Pratt & Whitney has begun final assembly of its geared turbofan (GTF) demonstrator. The 30,000-pound-thrust engine will be ground tested later this year and will fly on Pratt & Whitney’s flying test bed in 2008.
“The geared turbofan engine is a true game changer, offering the environmental and performance benefits airline customers are looking for,” says Todd Kallman, president of Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines.
“We are making significant investments to demonstrate that this engine technology is ready for a programme launch in 2008.”
The geared turbofan is designed to deliver a 12% reduction in fuel consumption and 40% cut in maintenance costs while producing half the noise and emissions of today’s engines. The new concept builds on more than 20 years’ development and around $1billion of technology investment. With full scale validation testing in 2007 and flight testing in 2008, the GTF could be ready for service as early as 2012.
Pratt & Whitney has been rig testing key technologies of the GTF engine over the past two years. The company ran a scaled fan rig in 2006 and is currently testing the engine’s high-pressure compressor in partnership with MTU in Germany. All test results show that the engine modules are performing as expected.
Source: Flight Daily News
