Pratt & Whitney
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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 CFM International, 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.
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[edit] 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, CT.
Pratt & Whitney is a business unit of industrial conglomerate United Technologies, making it a sister company to Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC, originally United Aircraft of Canada), Sikorsky Helicopters, Hamilton Sundstrand, Otis Elevator Company and refrigeration giant Carrier Corporation. PWC designs and builds the smaller aircraft engines while P&W manufactures the larger engines. It is also involved in two major joint ventures, the Engine Alliance with GE, and International Aero Engines company with Rolls Royce plc, 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 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.
[edit] Civil turbine engines and applications
- JT12/J60
- JT15D
- Cessna Citation
- Honda MH02 (experimental)
- Pratt & Whitney/GE GP7000 PW is a stakeholder in the Engine Alliance which manufactures the GP7000
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 600,000 lbf thrust engine
[edit] Reciprocating engines
- R-1340 (Wasp)
- R-1690 (Hornet)
- R-985 (Wasp Junior)
- R-1535 (Twin Wasp Junior)
- R-1830 (Twin Wasp)
- R-2800 (Double Wasp)
- R-4360 (Wasp Major) - powering many postwar large bombers and transports.
[edit] Aeroderivative Industrial Gas Turbines
- FT4
- FT8 - ~30MW derivative of JT8D
[edit] External links
- Pratt & Whitney a United Technologies Company website
- Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems website
- Pratt & Whitney Canada
Timeline of aviation
Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable military accidents and incidents · Notable airline accidents and incidents · Famous aviation-related deaths
Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft
