page_title: CFM International CFM56
section_title: DC-8
hierarchical_section_title: CFM International CFM56 / Development / First customers / DC-8
context_page_description: The CFM International CFM56 series is a French-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International, with a thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 lbf. CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran Aircraft Engines of France, and GE Aviation of the United States. Both companies are responsible for producing components and each has its own final assembly line. GE produces the high-pressure compressor, combustor, and high-pressure turbine, Safran manufactures the fan, gearbox, exhaust and the low-pressure turbine, and some components are made by Avio of Italy and Honeywell from the US. The engines are assembled by GE in Evendale, Ohio, and by Safran in Villaroche, France. The completed engines are marketed by CFMI. Despite initial export restrictions, it is one of the most common turbofan aircraft engines in the world, in four major variants.
  The CFM56 first ran in 1974. By April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was two weeks away from being dissolved.
context_section_description: By the end of the 1970s, airlines were considering upgrading their aging Douglas DC-8 aircraft as an alternative to buying new quieter and more efficient aircraft. Following the French KC-135 order in 1978, the April 1979 decision by United Airlines to upgrade 30 of their DC-8-61 aircraft with the CFM56-2 was important for securing the development of the CFM56; GE and Snecma were two weeks away from freezing development had that order not materialized. This decision marked the first commercial purchase (rather than government/military) of the engine, and Delta Air Lines and Flying Tiger Line soon followed suit, giving the CFM56 a firm footing in both the military and commercial market.
caption: The CFM-56 installed on the DC-8.
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