CFM International has successfully completed all certification testing and has submitted all 107 required reports to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the French Direction Gnrale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC) in anticipation of joint CFM56-7 engine certification by year-end. The CFM56-7-powered Boeing 737-700 is on schedule for its flight test program and certification in 1997.
CFM International is a 50/50 joint company of Snecma (Safran Group) of France and General Electric of the United States.
CFM56-7 compliance engines were delivered to Boeing Commercial Airplane Group in October and have been installed on the 737-700 in preparation for first flight in February 1997. Launch customer Southwest Airlines will take delivery of the first aircraft next October. The CFM56-powered 737-800 will enter service in March 1998, while the 737-600 begins delivery in August of that year.
To date, the CFM56-7 has completed more than 2,300 hours of testing, including ground tests and a 100-hour flight test program on GE's modified 747 flying testbed, in preparation for 737-700 flight tests. Overall, the engine will have accumulated more than 3,600 hours by the time the aircraft makes its first flight.
Major certification tests included, among others, ingestion tests (water, hail, ice, and bird), engine blade-out, and the 750 "C" cycle and 150-hour block tests. In all areas, the CFM56-7 met or exceeded pre-test predictions.
Since the CFM56-7-powered 737 program was launched in 1993, it has become the fastest selling engine/aircraft combination in history. Firm orders now stand at 501 aircraft.