New Williams Engines — One Ready, One In The Works

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Williams International, of Walled Lake, Mich., has received the FAA Type Certificate for its FJ33-4A-15 turbofan engine, the company announced on Sept. 13. At the same time, the company said it is within a few months of completing the certification testing of yet another previously undisclosed new small turbofan engine, which it will unveil at next month’s NBAA convention in Las Vegas. The newly certified FJ33-4A-15 weighs less than 300 pounds and has a thrust rating of 1,568 pounds. Most testing was completed over a year ago, Williams says, but it delayed the final certification program to incorporate its dual-channel, full authority digital engine control (FADEC), sensor suite, and software. Three of the very-light jets in development are reportedly using the FJ33-4 engines — Adam Aircraft‘s A700, Diamond Aircraft‘s D-Jet, and Aviation Technology Group‘s two-seat Javelin. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the results of our development and certification program,” said Gregg Williams, president of Williams International. “We achieved all performance goals with large efficiency and temperature margins, and all certification testing went extremely well. We believe we also achieved an industry first, in that, other than software mods, we did not have to make any configuration changes to the engine from the beginning of the program. This validated our decision to make the very first engine from full-scale production tooling. In addition, all certification and durability testing was conducted at speeds and thrust levels well above the initial certification levels, and we expect the engine to have a trouble-free entry into service.”

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