Engines increasingly 'monstrous': those in Boeing 777 are as big as 737 fuselage
How big is an airplane engine? in this article we discuss the evolution of engines in recent years and which are the largest in service right now
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The most observant among those who have been flying regularly for many years cannot have failed to notice how, for the past thirty to forty years, The size of aircraft engines has continued to increase.
The most effective example is that of the thrusters mounted on the Boeing 737, an airplane that has been flying the skies around the world since the late 1960s. The first models, from the -100 and -200 series, they had two engines (the famous Pratt & Whitney JT8D) long, thin cigars that looked like two long, narrow cigars mounted under the wings. The diameter of the front air intake was 150 centimeters.
With the appearance of the models later defined 'Classic' (i.e. the -300, -400, -500 and -600 series) the engines (CFM56) were shortened, but the gondola was wider, with a diameter of 173 centimeters. The trend continued with the so-called 737NGs (-700, -800 and -900 series) and finally with the arrival of the 737 MAX, whose engines (CFM LEAP-1B) have a diameter of the 200 centimeter air intake.
The same thing happened In the transition, at Airbus, from the ceo to the version neo A320 family.
And, more generally, even looking at wide-body aircraft: the engine nacelles of the first and second generation of that type of aircraft (Boeing 747-100 and -200, DC-10, Tristar, MD-11 and Boeing 767) look like miniature versions Of the thrusters installed in more recent years under the wings of Airbuses A330, A350, A380 and the Boeing 777 and 787.
Although the A380 is now the world's largest aircraft, the largest and heaviest engine ever made Is mounted under the wings of most Boeing 777-200s and 777-300s (which have two thrusters, not four like the A380).
It is about the General Electric GE90, a 'beast' that in its -115B version is also the most powerful aircraft engine ever made. In terms of size (but not power), it will be surpassed by the GE9X, which being intended exclusively for the Boeing 777X will, however, only enter airline service in a few years.
Well, the fan (the air intake) equipped with 22 vanes of the GE90 measures 325 centimeters and the whole thruster has a empty weight of 8.7 tons.
To give an idea of its size, suffice it to say. the fuselage of the Boeing 737 MAX measures 376 centimeters. Adding to the air intake the thickness of the nacelles that 'cover' the GE90, it is safe to say that a Boeing 737 MAX could fit, by diameter, comfortably within the footprint of a GE90 engine.
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