The second half of this year will mark “significant certification testing milestones” for the GE Honda Aero Engines HF120, the turbofan that will power both the HondaJet and Spectrum S.40 Freedom, the engine partners said yesterday at EBACE. “The majority of the hardware for the first HF120 development engine has arrived, and engine assembly will begin by June at GE’s Lynn, Massachusetts facility,” said GE Honda Aero Engines president Bill Dwyer. “The first engine test will occur by midsummer, and testing will continue into 2010.” Thirteen HF120 development engines will take part in the certification at seven locations in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The airplanes will undergo altitude fan blade out, crosswind, stress and endurance testing. GE Honda also plans to run the engine on a flying testbed before flying it on the customer certification aircraft. By the time of entry into service in 2011, the HF120 is expected to have accumulated more than 15,000 cycles of ground and flight testing. To date, GE Honda Aero Engines has built and tested 10 HF120 engine cores and 11 full engine prototypes. According to the company, the engine has produced more than 2,100 pounds of thrust while exceeding its fuel efficiency target.