CFM International CFM56

CFM56
An exposed jet engine at a trade show. The rear of the polished metal fan case is visible on the left. The outer casing of the compressor section, covered in fuel lines and electrical wires is to the right of the fan case. The right of the image shows the back of the engine, the exhaust area of the turbine section.
Rear view of a CFM56-5
Type Turbofan
National origin France / United States
Manufacturer CFM International
First run June 1974
Major applications
Number built 32,645 (June 2018)[1]
Developed from General Electric F101
Developed into CFM International LEAP
General Electric Affinity
General Electric GE90
Shenyang WS-10

The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with a thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 lbf (82 to 150 kN). CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) of France, and GE Aerospace (GE) of the United States. GE produces the high-pressure compressor, combustor, and high-pressure turbine, Safran manufactures the fan, gearbox, exhaust and the low-pressure turbine, and some components are made by Avio of Italy and Honeywell from the US. Both companies have their own final assembly line, GE in Evendale, Ohio, and Safran in Villaroche, France. The engine initially had extremely slow sales but has gone on to become the most used turbofan aircraft engine in the world.

The CFM56 first ran in 1974. By April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was two weeks away from being dissolved. The program was saved when Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Flying Tigers chose the CFM56 to re-engine their Douglas DC-8 aircraft as part of the Super 70 program. The first engines entered service in 1982. The CFM56 would later be selected to re-engine the Boeing 737. Boeing initially expected the program (later named the Boeing 737 Classic) to only sell modestly, but the quieter and more fuel-efficient CFM56 led sales to take off.

In 1987, the rival IAE V2500 engine for the A320, which had beaten the CFM56 in early sales of the A320, ran into technical trouble, leading many customers to switch to the CFM56. However, the CFM56 was not without its own issues, several fan blade failure incidents were experienced during early service, including one failure that was a cause of the Kegworth air disaster, and some engine variants experienced problems caused by flight through rain and hail. Both of these issues were resolved with engine modifications.

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