Textron Aviation expects the first flight of its Cessna Denali turboprop single later this year now that GE Aviation has announced another milestone in its Catalyst engine development program. GE said its European flight-test engineering team has now fired up a Catalyst engine hung on a Beech-craft King Air 350 flying testbed in preparation for ground testing. The clean-sheet Catalyst will power the Denali. "The engine started flawlessly on the first attempt," said Catalyst product line leader David Kimball. "It reached ground idle in a stable and predictable manner without any intervention, and the fully integrated engine and prop control system worked seamlessly. This not only demonstrates progress within the program but also showcases the versatility of this engine; the Catalyst can be installed in a wide spectrum of aircraft applications with vastly different technical architectures."
展开▼
