Rolls-Royce Starts Making UF001, and That’s a New Engine, Not a Saucer 3 Apr 2021, 12:49 UTC · by 1 photo UltraFan is how the company calls the new piece of hardware, whose assembly began not long ago at the DemoWorks facility it operates in Derby, UK. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc plans to have this so-called demonstrator, for some reason named UF001, ready by the end of the year, as it targets service debut for the family it will eventually spawn by the middle of the decade. Boasting a fan diameter of 140 inches (3.5 meters), the unit is meant to be the powerplant of choice in both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. It’s lighter than anything before it, thanks in part to the wealth of carbon titanium used to make the blades, and can provide a weight reduction of about 1,500 lbs (680 kg) per airplane.