Snecma Begins Silvercrest Core Engine Tests

French engine manufacturer Snecma recently started ground tests of the core engine demonstrator for its Silvercrest business aircraft turbofan. The $100 million core demonstration effort at the company’s Villaroche facilities near Paris is expected to pave the way for full-scale development. The 9,500- to 12,000-pound-thrust engine is targeted mainly at super-midsize to large business jets. Despite having lost to Rolls-Royce in the race to power Dassault’s still-under-wraps new Falcon, Snecma is thus moving forward, hoping to launch the program by the middle of next year. Engine certification is planned for early 2011, depending on the schedule of the applications found. The Silvercrest has a one-stage fan, five-stage high-pressure (HP) compressor, direct-flow combustor, one-stage HP turbine and three-stage low-pressure turbine. Snecma claims the Silvercrest engine will allow business aviation manufacturers and operators to reap benefits from the CFM56 commercial engines it produces with GE.