Williams EJ22
The Williams EJ22 was a small turbofan engine that was being developed by Williams International for very light jet (VLJ) aircraft applications. Development Williams International had been building small turbofan engines for cruise missile applications since the 1960s, and had successfully entered the general aviation market in 1992 with the FJ44 engine. That same year, NASA initiated a program, Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE), to partner with manufacturers and help develop technologies that would revitalize the sagging general aviation industry. In 1996, Williams joined AGATE's General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) program to develop a clean-sheet fuel-efficient turbofan engine that would be even smaller than the FJ44 and designated the FJX-2 engine. This provided $100 million in research and development funding for the new engine. Initially, Williams contracted with Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites to design and build the Williams V-Jet II, a Very Light Jet (VLJ) to use as a testbed and technology demonstrator to showcase the new engine. The aircraft, powered by two interim FJX-1 man-rated version of Williams' cruise-missile engine, debuted at the 1997 Oshkosh Airshow. Development of the FJX-2 engine progressed, most of the design work was completed during 1998 with initial prototype parts being delivered in the