East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney Co. said today production design will begin on a new passenger-jet engine that in testing proved cheaper to operate, quieter and lower in emissions than previous generation engines.
The PurePower PW1000G demonstrator engine successfully underwent extensive ground and flight testing mounted to an Airbus A340-600 aircraft, Pratt said today.
The PW1000G engine features Pratt’s patented Geared Turbofan technology designed to produce double-digit reductions in fuel burn, engine noise, environmental emissions and operating costs, the company said.
The Airbus flight testing follows Pratt & Whitney’s own ground and flight test program, during which the engine completed approximately 300 hours of ground testing and 12 flights on Pratt’s Boeing 747 flying test bed.
The completion of the ground and flight test program clears the way for detailed design of the production PurePower PW1000G engine for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and the Bombardier CSeries mainline aircraft, Pratt said. Both aircraft are scheduled to enter service in 2013.
