GE Aerospace

Early efforts

General Electric had a long history in steam turbine work, dating back to the 1900s. In 1903 they hired Sanford Alexander Moss, who started the development of turbosuperchargers at GE. This led to a series of record-breaking flights over the next ten years. At first, the role of the high-altitude flight was limited, but in the years immediately prior to WWII they became standard equipment on practically all military aircraft. GE was a world leader in this technology; most other firms concentrated on the mechanically simpler supercharger driven by the engine itself, while GE had spent considerable effort developing the exhaust-driven turbo system that offered higher performance.

This work made them the natural industrial partner to develop jet engines when Frank Whittle's W.1 engine was demonstrated to U.S. Army General Hap Arnold in 1941. A production license was arranged in September, and several of the existing W.1 test engines shipped to the US for study, where they were converted to US manufacture as the I-A. GE quickly started production of improved versions; the I-16 (J31) was produced in limited numbers starting in 1942, and the much more powerful I-40 (J33) followed in 1944, which went on to power the first US combat-capable jet fighters, the P-80 Shooting Star.

Early jet engine work took place at Lynn, as well as GE's Syracuse, New York steam turbine plant, but soon concentrated at the former. On 31 July 1945 the Lynn plant became the Aircraft Gas Turbine Division. GE was repeatedly unable to deliver enough engines for Army and Navy demand, and production of the I-40 (now known as the J33) was also handed to Allison Engines in 1944. After the war ended, the Army canceled its orders for GE-built J33s and turned the entire production over to Allison, and the Syracuse plant closed.

Military and civilian expansion

These changes in fortune led to debate within the company about carrying on in the aircraft engine market. However, the engineers at Lynn pressed ahead with the development of a new engine, the TG-180, which was designated J35 by the US military.

Development funds were allotted in 1946 for a more powerful version of the same design, the TG-190. This engine finally emerged as the famed General Electric J47, which saw a great demand for several military aircraft; a second manufacturing facility in Lockland, Ohio, near Cincinnati, was opened. A strike in June 1952 exacerbated an existing delay in the production of J47s. Changes discovered as a result of flight testing had already resulted in new F-86s being parked due to a lack of engines. After negotiations failed, an additional strike began in March 1953 and lasted until May. J47 production ran to 30,000 engines by the time the lines closed down in 1956. Further development of the J47 by led to the J73, and from there into the much more powerful J79. The J79 was GE's second "hit", leading to a production run of 17,000 in several different countries. The GE and Lockheed team that developed the J79 and the F-104 Mach 2 fighter aircraft received the 1958 Collier Trophy for outstanding technical achievement in aviation. Other successes followed, including the T58 and T64 turboshaft engines, the J85 turbojet, and F404 turbofan. The Aircraft Gas Turbine Division was renamed the Flight Propulsion Division in May 1959.

Starting in 1961, General Electric started one of their most important research and development efforts, the GE1 technology demonstrator (originally designated the X101). The GE1 was a basic gas generator (compressor, combustor and turbine) onto which a variety of components such as fans, afterburners or other thrust vectoring devices could be added later. The design incorporated technologies such as a scaled compressor with variable stator vanes, an annular combustor, turbine-cooling advancements, and new materials for several government research programs. The US Government initially supported development of the GE1 to produce the J97 engine. The GE1 design and technology helped General Electric produce a range of engines, including the GE1/6 turbofan demonstrator for the TF39 engine the GE4 for the Boeing 2707 supersonic airliner, and the GE9 engine for the USAF's Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft, later GE F101 engines for the B-1 bomber. The General Electric F101 was later developed into the General Electric F110 and CFM International CFM56 engines.

The TF39 was the first high-bypass turbofan engine to enter production. Entered into the C-5 Galaxy contest in 1964 against similar designs from Curtiss-Wright and Pratt & Whitney, GE's entry was selected as the winner during the final down-select in 1965. This led to a civilian model, the CF6, which was offered for the Lockheed L-1011 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 projects.