GE and StandardAero Announce Opening of New $50M Aircraft Engine Testing, Research and Development Centre in Winnipeg, Canada
1. GE and StandardAero Announce Opening of New $50M
Aircraft Engine Testing, Research and Development Centre
in Winnipeg, Canada
TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Aviation and StandardAero announced today the opening of
the new $50 million aircraft engine testing, research and development centre (TRDC) in Winnipeg.
The announcement caps off a 12-month developmental partnership launched in February 2011
between the two companies. The new centre will perform icing certification testing on GE's jet
engines, as well as develop advanced testing methodologies and equipment for GE Aviation's
commercial and military aircraft engines.
The 122,500 square foot facility, located at the James A. Richardson International Airport in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a partnership between GE and StandardAero. Under the 10-year contractual
agreement, GE designed and built the new facility and StandardAero will maintain and operate the
certification test center which was designed to test gas turbine engines up to 150 inches in diameter
and up to 150,000 lbs of thrust, as well as capabilities to accommodate high performance military
engines.
"GE Aviation is in the midst of record new engine product development programs," explained Kevin
Kanter, engineering executive of GE Aviation's Design Integration Systems Engineering. "The new
icing testing, research and development centre will expand GE's testing capacity and allow us to
meet our commitments to customers."
"Today's event marks a significant milestone in the partnership between StandardAero and GE," said
Rob Mionis, President CEO, StandardAero. "We've enjoyed a long standing relationship in the MRO
of the GE CF34 engine and just over two years ago stepped up to the large fan market by becoming
a GE-Designated Fulfillment Center for CFM56-7B engine. And now today, with the dedication of
this new engine testing and RD facility, we have become a key GE support partner in the testing and
maintenance of their line of future, state-of-the-art, fuel efficient engines. We're proud to work with
GE and even more proud knowing that our reputation for quality and service reputation has
positioned us to be the partner of choice for a global leader in commercial aircraft engines."
The center will initially employ 10 StandardAero employees, with the potential to grow to 50
employees over the next five years.
2. The facility utilizes a state-of-the-art noise reduction system with 50-foot high noise attenuation
walls, 16-foot diameter augmentor tube, and 51 foot high exhaust stack. In addition, the facility
incorporates a translating wind tunnel to enable future expansion of the facility for year-round
testing in other areas, such as performance and endurance testing, bird ingestion, ice crystal and
mixed phase testing. Other advantages to the Winnipeg Airport location include a highly secured
location as well as immediate proximity to StandardAero and a skilled workforce heavily involved
and familiar with GE engine testing and test cell design.
Read about the new facility at: http://www.gereports.com/cooling-their-jets/
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop
engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation
aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information,
visit us at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and
YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation.
StandardAero is one of the world's largest independent providers of services including engine and
airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul, engine component repair, engineering services, interior
completions and paint applications. StandardAero serves a diverse array of customers in business
and general aviation, airline, military, helicopter, components, energy and VIP completions markets.
A Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) company, StandardAero provides a global service network of
13 primary facilities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Singapore and Australia, along with an additional
50 sales and field service locations. The company celebrated its 100th year of industry leadership in
2011.
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