Can I buy a turbofan Engine??

Question

If I would make a homebuilt aircraft/plane, can I buy a real mid-sized turbofan Engine?? Where? How much? Then,. can I fly with Certifications or so??

Answer 1

ur crazy and a turbofan engine would cost alot and we aer talking ALOT of money

Answer 2

The PW600F is a family of turbofan meant for the so called very light jets, with a thrust rating ranging from 900 to 3000 lb, and the cheapest model sells for about one million $.

Go ahead, if you have that much money to burn, but be assured, if you do not have the qualifications to be an aerospace engineer, we'll most likely see your name among the candidates for the Darwin Award.

Answer 3

If you are going to build an aircraft with a jet engine you would need your airframe and powerplant certification, which takes nearly 2 years. You would also need a great deal of money, a few million at least.

It would be possible to build an experimental using a large model engine or one from a UAV. You can get model engines with nearly 100lbs of thrust for under $20k, but they use about 8 times the fuel per pound of thrust they deliver.

On top of that, its still extremely hard to build the body of the aircraft. It would take a great deal of metal working knowledge and aerodynamics.

Answer 4

Can you afford it? It's going to cost you a fortune!

Answer 5

Just takes money.

Answer 6

A mid-size turbofan engine . . . something like a CFM56, used on the 737 and others?  Or a mid-size buiness jet engine, like a Williams FJ44, used on some of the Cessna Citation line?  Yes, you could buy one, but as others have pointed out, they're rather expensive.

Pricing depends on the condition of the engine, or more specifically, the time and cycles remaining on the components inside the engine.  Practically every major component of modern aircraft turbine engines have a time or cycle limit (a cycle is one engine start and one shut-down) before it either has to be inspected, overhauled, or in some cases, replaced altogether.  A new engine, with no hours or cycles on it other than those required in a test cell, is going to be considerably more expensive than a 'mid-time' engine (one that's around halfway to where the first item has to be replaced), and the cheapest of all are 'run-out' engines that have little or no time remaining.

So how much are we talking here?  Even a run-out engine can still be well in excess of $1M US for a larger commercial aircraft engine.  (Even a completely trashed, FODded out, never-will-run-again JT8D--off an old MD80, for example--is still worth more than $6k US due to the exotic alloys used inside the engine.)  

The rapid depreciation is due to the nature of turbine engines:  they run great for a very long time, with relatively very little maintenance (esp. compared to the old, very large, radial piston engines they replaced) but the maintenance costs catch up with a vengeance when it's time to send them to the shop.  So if you buy an older, high-time, engine, you're going to have to sink a lot more money into it soon to keep it operational.

If you're still wanting to pursue this, I'd contact an aircraft broker.  There's a lot of folks that make a living buying, selling, and leasing aircraft engines.  Do a search for jet engine broker and find one in your area, and give them a call.

If you're making a homebuilt you don't even HAVE to have a certificated engine; you can use an experimental engines.  There are a number of websites that discuss designing, building and operating homemade turbojet engines, mostly using old turbochargers, but I doubt these will put out enough thrust to propell a decent sized airplane.  

If you're in the US, you might want to see if there's an EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) chapter in your area.  You're probably better off pursuing a kit or plans-built airplane rather than doing it all yourself, and there are some (but not many) out there that are powered by jets.

Alternately, if you've got the money, you might think about one of the Czech L-29 or L-39 jet trainers that are out there.  There's also the occasional A-4, MiG, or other former military jet that comes on the market from time to time.

Answer 7

They have kits or plans available for small, single pilot jets, as I saw one in Popular Mechanics or perhaps an aviation magazine.  It would be pricey, though.  Look for plans on the internet, don't try to design it yourself.  Good luck.

Answer 8

yes, should u receive certification and have ALOT of money