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Information about Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney
Enlarge picture
Pratt & Whitney logo
Subsidiary of UTC
Founded1860
HeadquartersEast Hartford, Connecticut
Key peopleSteven Finger, President
IndustryAerospace
ProductsAircraft engines
Gas turbines
Spacecraft propulsion
WebsitePratt & Whitney


Pratt & Whitney is an American aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are 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.

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 Brant 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, Frederick Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and formed United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, the predecessor to today's United Technologies. 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, Conn.. 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 American Championship 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 Lotus 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 Helicopters, 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

Main article: 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

Main article: Rocketdyne
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

Main article: 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

Main article: 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 Airbus A380. It competes with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900, the launch engine for the aircraft.

Products

Civil turbine engines and applications

Enlarge picture
TF33s of a C-141 Starlifter leave contrails over Antarctica

Military turbine engines and applications

Enlarge picture
F-22 showing F119 engines in afterburner

Rocket engines

Reciprocating engines

Aeroderivative industrial & marine gas turbines

  • FT4
  • FT8 - ~30MW derivative of JT8D
Enlarge picture
Original Pratt & Whitney logo

External links


Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers | Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation
A subsidiary, in business, is an entity that is controlled by another entity. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company, and the controlling entity is called its parent (or the parent company).
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United Technologies Corporation

Public (NYSE:  UTX )
Founded 1929
Headquarters Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Key people George David, CEO & Chairman
Industry Conglomerates
Products Conglomerates
Revenue $47.829 billion USD (2006)
Net income $3.
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East Hartford, Connecticut
Main Street at the intersection with Burnside Avenue
Location in Hartford County, Connecticut
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Connecticut
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Industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious"), is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods. Industry began in its present form during the 1800s, aided by technological advances, and it has continued to develop to this day.
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Please help [ improve this article] by expanding this section.
See talk page for details. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded. (tagged since March 2007)

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Aspinwall Classification System (Leo Aspinwall, 1958) classifies and rates products based on five variables:
  1. Replacement rate (How frequently is the product repurchased?)
  2. Gross margin (How much profit is obtained from each product?)

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jet engine is an engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton's . This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets and pump-jets, but in common usage, the term generally refers to a
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gas turbine extracts energy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of gas or fuel oil in a stream of compressed air. It has an upstream air compressor (radial or axial flow) mechanically coupled to a downstream turbine and a combustion chamber in between.
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Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial satellites. There are many different methods. Each method has drawbacks and advantages, and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of research.
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A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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The term aircraft engine, for the purposes of this article, refers to reciprocating and rotary internal combustion engines used in aircraft. Jet engines and turboprops are the other common aviation power plants; while operation differs substantially, the basics here apply to all
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A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is in the current employ of a military power. General categories include:
  • Fighter aircraft
  • Ground attack aircraft
  • Bomber
  • Tanker
  • Trainer
  • Transport

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GE Aviation

Division
Founded 1917[1]
Headquarters Evendale, Ohio,[2] USA

Key people Scott C. Donnelley, President & CEO
Russel F. Sparks, Vice President & General Manager, Military Systems Operation
David L.
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gas turbine extracts energy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of gas or fuel oil in a stream of compressed air. It has an upstream air compressor (radial or axial flow) mechanically coupled to a downstream turbine and a combustion chamber in between.
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Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. The other processes are electric power transmission and electricity distribution which are normally carried out by the electrical power industry.
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locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco - "from a place", ablative of "locus", "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion").
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rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine.

The history of rockets goes back to at least the 13th century[1].
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Francis A. Pratt (February 15, 1827 - February 10, 1902) was a Connecticut mechanical engineer and inventor.

Born in Peru, NY, Pratt designed a milling machine for the George S.
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Amos Whitney (October 8, 1832 - August 5, 1920) was a mechanical engineer and Connecticut inventor.

Born in Biddeford, Maine, in 1860 he partnered with Francis Pratt to organize the Pratt & Whitney company to manufacture machine tools, tools for the makers of sewing
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Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford's downtown seen from across the Connecticut River

Flag
Seal
Nickname: The Insurance Capital of the World
Location in Hartford County, Connecticut
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A machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by machining, which is the selective removal of metal. The term machine tool
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The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the Northern Army, or the National Army.[1]
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American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.
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Frederick Brant Rentschler (November 8 1887 – April 25 1956) was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, and industrialist. He was a talented inventor of aviation equipment, Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutionary aircraft engines, including
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Wasp was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s.

Wasp series

  • R-1340 Wasp
  • R-985 Wasp Junior
  • R-1830 Twin Wasp
  • R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior

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The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed In 1929, when William E. Boeing teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney.

With headquarters at Hartford, Connecticut, the holding company controlled the stock of the Boeing Airplane Company of Seattle,
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United Technologies Corporation

Public (NYSE:  UTX )
Founded 1929
Headquarters Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Key people George David, CEO & Chairman
Industry Conglomerates
Products Conglomerates
Revenue $47.829 billion USD (2006)
Net income $3.
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Rocketdyne is a United States company that designs and produces rocket engines that use liquid propellants. Officially named Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., Rocketdyne is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, headquartered in Canoga Park,
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The Boeing Company

Public (NYSE:  BA , TYO: 7661 )
Founded Seattle, Washington (1916)
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois

Key people W. James McNerney, Jr.
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