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First Flight for Rolls-Royce Trent 500 Engine

21 June 2000

First Flight for Rolls-Royce Trent 500 Engine

    DERBY, England - The Rolls-Royce Trent 500 aero engine, which has already 
won orders worth more than $5 billion, flew today for the first time.

    The Trent 500 is the sole engine type for the new long-range versions of
the Airbus Industrie A340 airliner due to enter service with Virgin Atlantic
in 2002.

    It made its maiden flight on a specially adapted A340-300 flying test bed
at Airbus Industrie headquarters in Toulouse, marking the latest stage of the
engine's development programme which is on schedule.

    The single 56,000lb thrust Trent, installed alongside the A340-300's
remaining three smaller engines, completed a successful two and a half hour
flight.

    Test Pilot Ed Strongman said: "The engine performed really well and we
achieved everything we set out to do.  It was a perfect first flight.  We have
worked in the simulator and on ground runs but it was really pleasing to see
that the Trent responded just as we predicted in flight."

    Today's flight follows over 1,500 hours of ground testing involving a
total of seven Trent 500 development engines.  This has included hundreds of
simulated flights as well as water and ice ingestion, fan blade containment,
and generating hurricane-force crosswinds to mimic extreme weather conditions.
Engine certification by the airworthiness authorities in December is on
schedule.

    To date, ten customers have ordered a total of 129 firm and option
A340-500 and -600s. The A340-500 will carry 313 passengers a maximum range of
8,650 nautical miles while the higher capacity -600, with 380 passengers, has
a range of 7,500 n.m.

    The Trent 500, which will first enter service with Virgin Atlantic on the
A340-600 in Spring 2002, has a maximum operational thrust of 56,000lb.
although it will be certificated with significant margin at 60,000lb.  A
53,000lb thrust version will begin commercial operations with Air Canada on
the A340-500 in the third quarter of that year.

    Notes:

    The Rolls-Royce derivative approach to engine design has clear operational
benefits to operators of the next generation of wide-body, ultra-long range
and high capacity aircraft.  The three-shaft design of the Trent family of
engines uses scaled cores and compressors to create engines with thrusts
ranging from 53,000lb to 95,000lb.

    Rolls-Royce plc is a global company providing power on land, sea and air.
The company has established leading positions in civil aerospace, defence,
marine and energy markets.  Its core gas turbine technology has created one of
the broadest product ranges of aero engines in the world, with 55,000 engines
in service in over 150 countries.  Customers include more than 500 airlines,
2,400 corporate and utility operators and 160 armed forces, using both fixed
and rotary wing aircraft.

    Rolls-Royce is the global leader in marine power systems with a broad
product range and full systems integration capability.  Over 2,000 marine
customers and more than 30 navies use Rolls-Royce propulsion.  The company is
investing in new products and capabilities for energy markets which include
the oil and gas industry and power generation.  It also develops its own power
projects through Rolls-Royce Power Ventures Ltd.

    Rolls-Royce pioneered gas turbine technology for aerospace, power
generation and marine propulsion and is involved in major future programmes in
these fields.  These include the Trent aero and industrial engines, the
Eurofighter Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter combat engines, the WR21 marine
engine and leading edge water jet propulsion systems.