GE Audio & Video: Podcasts, Stream GE, On Demand
skip to main contentskip to secondary navigationClick on any phrase to jump to that point in the video.
[[Narrator] It's an important milestone on the road to an airplane's first flight,]
[but you don't just press the start button.]
[There's a host of checks beforehand.]
[[Melvin Prince, Boeing Flight Line Manager] Everything is done step-by-step]
[according to the test procedures.]
[We perform one activity of the test, and then we go to the next.]
[>> And you want to be extra careful when you're dealing with a new generation engine,]
[designed for a brand new airplane.]
[[pilot talking] [engine starting]]
[On Monday, Boeing conducted test runs on the first General Electric GEnx engines]
[[engine running] [pilot talking]]
[[Ron Stephens, Boeing 787 Propulsion] It's usually one of the last tests that we run]
[to make sure that all of the airplane systems are working.]
[We verify that the propulsion system, starts and motor, ]
[provides all of the cockpit displays, and shuts down properly.]
[[Narrator] This test comes after years of research and development by Boeing and GE.]
[Like the 787, the GEnx takes the use of composites to a new level.]
[Both the fan blades and fan casing are made with the strong and durable,]
[It's a major reason why the GEnx will burn much less fuel and be quieter and cleaner]
[and easier to maintain than its predecessor.]
[All the while, the engine will still churn out more than 60,000 pounds of thrust.]
[Throughout the test, engineers onboard the plane monitored the performance data ]
[as the engine operated at different power settings.]
[After running for more than an hour, Boeing and GE engineers say ]
[initial results show the GEnx performed just as expected.]
[Now they'll study the data some more.]
[>> We go back and we actually debrief the team, and we analyze each portion of the test]
[to insure that we have met the requirements set up by engineering.]
[>> As for the airplane, the fifth 787 Dreamliner, it will undergo further ground tests]
