GE has begun certification testing on its 800 shp H80 turboprop engine, with the first production engines to go into the Thrush 510 crop-duster. GE expects the H80 to be certified by the middle of the year, around the same time as Thrush’s new model.
An outgrowth of the 600 shp Czech-designed Walter M601 engine, the H80 is aimed at the light turboprop market that has for decades been dominated by Pratt & Whitney with its iconic PT6. With hopes of getting its foot in the door, GE acquired Walter last year and has continued to work on that vision, building a new 135,000-square-foot factory in Prague and putting extensive development work into the derivative H80.
