LE BOURGET June 16, 2003 The U.S. Navy has set a new military record for engine time on wing with a CFM56-2A engine that has logged more than 15,000 flight hours without a single shop visit.
The CFM56-2A is produced by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma Moteurs (Safran Group) of France and General Electric Company.
The new record was set by a CFM56-2A engine powering an E-6 aircraft in service with the Navy's TACAMO (Take Charge and Move Out) unit based at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In addition to the record-setting engine, seven additional engines in this fleet have reached 14,000 hours without a shop visit, and a total of 45 engines have surpassed the 10,000-hour milestone without a single removal.
To put this achievement into layman's terms, imagine driving the same car for 500 years with nothing more than oil changes and new spark plugs. The Navy has referred to the CFM56 engine, which is the only engine in U.S. military service to achieve more than 10,000 hours without a shop visit, as "arguably the most reliable engine in the history of aviation."
"This is a terrific example of the teamwork between the Navy, Boeing, and CFM," said Al DiLibero, general manager of CFM Military Programs. "We at CFM salute the hard work and positive attitude of every single military and civilian person attached to this program. It's testament to the great work of the men and women of TACAMO and the reliability and technology of the CFM56 engine."
The 24,000-pound-thrust CFM56-2A entered service on E-6 aircraft in 1990, and the fleet has logged approximately 803,000 hours and 264,000 cycles to date. The fleet has experienced only one engine removal since July 1996, and no in-flight shutdowns.
For military applications, the CFM56-2 has provided outstanding benefits to its customers, including: lower fuel burn for longer range, increased time on station, and increased payload; dramatically improved reliability; lower noise and emissions levels; and reduced field-length takeoff and/or higher gross weight operation from high, hot airfields.