Nexcelle delivers first major nacelle component for GE Aviation’s Passport Business Jet engine

The Nexcelle joint venture of Aircelle (Safran) and GE Aviation’s Middle River Aircraft Systems – which is building engine nacelles for the next generation of integrated propulsion systems – has marked a key program milestone by shipping its initial major production component: the no. 1 inlet for GE Aviation’s Passport business jet engine. This represents a double achievement, as the initial Passport inlet also is the first element to be completed at the new GE Composites factory in Ellisville, Mississippi, which was inaugurated earlier this year as GE Aviation’s latest U.S. production facility. The milestone Nexcelle air inlet was transported from Ellisville to GE Aviation’s Peebles Test Operation in Ohio, where it will be integrated with a Passport engine for propulsion system icing testing in Canada. Nexcelle is responsible for designing, developing and producing the nacelle for GE’s Passport engine, with GE Aviation’s Middle River Aircraft Systems responsible for the Passport’s inlet and fan cowl, while Aircelle is producing the target-type thrust reverser.