Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft engines in operation

January 20, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: We have now covered the technology around airliner turbofans. Now it’s time for the real stuff: their operational life. Most decisions that an engine designer does is about how the engine shall function in practice. To understand… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: Turbofan developments in 2017

January 06, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: Before we finish of our series on airliner turbofan technology, let’s spend this Corner on what will happen on the airliner engine front during 2017. While there is no totally new engine that… Read More

2017: the year ahead

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 3, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The New Year is here and it doesn’t look like a good one for commercial aerospace, if measured against previous outstanding years. There are some troubling signs ahead, piling… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner; Turbofan engine challenges, Part 7

December 16, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: After the turbine comes the engine’s exhaust system. This is where the thrust characteristics of the engine are formed. It is also the environment that defines the back pressure for the fan and… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner; Turbofan engine challenges; Part 6

December 08, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: We have now come to the turbine in our trip through a modern turbofan.  The turbines make up the rear of the engine, before the propelling nozzle. The turbines are the workhorses in… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: Turbofan engine challenges, Part 5

By Bjorn Fehrm December 02, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: We will now look at the combustor area in our series on modern turbofan engines. There is a lot of activity in this area, as it sets the level of… Read More

The Boom SST engine problem, Part 2

By Bjorn Fehrm Subscription required Introduction December 01, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: Boom Technology and Virgin Atlantic plan to offer supersonic business class passenger traffic over the Atlantic. We covered the number of challenges that this poses in recent… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: Turbofan engine challenges, Part 4

  November 18, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: In our series on modern turbofan airliner engines, we will now go deeper into the compressor part. Last week, we covered the fundamentals of compressors. As compressors and turbines use the same… Read More

Bjorn’s corner; Turbofan engine challenges; Part 2

November 04, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: We will now start to go through a modern turbofan airliner engine and look at the technologies which are used and what are their technical challenges. We will start today with the engine… Read More

Engine industry clamoring for road back

By Bjorn Fehrm Subscription required. Introduction October 13, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: The airline engine industry is like a ticking bomb. Over the years, a business practice of selling the engines under manufacturing cost and planning to recover… Read More