The immediate challenge tackled by CFAN was to manufacture the wide chord composite fan blade of the GE90 engine, which powers the Boeing 777 airliner. The GE90 fan blade is the first ever composite fan blade in service on a commercial jet engine. In the early 1990's, when this technology was selected for its advantages in weight and fatigue resistance characteristics, significant advances in composite manufacturing technology were required to take the fan blade from the lab to production. 

In February 1993, CFAN acquired the assets of CTEC, a 50/50 joint venture between General Electric and Rohr. Through this acquisition, CFAN gained immediate access to a state of the art 160,000 sqft. facility, a seasoned workforce in aerospace composites and a portfolio of engine related high performance composite parts.  

Drawing on GE and SNECMA's expertise in advanced composites dating back to the early 1970s, CFAN successfully transferred the composite fan blade manufacturing process from the laboratory to the shop floor, and delivered the first production GE90 fan blade in September 1994. Since then, the process has been refined and more than 3000 fan blades have been produced. 

In parallel with the ramp up in fan blade production, CFAN continued to manufacture other high performance composite products and to develop the related capabilities. CFAN has acquired extensive experience processing components from advanced fibers including carbon, kevlar and fiberglass; thermoset resins including epoxy, BMI, and PMR15; and bonded structures containing metallic or composite honeycomb. In addition, CFAN has capabilities in composite to metal bonding, hardware assembly, acoustic treatment and surface finish processes.