Videos: GE talks engines at Oshkosh aviation show

GE Aviation is renown for its massive engines powering jetliners around the world. But as we described in our story on Monday, that expertise is also fueling advances in smaller turboprop and jet engines. Today we take off with behind the scenes flip-cam videos shot by GE’s Matt Benvie at the Oshkosh Air Show. After a closer view of GE’s two smaller engine types on display, we’ll do some star gazing with a look at some of the big attractions at the show — Sir Richard Branson’s space-bound plane for civilians and the arrival of the towering, double-decker Airbus A380, which is powered by engines from a GE joint venture. From there, it’s off to the United Kingdom, where we land at GE’s advanced engine test facility, which is one of only a few sites in the world that has the capability to service the new Airbus A380 engines. Then it’s a round-trip ticket back to Oshkosh, where Matt ends our marathon matinee of video clips with a music video — shot in Oshkosh style, of course.

Ready for inspection: Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, at far right, toured GE Aviation’s engine test facility in South Wales, U.K. with site Managing Director Alan Kelly, far left. Lord Mandelson has described the need for a ‘re-industrialization’ of Britain — and has singled out the type of high tech manufacturing excellence that is found at GE’s Nantgarw facility, which is one of the most advanced in the world — as being what will drive growth in Wales and the U.K. for years to come.

The video below shows the new six-passenger HondaJet and the GE Honda HF120 engine that will power it. In 2004, GE and Honda formed a 50/50 joint venture, called GE Honda Aero Engines, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Matt then took a few minutes to sit down with Jody Bays, vice president of Thrush Aircraft, and Corey Gillard, vice president of Smyrna Air. Both give a quick overview of their aircraft and share their thoughts on how GE’s Walter engines, which are made for smaller planes, will improve upon performance and reliability.

In the video below, Matt takes a look at Virgin Atlantic’s WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), which is also known as the mothership Eve. Matt nudged his way to the front of the fawning crowd to watch Sir Richard Branson’s press briefing, where he announced plans to build a spaceport in Abu Dhabi. The WhiteKnight is the largest all-composite aircraft ever built. If all goes well, it will be the first commercial aircraft to carry civilians into outer space.

Matt then caught the arrival of the giant Airbus A380 at the Oshkosh Air Show. People lined up by the thousands to watch the fly-over and landing of the plane, which is powered by GP7200 engines that are made by Engine Alliance, a 50/50 joint venture of GE and Pratt & Whitney.

While small engines and concept planes grabbed the spotlight in Oshkosh, halfway around the world, GE’s giant jet engines were the focus when Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and one of the most senior Cabinet members in the UK, toured GE Aviation’s engine test facility in South Wales recently. The GE site at Nantgarw, which is about eight miles from the centre of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is regarded as a showcase example of a high tech industrial facility in the U.K. The visit was especially noteworthy as there is currently much discussion in the U.K. about how the country needs to rebalance its economy to rely less on financial services and more on high technology industry.

The GE site at Nantgarw, which has 1.2 million sq. ft of workshop space and employs a workforce of approximately 950 people, offers overhaul, repair and maintenance services on a range of engine product types and associated components. This includes the complete range of CFM56 engines (the world’s most popular aircraft engine), the GE90 (the world’s most powerful aircraft engine) and the GP7000 (the engine that powers the new Airbus A380). It takes between 45-80 days for an engine to be completely overhauled depending on the size and scope of the project and the company handles about 350 engines in a year.

In the video below, site Managing Director Alan Kelly describes the visit.

And if you made it this far, below is a sample of the other side of the Oshkosh Air Show — Jerry’s One Man Band!

* Read GE Reports’ coverage of the Oshkosh Air Show
* Read “GE Wins First Turboprop Offering to Compete With Pratt Engine” from Bloomberg News
* Read the announcement about Thrush
* Read the GE-Thrush story in Aviation Week
* Read GE’s announcement about the Power 90 engine for King Air 90 aircraft
* Read the GE Honda HF120 engine announcement
* Read “GE lands $8 billion in orders at Paris Air Show”
* Read “GE and NASA to test open rotor jet engine”