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Pratt & Whitney
| Pratt & Whitney | |
| Pratt & Whitney logo | |
| Type | Subsidiary of UTC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1860 |
| Headquarters | East Hartford, Connecticut |
| Key people | Steven Finger, President |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Products | Aircraft engines Gas turbines Spacecraft propulsion |
| Website | Pratt & Whitney |
Pratt & Whitney is an American aircraft engine manufacturer of products widely used in both civil and military aircraft. As one of the "big three" aero-engine manufacturers, it competes with General Electric and Rolls-Royce, although it has also formed joint ventures with both of these companies. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures fixed gas turbines for industry and power generation, marine turbines, railway locomotive engines, and rocket engines.
Contents
History
The Pratt & Whitney Company was founded in 1860 by Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney, with headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. The company manufactured machine tools, tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun-making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
In 1925, Frederick Rentschler approached Pratt & Whitney looking for funds and a location to build his new aircraft engine. Pratt & Whitney loaned him $250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Pratt & Whitney's first engine, the Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. The Wasp developed 425 horsepower (317 kW) on its third test run. It easily passed the Navy qualification test in March 1926, and by October the Navy had ordered 200 engines. The Wasp exhibited speed, climb, performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation.
In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and formed United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, the predecessor to today's United Technologies Corporation. His agreement allowed Rentschler to carry the name with him to his new corporation.
What remains of the original Pratt & Whitney is Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems, located in Bloomfield, Connecticut. However, for many years they maintained a plant on New Park Avenue near the Hartford/West Hartford border. It was there where they manufactured machine tools such as their jig-bore machine and other numerically controlled machines. They also manufactured milling machines and twist drills.
On August 2, 2005, Pratt & Whitney acquired the space propulsion company Rocketdyne from Boeing and renamed the company Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc.
Pratt & Whitney is headquartered in East Hartford, Connecticut and also has plants in Columbus, Georgia; Middletown, Connecticut; Cheshire, Connecticut; West Palm Beach, Florida; and North Berwick, Maine.
In motorsport
Between 1967 and 1971, Pratt & Whitney turbine engines were used in Champ Car Racing and Formula One. Parnelli Jones' entry in the 1967 Indianapolis 500 dominated the race until a small part failed four laps from the finish. The following year, Team Lotus entered a trio of 56s at Indianapolis. Two of the cars qualified fastest and second fastest, but all three retired from the race. Turbine cars were deemed illegal before the following year's race, so Lotus chief Colin Chapman developed the car for use in Formula One and an updated Lotus 56B competed in half a dozen Formula One races in 1971.
Divisions
Pratt & Whitney is a business unit of industrial conglomerate United Technologies, making it a sister company to Sikorsky Aircraft, Hamilton Sundstrand, Otis Elevator Company, UTC Fire & Security and refrigeration giant Carrier Corporation. It is also involved in two major joint ventures, the Engine Alliance with GE, and International Aero Engines company with Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, and the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation. Those two joint ventures manufacture engines for the Airbus A380 and the Airbus A320 respectively.
- Commercial Engines
Pratt & Whitney's Large Commercial Engines (LCE) power more than 40 percent of the world’s passenger aircraft fleet and serve more than 800 customers in 160 countries.
- Global Material Solutions
Global Material Solutions (GMS) will offer gas path and life limited parts for the CFM56, which represents 90% of the material value of an average overhaul.
- Global Service Partners
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners (GSP) is a total service provider of Pratt & Whitney, International Aero Engines, General Electric, Rolls-Royce and CFMI engines. In addition to engine overhaul and repair services, GSP provides services including line maintenance, engine monitoring and diagnostics, environmentally-friendly on-wing water washes, leased engines, custom engine service programs and new and repaired parts.
- Military Engines
Pratt & Whitney's Military Engines power over 30 armed forces around the world. They are the engine manufacturer of choice for the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-17 Globemaster III, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
- Pratt & Whitney Canada
Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC, originally United Aircraft of Canada) provides engines powering business and regional aircraft, and helicopters. The company also offers advanced engines for industrial applications. P&WC's operations and service network span the globe. PWC designs and builds the smaller aircraft engines while P&W manufactures the larger engines.
- Space Propulsion
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne powers the Space Shuttle, supplies booster engines for Delta II rockets and boosters and upper stage engines for Atlas III and V and Delta IV rockets.
- Pratt & Whitney Power Systems
Pratt & Whitney Power Systems, Inc. (PWPS) designs, builds, furnishes and supports aero-derivative gas turbine power systems to customers worldwide. These industrial gas turbines power everything from lighting cities to powering large ships. PWPS also provides parts and repairs for heavy-duty frame gas turbines as an OEM alternative.
- International Aero Engines
International Aero Engines is a joint venture that develops, builds and services the V2500 aero engine family, which powers the Airbus A320 family and McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft. The four engine manufacturers that make up IAE each contribute an individual module to the V2500 engine. Pratt & Whitney produces the combustor and high-pressure turbine, Rolls-Royce the high-pressure compressor, JAEC the fan and low-pressure compressor and MTU the low-pressure turbine.
- Engine Alliance
The Engine Alliance is a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. The main application is the GP7200, which has been designed for use on the A380. It competes with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900, the launch engine for the aircraft.
Products
Civil turbine engines and applications
- International Aero Engines V2500 PW is a stakeholder in the IAE joint venture which manufactures the V2500
- Engine Alliance GP7000 PW is a stakeholder in the Engine Alliance which manufactures the GP7000
In development
Military turbine engines and applications
- JT3D/TF33
- USAF and NATO E-3 Sentrys
- E-8 JSTARS
- KC-135
- Boeing RC-135
- B-52 Stratofortress
- C-141
Rocket engines
- H-1 - (RP-1/LOX) Used by the Saturn I, IB, Jupiter, and some Delta rockets
- F-1 - (RP-1/LOX) Used by the Saturn V.
- J-2 - (LH2/LOX) Used by both the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets and will be used on the second stages of both the future Ares I crew launch rocket and the heavy-lift Ares V cargo launch rocket for NASA's Project Constellation.
- SSME - (LH2/LOX) The Space Shuttle Main Engine
- RS-68 - (LH2/LOX) Used by the Delta IV first stage and on the core stage of the Ares V heavy-lift rocket for NASA's Project Constellation
- RS-27A - (RP-1/LOX) Used by the Delta II/III and Atlas ICBM
- RL-10 - Used on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket, the second stage of the Delta IV, and will be used on the Lunar Surface Access Module for NASA's Project Constellation
- RL60
- RLX
- RD-0146
- RD-180
- COBRA Co-optimized Booster for Reusable Applications (LH2/LOX) Prototype Template:Convert thrust engine
Reciprocating engines
- R-1340 (Wasp)
- R-1690 (Hornet)
- R-985 (Wasp Junior)
- R-1535 (Twin Wasp Junior)
- R-1830 (Twin Wasp)
- R-2000
- R-2800 (Double Wasp)
- R-4360 (Wasp Major) - powering many postwar large bombers and transports.
Aeroderivative industrial & marine gas turbines
External links
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
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| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pratt & Whitney". |
