Geared Turbofan Demonstrator Engine Achieves Full Power

Released on Tuesday, December 04, 2007

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Dec. 4, 2007 � Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan™ demonstrator engine has successfully completed its first series of engine runs, reaching full power - 30,000 pounds of thrust - at the company's advanced test facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. The full-scale demonstrator engine ground test program will run through May 2008 when flight testing will begin. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX).

"The Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine achieved the first major milestone of this ground test program and the engine is performing flawlessly," said Bob Saia, vice president, Next Generation Product Family, Pratt & Whitney. "After reaching full takeoff power, the engine has begun to run a series of performance tests to validate the game-changing performance characteristics of the Geared Turbofan engine including low fuel burn, engine noise and environmental emissions."

The Geared Turbofan engine is part of Pratt & Whitney's technology readiness program that is setting new environmental and performance standards for jet propulsion. The company is actively testing key components on a total of 15 test rigs worldwide. Flight testing on Pratt & Whitney's 747 flying test bed will begin in mid-2008.

Recently, the Geared Turbofan engine was selected by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. as the exclusive power for the planned 70- to 90-passenger Mitsubishi Regional Jet. Bombardier has also confirmed that the company has selected the Geared Turbofan engine to power its proposed CSeries family of 110- to 130-seat aircraft pending final approvals. Both aircraft are scheduled to enter service in 2013.

The Geared Turbofan engine targets double-digit improvements in fuel burn with significant reductions in engine noise, environmental emissions and operating costs. In a Geared Turbofan engine, a state-of-the-art fan drive gear system allows the engine's fan to operate at a speed different than that of the low-pressure compressor and turbine, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and a slower fan speed which results in less noise.