Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 receives US certification

The Pearl® 15, the exclusive engine option for Bombardier’s Global 5500 and Global 6500 aircraft, has received its official certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The engine, which was developed at the Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for Business Aviation engines in Dahlewitz, Germany, has previously been certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA).

The Pearl 15 was custom-designed to power the Global 5500 and Global 6500 aircraft, which have the longest range and the largest cabin in their category and feature Bombardier’s signature smooth ride technology.

Rolls-Royce is the world’s leading engine supplier for business aviation, powering more than 3,200 aircraft in service today. The new state-of-the-art Pearl engine family for business aviation, has already been chosen to power three different business jets, reaffirming Rolls-Royce’s leading position in this important market.

Dr. Dirk Geisinger, Director – Business Aviation, Rolls-Royce, said: “We are proud to have reached this important milestone on time. We have worked closely with the teams at the Federal Aviation Administration and Bombardier to achieve this certification and would like to thank them for their support. Meanwhile, our production and services teams are fully focussed on delivering a smooth entry into service and the planned production ramp up.”

The Pearl engine combines innovative technologies derived from the Rolls-Royce Advance2 technology demonstrator programmes with proven features from the BR700, today’s most successful engine family in business aviation. The Pearl 15 also exemplifies Rolls-Royce’s pioneering IntelligentEngine vision of a future where product and service become indistinguishable thanks to advancements in digital capability. As well as a new-generation Engine Health Monitoring System that introduces advanced vibration detection, the engine benefits from the incorporation of advanced remote engine diagnostics and bi-directional communications that allow for easy remote reconfiguration of engine-monitoring features from the ground. 

Compared with the highly successful BR710, the Pearl 15 features the same nacelle envelope but is more powerful, with a maximum certified thrust of 15,250lb; has up to seven per cent better specific fuel consumption; is two dB cumulative quieter; and shows a 20 per cent improvement in NOx emissions margin. 

Designed for outstanding reliability, the Pearl family will be supported by the industry-leading Rolls-Royce CorporateCare® Enhanced service, the most comprehensive aftermarket programme in business aviation, providing full transfer of off-wing maintenance risk at a predictable, fixed price. For a pre-defined hourly cost, CorporateCare Enhanced covers maintenance for the whole powerplant including nacelle, exhaust unit, EBU and thrust reverser unit-related services.