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 Turbine s for industry and
Power Generation , marine turbines, railway
Locomotive engines, and
Rocket engines.
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, CT. 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 , CT;
Cheshire , CT;
West Palm Beach , FL; and
North Berwick , ME.
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 56 s 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.
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.
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 (GMS) will offer gas path and life limited parts for the
CFM56 , which represents 90% of the material value of an average overhaul.
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.
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-22A Raptor and
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter .
See Also: 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.
See Also: 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, 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.
See Also: 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.
See Also: 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.
s over Antarctica]]
- FT4
- FT8 - ~30MW derivative of JT8D
