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Homeward Bound: CF34-10 Assembly Comes Home to Durham

September 11, 2020 | by Deb Case
The CF34-10 engine assembly has come full circle, returning to its Durham, North Carolina roots.

“The CF34-10E engine was assembled in GE Aviation’s Durham facility for the first six years of its production,” explained Cristina Seda-Hoelle, General Manager, Regional Engines and Services, which includes CF34 and Passport. “In 2011, engine production moved to our Celma site to be closer to Embraer, which installed the engines on its E190/195 aircraft. The Celma team assembled more than 400 engines until the engine line returned to North Carolina several months ago where the final units will be produced.”

The CF34-10E engine team at GE Aviation’s Durham facility.



The CF34-10A engine production has also returned to its original home in Durham, with the first engine shipping out late last month to GE Aviation’s Peebles, Ohio, for production testing. The engine went into service five years ago on COMAC’s ARJ21 aircraft.

The CF34-10 engine has many unique features, including a wide-chord fan for higher thrust and high tolerance to foreign object damage; 3-D aerodynamic design airfoils in the high-pressure compressor for highly efficient, stall-free operation, as well as better fuel burn and higher exhaust gas temperature margins; a highly durable single annular, low-emissions combustor that meets or surpasses the most stringent emissions standards; and a single-stage high-pressure turbine for lower operating cost.

Beyond the CF34-10A and E models, Durham is also prepared if called upon for production of the CF34-10B, one of the offerings that GE Aviation proposed to the United States Air Force for re-engining of its iconic B-52 Stratofortress. GE submitted two proposals to the Air Force: the CF-34-10B and GE’s Passport engine. Both are made in the USA.

More than 1,600 CF34-10 engines are in service and have accumulated more than 30 million flight hours.

A Durham assembly team member works on the first CF34-10 at Durham since 2011.

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GE Aerospace is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft.