The good folks at Airbus made a great hullabaloo when they announced a New Engine Option on their Airbus A320 series. This promised a double digit percentage reduction in fuel burn and airlines fell over themselves to order the new jets. Boeing responded months later with their Boeing 737 MAX, which also featured new engines. The very first NEO was actually not manufactured by either of these companies.
We have to wind the clock all the way back to the 1970s, when Snecma of France and GE of the USA formed a new company called CFM International. An engine called the CFM56 first ran in 1974, yet nobody ordered it and it was not specified for any aircraft. The programme was two weeks away from being shelved when United Airlines placed an order.
A New Type of Engine
By the 1970s, first generation turbofan engines such as the Pratt & Whitney JT3D that entered service in 1961 were obsolescent. Not only were they inefficient compared to new high bypass engines like the TF39 (which became the CF6), they were also incredibly noisy. Anyone who remembers the ear shattering sound of a Boeing 707 taking off or landing will know it is impossible to hear someone talking to you until it passes by.
The Very First NEO
Enter the CFM56 and a conversion programme by Cammacorp. United Airlines placed an order to re-engine 30 of their DC-8-61 aircraft, with other airlines following suit. These became the Douglas DC-8-71, which was the very first NEO in service. The complete replacement of the engines improved the performance of the aircraft in many ways.
Overall Thoughts
The very first NEO was the Douglas DC-8, with United flying theirs all the way through to October 1991. In total, 110 examples were converted and is the main reason the longevity of the aircraft, one or two of which still fly today.
You have likely flown on an aircraft powered by the CFM56 engine, as it was the standard for the Boeing 737-300 series onwards, as well as the original Airbus A320. Just to think, had United not placed that order, things could have been quite different.
Did you know the Douglas DC-8 was the very first NEO? Did you ever fly on board one of these after the conversion? Notice anything different? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Richard Silagi via Wikimedia Commons.
Delta DC-8 by Perry Hoppe on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
I flew both the UA and Delta super 71s. I loved the large windows. wish Gemini Jets would make 1/200 models of both the UA & DL.
Nope. It was the Boeing 707-120B. The original 707 came with P&W JT3C turbojet. In 1961, the “B” variant came with P&W JT3D turbofan engines. Please note, that I made a typo in the first reply. The original “low bypass” turbofan is the P&W JT3D turbofan. I made a typo the first time hitting a “C” instead of a “D”. The reply system wouldn’t let me edit my original comment.
I did think of this, as I knew this but the JT3D was a conversion of the JT3C, so you are technically correct. However, it wasn’t really a total re-engine in the spirit of a neo. However, this change did make a huge difference to the performance of the early 707s and you are not wrong here. However, the change for the DC-8 and the military 707s re-engined with the CFM56 was a lot more of a change. Great point though and good knowledge for people to know.