Pratt & Whitney

From Free net encyclopedia

This article is about the U.S. company Pratt & Whitney. For the Canadian sister company, see Pratt & Whitney Canada.

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.

1 History
2 Civil turbine engines and applications
3 Military turbine engines and applications
4 Turbopump engines
5 Reciprocating engines
6 External links

[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.

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.

Pratt & Whitney is headquarted in East Hartford, Connecticut and also has plants in Middletown, CT; Cheshire, CT; West Palm Beach, FL; and North Berwick, ME.

[edit]