Smyrna Air Center Named Authorized Service Center for M601 and H80 Engines

April 30, 2010
Smyrna Air Center has signed an agreement with GE Aviation to become an Authorized Service Center for the M601 and H80 turboprop engines.

EVENDALE, OHIO - Smyrna Air Center has signed an agreement with GE Aviation to become an Authorized Service Center for the M601 and H80 turboprop engines.

As part of the agreement, Smyrna Air Center will offer comprehensive line maintenance, removals and re-installations of engines and LRUs and engine spares for the M601 and H80 engine families. GE Aviation will provide Smyrna Air Center with comprehensive material support and training.

"Smyrna Air Center has shown a strong commitment to GE Aviation's M601 and H80 turboprop engines with its Power 90 King Air conversion," says Paul Theofan, president and managing executive of GE Aviation Czech s.r.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Aviation. "As an Authorized Service Center for M601 and H80 engines, Smyrna Air Center will provide our customers with high-quality maintenance services in North America."

Based at the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport (MQY) near Nashville, Smyrna Air Center is a one-stop aviation support FBO with a factory authorized maintenance and avionics center specializing in corporate and general aviation. An Avfuel provider, Smyrna Air Center offers 54 T-hangars in addition to a large 38,000-square-foot common hangar that is both heated and air-conditioned. The FBO facility has conference rooms, wireless Internet, pilot lounges, 2,500 square feet of office space and a Part 145 Repair Station.

The M601 turboprop engine family has attained 17 million flight-hours on 30 applications since its introduction in 1975. Smyrna Air Center's Power 90 is an FAA-approved Supplemental Type Certificate conversion for King Air 90, A90, B90 and C90 aircraft in which the original engines are replaced with the more powerful 751 shaft-horsepower (shp) M601E-11A engines. The E-11A engine delivers faster rates of climb, higher flight levels, faster cruise speed than current engines and lower acquisition and maintenance costs compared with competing conversions.

By combining the elegant, robust design of the M601 engine with GE's 3-D aerodynamic design techniques and advanced materials, the H80 engine will produce up to 800 shp and power business and general aviation, utility and agriculture aircraft. The new turboprop engine is a more powerful, fuel-efficient, durable engine with no calendar limit and no hot section inspection. The H80 engine will also feature an extended service life of 3,600 flight-hours and 6,600 cycles between overhauls, significantly enhanced hot-day takeoff performance and high-altitude cruise speeds. The H80 will provide the option of a single or dual acting governor, allowing customers to select their propeller.

Certification on the H80 engine is underway with entry into service on the Thrush 510 scheduled for this summer. The engine will be the first of the new H80 engine series family.

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation.