Rolls-Royce has successfully kicked off the flight test campaign for its latest aero engine for the business aviation market, the Pearl 10X, on the company’s dedicated Boeing 747 flying testbed. The engine has been selected by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault to exclusively power its brand-new flagship aircraft, the Falcon 10X.
The start of flight testing is an important milestone for the Pearl 10X programme and for Rolls-Royce as it focuses on growing in the business aviation market, as outlined at last year’s Capital Markets Day. The Pearl 10X is the newest member of the state-of-the-art Pearl engine family and the first Rolls-Royce engine ever to power a Dassault business jet. The French aircraft manufacturer’s selection of the Pearl 10X for its new top product is further evidence of Rolls-Royce’s position as a leading engine manufacturer in business aviation.
Based in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A., pilots and flight test engineers will put the engine through its paces over the coming months. The flight test programme will include engine performance and handling checks at various speeds and altitudes, inflight relights, tests of the nacelle’s anti-icing system and fan vibration tests at various altitudes.
So far, the development programme on the ground has included the rigorous testing of the new ultra-low-emissions ALM combustor, which is compatible with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the new accessory gearbox, which allows for higher additional power extraction. The engine, which surpassed its target thrust levels on the very first test run, will be the most powerful business aviation engine in the Rolls-Royce portfolio.
The programme is advancing at pace and has successfully accumulated more than 2,300 testing hours, both on the Advance 2 demonstrator and the Pearl 10X engine configuration.
