GE Aviation has completed all engine certification testing, including design assurance, development, operability and environmental tests, for its new H80 turboprop engines. The development program consisted of more than 25 full or partial engine builds, with testing that included low-cycle fatigue, hot section endurance, operability, component and endurance testing. The H80 engine will be GE’s first engine to be developed and manufactured outside the US and its first engine to receive European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification before the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification.
“The H80 engine has performed extremely well in ground certification testing at GE’s Prague facility in the Czech Republic. GE Aviation has accumulated more than 800 ground test hours and more than 10,000 cycles on the development engines,” said Paul Theofan, president and managing executive of GE Aviation’s Business & General Aviation Turboprops. “Flight testing continues on the Thrush 510G aircraft, and we look forward to entry into service in the coming months.”