Rolls-Royce has got to grips with a long-running engine problem and enjoyed a strong end to 2019, leaving it well placed to cope with any disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Friday.

Rolls-Royce has got to grips with a long-running engine problem and enjoyed a strong end to 2019, leaving it well placed to cope with any disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Friday.

Shares in the British engines maker jumped as much as 6.6%, one of the few increases among European blue-chips, as the upbeat tone contrasted with the gloom gripping many other companies - including Rolls’ airline customers - about the potential for coronavirus to trigger a global recession.

Rolls has been battling to improve the durability of its Trent 1000 engine, which powers Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, with the blades in the TEN variant proving particularly problematic.

Airlines have had to ground the aircraft for repairs.

However, Chief Executive Warren East said on Friday the roll-out of fixes was progressing and he had increased confidence in a new blade design due next year. The number of aircraft on the ground for repair would fall to a single-digit by end of the second quarter, in line with forecasts, he said.

Rolls-Royce BR725 engine tops one million flying hours

The Rolls-Royce BR725 engine recently achieved another impressive milestone by reaching one million flying hours. The engine, powering Gulfstream’s highly successful ultra-long-range G650™ business aircraft family, has established a reputation for excellent reliability, efficiency and speed, combined with outstanding environmental performance.

The performance of the BR725 enabled the Gulfstream G650ER™ and its sister aircraft G650 to revolutionise the business aviation market, flying faster and further than any other ultra-long-range corporate aircraft before. Since entry into service in 2012, the aircraft has achieved more than 100 city pair records, among those the farthest fastest flight in business aviation history from Singapore to Tucson, Arizona. There are more than 800 BR725 engines in service today, with many of these supported by Rolls-Royce’s market leading CorporateCare® and CorporateCare Enhanced.

Island-hopping on batteries.........the story of Project Fresson

In the still-emerging world of aviation electrification, learning is good, whether that be pure research, learning by doing, or involvements in projects that rapidly go into service.

For Rolls-Royce, Project Fresson combines all three elements and adds to its already established position as an electrification pioneer.

The programme, run by Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, involves the design, manufacture and integrate a hybrid-electric propulsion system into a 9-seat Britten-Norman (B-N) Islander aircraft, which is typically used on short flights such as island-hopping routes in Scotland, with the Orkney Islands one particular example.

The ultimate goal is to deliver the first commercial passenger-carrying all-electric aircraft service in the UK, marking a significant breakthrough for all-electric propulsion. Conventional engines will still be available for the aircraft’s longer-range flights.

Project Fresson is expected to take two and a half years, with a fully developed prototype taking to the skies by mid-2022, making it the first fully electric passenger-carrying plane in the UK and one of only a small number being developed across the world.

Rolls-Royce RR300 engine tops one million flight hours in Robinson R66

The Rolls-Royce RR300 engine has moved past the one million flight hour milestone, providing Robinson R66 helicopter operators nearly a decade of reliable service.

The R66 and the RR300 engine were jointly announced in 2007 by the iconic Frank Robinson and Rolls-Royce, and the helicopter was certified into service in 2010. Since that time, Robinson’s first gas-turbine powered helicopter has proven itself in dependable service around the world, with a growing fleet of nearly 1,000 helicopters delivered.

Virgin to keep the A340 flying for longer.

A lack of spares for Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that power the Boeing 787's have meant that Virgin Atlantic has been forced to defer its planned retirement of the four-engined wonder - the Airbus A340.

According to FlightGlobal a Norwegian Boeing 787 suffered an uncontained engine failure in Italy in August, which lead to a number of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines being pulled out of the rotating pool and thus caused a shortage of powerplants and parts.

Rolls-Royce delivery Pearl 15 engines to Bombardier

This week Rolls-Royce has confirmed the first sets of its new Pearl 15 production standard engines were delivered to the Canadian transport and aerospace firm Bombardier which have now been fitted to the first Global 6500 aircraft. 

While Bombardier has started interior completion work on the first customer aircraft, the Rolls-Royce site in Dahlewitz, Germany, is ramping up the Pearl 15 production. Flight testing is on track to support the aircraft certification and a smooth entry into service later this year. 

Early inspection of Trent 1000 TEN engines agrees Rolls-Royce

Engine maker Rolls-Royce has reluctantly agreed to early inspections of some Trent 1000 TEN engines by regulatory authorities following the grounding of two Boeing 787-10's of Singapore Airlines after cracks were found the blades of the Rolls-Royce engines on those aircraft.

The Trent engines latest variants have been plagued with problems and issues which has seen many of the latest generations of Boeing 787 aircraft grounded. According to Rolls-Royce, by late February 35 787s had been grounded globally due to engine blades corroding or cracking prematurely.

Since the entry into service of the Trent 1000 TEN, the HPT blades in these engines have been found to have a far reduced life than previously expected or advised to Boeing and the airlines. As a result, the firm's engineers have already been developing, and are currently testing, an enhanced version of this blade. Rolls-Royce expects to start incorporating enhanced blades into the Trent 1000 TEN fleet in early 2020.