P&W PurePower PW1000G Engine Completes 1st Phase of Flight Testing

Prepares for Airbus Flight Test Program

(East Hartford, Conn., August 21, 2008) -- Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1000G demonstration engine has completed the first phase of flight testing on a company-owned 747SP flying test bed. The PW1000G engine completed 12 flights and ran approximately 43 hours with tests focused on engine performance and operability. The demonstration engine has been shipped to Toulouse, France, to be installed on an Airbus-owned A340 flight test aircraft. A joint Airbus and Pratt & Whitney flight test program will begin in the fourth quarter, as part of Airbus' on-going, extensive research into new, greener engine architectures. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

"The PurePower PW1000G engine continues to perform flawlessly and has accumulated a total of 306 hours of ground and flight testing to date," said Bob Saia, Pratt & Whitney vice president, Next Generation Product Family. "The first phase of our flight test program included full power takeoffs, in-flight performance up to 40,000 feet altitude, engine operability including in-flight starting, and engine operation at extreme aircraft maneuvers. The PW1000G engine's performance has met all of our pre-flight performance targets."

The PurePower PW1000G demonstrator engine, with Pratt & Whitney's patented Geared Turbofan(tm) technology, completed a 250-hour ground test program in May. The ground test program follows thousands of hours of development testing accumulated on 16 technology rigs at Pratt & Whitney and partner facilities around the world.

"We now look forward to testing the PW1000G engine on the Airbus A340 flight test aircraft," Saia said. "This second phase of testing, which will include approximately 75 flight hours, will focus on engine performance and acoustic testing while providing valuable installation and operating data."

Source : Pratt & Whitney

Recent News from Pratt & Whitney

• P&W's F135 Successfully Completes 1st Supersonic Flight [Defence] [ Wed 26 Nov 2008 ]
• Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Completes Acquisition of ARDE [Space] [Defence] [ Wed 26 Nov 2008 ]
• P&W Successfully Completes CDR on J-2X Rocket Engine [Space] [ Thu 20 Nov 2008 ]
• P&W's F135 Completes Successful Engine Air Restart Testing on F-35 [Defence] [ Mon 10 Nov 2008 ]
• P&W Wins $233 M Order for V2500 Engines from Sichuan [Aerospace] [Aviation] [ Wed 5 Nov 2008 ]
• P&WC Establishes State-of-the-Art Aerospace Centre at Montreal [Aerospace] [Aviation] [ Tue 28 Oct 2008 ]
• P&W Awarded $78M F135 Long Lead Production Contract [Defence] [ Mon 27 Oct 2008 ]