Center Opens
At the ribbon cutting for the new GE and StandardAero Icing Test Facility are, from left to right: Daniel Verreault, GE Aviation, international sales; Rob Mionis, StandardAero president; Manitoba, Canada Premier Greg Selinger; Kevin Kanter, GE Aviation; Barry Rempel, president, Winnipeg Airport Authority. Upper left shows icing production.
GE Aviation and StandardAero opened their new $50 million aircraft engine testing, research and development center (TRDC) in Winnipeg. A ribbon cutting ceremony capped off a 12-month developmental partnership launched in February 2011 between the two companies. The new center will perform icing certification testing on GE’s jet engines, as well as develop advanced testing methodologies and equipment for GE Aviation’s commercial and military aircraft engines. A key to locating the facility was the favorable icing testing temperatures in the Winnipeg area. The 122,500 square foot facility, located at the James A. Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a partnership between GE and StandardAero. Under the 10-year contractual agreement, GE designed and built the new facility and StandardAero will maintain and operate the certification test center which was designed to test gas turbine engines up to 150 inches in diameter and up to 150,000 lbs of thrust, as well as capabilities to accommodate high performance military engines. Construction for the facility began in June of 2010 and a mere eight months later
the facility is being opened. Some equipment was moved from a GE Mirabel, Canada facility with the agreement stipulating the new test cell be ready and fully operational for the 2011- 2012 icing season. ”GE Aviation is in the midst of record new engine product development programs,” explained Kevin Kanter, engineering executive of GE Aviation’s Design & Integration Systems Engineering. “The new icing testing, research and development center will expand GE’s testing capacity and allow us to meet our commitments to customers.” “Today’s event marks a significant milestone in the partnership between StandardAero and GE,” said Rob Mionis, president & CEO, StandardAero. “We’ve enjoyed a long standing relationship in the MRO of the GE CF34 engine and just over two years ago stepped up to the large fan market by becoming a GE-Designated Fulfillment Center for CFM56- 7B engine. And now today, with the dedication of this new engine testing and R&D facility, we have become a key GE support partner in the testing and maintenance of their line of future, state-of-the-art, fuel efficient engines.”
6 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | February / March 2012
The icing cloud production capability was demonstrated at the ceremony (see image). The facility utilizes a state-of-the-art noise
reduction system with 50-foot high noise attenuation walls, 16-foot diameter augmentor tube, and 51 foot high exhaust stack. In addition, the facility incorporates a translating wind tunnel to enable future expansion of the facility for year-round testing in other areas, such as performance and endurance testing, ice crystal and mixed phase testing. Other advantages to the Winnipeg Airport location include a highly secured location as well as immediate proximity to StandardAero and a skilled workforce heavily involved and familiar with GE engine testing and test cell design. The center will initially employ 8-10
StandardAero employees. Although the test facility’s focus will be icing testing, GE and StandardAero say they hope to use the facility throughout the year for other testing such as bird injestion tests. FAA approvals were completed the following week and the first engine on the stand was to be in place the week of Feb. 12, according to GE.— By Joy Finnegan
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