It was 50 years ago that the CF6 engine ‘thrust’
GE Aviation into the commercial aviation business when it entered service installed on the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10. Today, the company is celebrating five decades of revenue service for what has become its most successful widebody commercial aircraft engine programme with more than 8,500 CF6 engines delivered to date.
By basing the design of the CF6 on the TF39, GE Aviation’s first high-bypass turbofan, it brought to the civil aviation market a higher-thrust engine option with lower fuel consumption than other available powerplants at the time. Over the years, the CF6 engine family grew to include five models — the CF6-6 (the original variant), CF6-50, CF6-80A, CF6-80C2 and CF6-80E1.
Powering 10 ‘aircraft applications’ — including the Boeing 767 and 747, the Airbus A330 and the Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy, among others — the CF6 engine family has accumulated more than 460 million engine flight hours since 1971.
The CF6 engine continues to be a workhorse for the commercial aviation sector, including powering air cargo operations on passenger aircraft converted to freighters, as well as dedicated freighter airplanes. Various CF6 engine types power more than 65% of the world’s wide-body planes dedicated to hauling cargo.
Mike Kauffman, general manager of the CF6 engine programme for GE Aviation, said: “GE Aviation’s commercial jet engines business is built on the foundation laid by the CF6 engine, which established our expertise with high-bypass turbofans for commercial airliners, new partnerships on engine programmes, and the importance of product stability and reliability. New CF6-80C2 engines continue to be produced.”
Safran Aircraft Engines, MTU Aero Engines, and GKN Aerospace are participants in the CF6 engine programme.