On Thursday, September 30, 2021, Motor Catalyst ™ completed its first flight on the Beechcraft King Air 350 test aircraft,
a flying test facility of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Czech Technical University.
The first flight of the Catalyst ™ engine is the result of a strong partnership between GE Aviation and CTU Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering. The jointly developed innovations led to the first successful flight and paved the way for further
cooperation.
Catalyst ™ is the first turboprop engine of a completely new design, manufactured in Europe, which enters the commercial and general aviation segment after more than 50 years.
The successful 1:40 hours first flight took off from and landed at the Berlin Airport, then the flying tests will continue in the coming months, transitioning to Czech Republic Hradec Kralove Airport at the advanced test center partnered by GE Aviation Czech and the Czech Technical University’s Centre of Aviation and Space Research (CVUT) of Prague.
More information available from media release.
Media news:
- https://aktualne.cvut.cz/stalo-se/20211001-prvni-let-motoru-catalyst-je-dukazem-silneho-partnerstvi-mezi-spolecnosti-ge
- https://byznys.hn.cz/c7-66980840-pksah-de8703032cc51f1
- https://www.geaviation.com/press-release/business-general-aviation/catalysttm-turboprop-engine-completes-first-flight
- https://www.technickytydenik.cz/rubriky/denni-zpravodajstvi/prvni-let-motoru-catalyst-je-dukazem-silneho-partnerstvi-mezi-spolecnosti-ge-aviation-a-cvut_54153.html
- https://www.mmspektrum.com/technicke-novinky/prvni-let-noveho-ceskeho-turbovrtuloveho-motoru
- https://magazineabout.com/aviation/making-history
- https://blog.geaviation.com/technology/making-history-the-people-who-brought-ges-catalyst-into-the-sky/
- MRO businesstoday.com
- https://www.mrobusinesstoday.com/ges-first-advanced-turboprop-engine-to-complete-its-maiden-test-flight-in-half-a-century/