Inside a vast, 69,000-square-foot engine shop situated on the southern edge of the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), a small group of GE Aerospace mechanics and college co-op students huddle around a GEnx engine. An engineer is demonstrating how to use a prototype ultrasonic wrench. As the mechanics crane their necks to observe, the engineer deploys the vibrating wrench to loosen a specific type of bolt that can cause damage to a part in the engine’s combustion case if not handled properly.
Airlines are motivated to keep engines on wing for as long as possible. But inevitably there comes a time when a commercial jet engine must go in for a shop visit to be overhauled.
GE and its joint ventures’ combined installed base of 39,000 commercial engines keeps maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) shops around the globe quite busy. Which is why Nicole Tibbetts, the chief manufacturing engineer for MRO at GE Aerospace, calls the company’s MRO network “the greatest leading indicator program in the world” for gauging engine performance.