Rolls-Royce kicks off Pearl 10X serial production
Propulsion specialist closing in on certification for newest member of business jet engine family that powers Dassault Falcon 10X.
Rolls-Royce has begun series production of the Pearl 10X engines for the Dassault Falcon 10X in support of the French airframer’s newest jet.
Serial production of the latest Pearl-family variant – a critical milestone for the programme – is taking place at the propulsion specialist’s Dalhewitz site near Berlin in Germany that serves as its centre of excellence for business aviation.
In parallel, Rolls-Royce is in the final stages of its certification campaign for the powerplant.
All certification tests are now complete, it says, with the final reports being prepared for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Additionally, four Pearl 10X engines are now supporting Dassault’s Falcon 10X flight-test campaign.
The first Falcon 10X prototype performed its maiden sortie on 19 June, followed by a sister aircraft on 24 September.
“We are receiving great feedback on the performance of the engines,” the manufacturer states.
To date, the Pearl 10X has accumulated 250 flight hours, including on the company’s now-retired Boeing 747-200 flying testbed. In all, Rolls-Royce has amassed some 5,000 testing hours on both the Pearl 10X and the Advance2 demonstrator on which it is based.
Rolls-Royce has still to reveal the exact thrust rating of the Pearl 10X, saying little other than it produces in excess of 18,250lbf (81kN).
Meanwhile, the most recent Pearl engine to enter service, the Pearl 700 for the Gulfstream G700 and G800, continues to showcase its maturity.
Rolls-Royce says there are more than 300 Pearl 700 engines in service, compared to a little over 140 a year ago, collectively racking up in excess of 162,000 engine flight hours; the fleet leader is already at more than 1,000 cycles, it notes.
Growing Global reach
Comparatively, there are now in the region of 400 Pearl 15 engines in service powering a fleet of around 200 Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500 jets.
Included in that total are a growing number of the aircraft being used for military surveillance missions, including Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control platform.
In support of the fleet, Rolls-Royce is continuing to roll out an engine health monitoring system for the Pearl 15 in collaboration with Bombardier.
This combines Rolls-Royce’s new engine vibration & health monitoring unit with Bombardier’s Smart Link Plus box – which collects, stores and transmits data – enabling access to approximately 10,000 engine performance and health parameters for predictive maintenance.
Dr Dirk Geisinger, director business aviation, Rolls-Royce, says: “Business aviation continues to show strong momentum, and Rolls-Royce is well positioned to capture that growth. Our transformation has made us a stronger and more resilient company, giving us the financial capacity to keep investing in this strategic growth market.
“Combined with the success of our Pearl engine family, an expanding service infrastructure and our continued investment in digital technologies, this positions us strongly for the future and enables us to create even greater value for our customers.”
Elsewhere, Rolls-Royce has further extended its CorporateCare Enhanced service, introducing new coverage and benefits.
“The latest enhancements are designed to reduce customers’ exposure to unexpected costs, operational complexity, and the administrative burden of managing their Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft,” the engine maker states.
Additional benefits include extra protection against minor foreign object damage, expanded life-limited parts coverage, and access to nacelle painting services among others.
CorporateCare Enhanced is Rolls-Royce’s comprehensive, fixed-cost-per flying-hour engine maintenance management programme for business aviation customers. The enhanced service is standard for all new CorporateCare customers and is also available as an upgrade to eligible existing contracts.
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