Honeywell has delivered the first batch of 32 TFE731-50R engines destined for Hawker’s new 900XP midsize business jet. This latest version of the engine, derived from the TFE731-50 powering the Dassault Falcon 900DX, continues a series that began with certification of the first TFE731 in 1972. Since then more than 11,000 TFE731 engines have been built. Honeywell says the -50 offers a 6 percent improvement in thrust-specific fuel burn “and will help the Hawker 900XP deliver a reduced noise signature.”

The 4,750-pound-thrust -50R (flat rated to 90.5 degrees F/ISA +17.5 degrees C) brings a 7 percent range improvement for ISA-day takeoffs and up to a 24 percent increase for hot-and-high takeoff over the TFE731-5BR powering the Hawker 800XP.

Mechanical features include a wide-chord damperless fan, digital electronic engine control system and single-crystal high-pressure and first-stage low-pressure turbine blades. As a result, said Honeywell, the new version has temperature margins that are “significantly larger than other engines in this thrust class.” The TFE730-50R will enter service with a 3,000-hour hot-section inspection interval and 6,000-hour compressor zone inspection interval.

Meanwhile, Honeywell has reported that its 6,800-pound-thrust HTF7000 turbofan engine has exceeded 200,000 hours of operation and 125,000 cycles since entering service in 2002 on the Bombardier Challenger 300. The company says dispatch reliability, at 99.9 percent, makes the HTF7000 “one of the most reliable turbofan engines in business aviation.”

The company launched the more powerful HTF10000 at the 2006 NBAA show, for super-midsize and large business jets, due for service entry in 2011. It claims the engine will be a “breakthrough” in small business turbofans because of its green credentials, including Stage 3 minus 30 EPndB noise levels, coupled with a forward-swept fan for improved fuel consumption.