The CFM56 is a French-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines. The engines are assembled by GE in Evendale, Ohio, and by Safran in Villaroche, France. The first engines entered service in 1982. The engine was chosen to re-engine the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker fleet of the U.S. Air Force.
About CFM International CFM56 in brief
The CFM56 is a French-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines. The engines are assembled by GE in Evendale, Ohio, and by Safran in Villaroche, France. Despite initial export restrictions, it is the most common turb ofan aircraft engine in the world, in four major variants. The first engines entered service in 1982. Several fan blade failure incidents were experienced during theCFM56’s early service, including one failure that was a cause of the Kegworth air disaster, and some engine variants experienced problems caused by flight through rain and hail. The engine was chosen to re-engine the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker fleet of the U.S. Air Force – still its biggest customer. The company was faced with a dilemma when the United States Air Force announced its Advanced Medium STOL Transport project in 1972 which included funding for the development of a 10-ton engine. GE decided to apply for an export license for the F101 core technology in 1972 as primary contribution to the project. The United States Department of State’s Office of State Munitions recommended the application on national security grounds; specifically because the technology was an aspect of a strategic national defense system. The official decision was made in a National Security Decision Memorandum signed by National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on September 19, 1972. The project, and the export issue associated with it, was considered so important that French President Georges Pompidou appealed directly to U.
S. President Richard Nixon to approve the deal in 1971. The deal was made and Henry Kissinger brought the deal to fruition in September 1972, bringing the project to a successful conclusion. The program was saved when Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Flying Tigers chose the CFm56 to re -engine their DC-8s and shortly thereafter it was chosen as the engine of choice for the Air Force’s KC- 135 Stratotanka fleet. The engine has a thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 lbf. It is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran Aircraft Engines of France, and GE Aviation of the US. It has been in service since 1982 and is now one of the most popular engines in the commercial aviation market. It is the world’s most popular high-speed turbofans, with a thrust of up to 30,000 lbf. It was designed by CFM International, a joint venture between GE and Safran. The two companies saw mutual benefit in the collaboration and met several more times, fleshing out the basics of the joint project. GE was initially considering only contributing technology from its CF6 engine rather than its much more advanced F101 engine, developed for the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber. At the time, Pratt & Whitney dominated the commercial market. GE needed an engine in this market class, and Snecma had previous experience of working with them, collaborating on the production of the CF6-50 turbofAN for the Airbus A300.
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