FabSwingers.com forum: rolls royce

By *ostafun OP Man
over a year ago

near ipswich

Seems they have flown a test flight with 100% sustainable fuel with their Trent 1000 engine.They want all their Trent family engines to be compatible with 100% blended SAFs by 2023.The green revolution marches on.

By *ercuryMan
over a year ago

Grantham

They have been ground testing this for six months now but great to see a flight take place. Was only one engine on a four engined 747, but everything went to plan.

Current aviation rules only allow for 50% of a plane's engines to use SAF but progress is being made.

By *ostafun OP Man
over a year ago

near ipswich

"They have been ground testing this for six months now but great to see a flight take place. Was only one engine on a four engined 747, but everything went to plan.

Current aviation rules only allow for 50% of a plane's engines to use SAF but progress is being made. "
The way i read it was that they only used the one engine for the 3 odd hour flight but had to put it on a 4 engine plane as the other 3 were backup for safety reasons.

By *ercuryMan
over a year ago

Grantham

"They have been ground testing this for six months now but great to see a flight take place. Was only one engine on a four engined 747, but everything went to plan.

Current aviation rules only allow for 50% of a plane's engines to use SAF but progress is being made. The way i read it was that they only used the one engine for the 3 odd hour flight but had to put it on a 4 engine plane as the other 3 were backup for safety reasons."

Exactly that. Expect them to move to two engine SAF very soon.

By *V-AliceTV/TS
over a year ago

Ayr

"They have been ground testing this for six months now but great to see a flight take place. Was only one engine on a four engined 747, but everything went to plan.

Current aviation rules only allow for 50% of a plane's engines to use SAF but progress is being made. "

It is, indeed, good news. However, it's not going to have any major impact for years - for a few reasons.

1. SAF is still a good bit more expensive than kerosene - because it's not as easily available.

2. A new industry supplying SAF in the volume the oil industry supplies kerosene is going to have to be built up.

3. Rolls Royce only manufacture 30% of the jet engines used in wide bodied passenger aircraft.

4. If RR don't share the technology - even via licence deals - with the world's other major jet engine manufacturers; not enough SAF engines will be sold, worldwide, to make them worth the bother.

Thankfully, none of these things is a bar to further progress being made - but they do have to be thought about.