Spinner assembly with removable fan blade leading edge fairings

Abstract

A gas turbine engine spinner assembly including a spinner defining at least in part an aerodynamically smooth surface, a shell defining at least in part the aerodynamically smooth surface, and circumferentially spaced apart removable aerodynamic fairings located around the shell. Fairing shanks disposed in circumferentially spaced apart axially extending slots in the shell may be attached to the aerodynamic fairings. The fairings may shield radially extending portions of the fan blades including portions of blade shanks or portions of transition regions of the blade shanks. The fairing shanks may be disposed between and monolithically formed with the fairings and fairing roots attached to the fairing shanks. The fairings may be made of an injectable thermoplastic and the shell made of metal. The fairing shanks may be setback from fairing forward tips and the fairing shanks may be setback from root forward tips of the fairing roots.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.