Pratt & Whitney is holding talks with other potential risk-sharing partners for its geared turbofan (GTF) engine after signing up MTU Aero Engines for a 15% stake during the show.
"We are in discussions with a number of different partners," says Robert Keady, P&W senior vice-president sales and marketing, large commercial engines. The total percentage that will be outsourced remains subject to "a lot of variables", he adds.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - manufacturer of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, which will be the first application for the GTF - already has a small risk-sharing stake in the engine of around 5%.
MTU has also taken a 15% stake in Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW810 turbofan for large business jets, the core of which will be used in the GTF. The PW810 has been selected to power the Cessna Citation Columbus, due to enter service in 2014.
Keady says the GTF, which is due to enter service on the MRJ in 2013, is "meeting or exceeding all performance characteristics" and the company's demonstrator engine has accumulated 250h in bench testing. It is due to be flown on P&W's 747 testbed by mid-year and will fly on an Airbus A340 test aircraft later this year, although the European manufacturer says it has no plans to offer the GTF on any of its existing products.
Airbus chief operating officer customers John Leahy said at the show that with A320-family production increasing to an unprecedented 40 aircraft a month, "the airlines are telling us they like what we've got, so why change it?"
Keady says P&W has "visited in excess of 80 airlines since November" to brief them on its ducted GTF technology, adding that P&W believes there are "significant challenges" to bringing an open rotor engine to the market.
"We've looked at open rotor and we just don't think that the deliverables are going to be there on an installed engine," says Keady.
MTU conducted research using a counter-rotating ducted fan test engine several years ago and the company is sceptical over whether an open-rotor engine could meet current noise limits, says Dr Anton Binder, MTU senior vice-president commercial programmes.
Meanwhile, P&WC and MTU signed a memorandum of understanding at the show to co-operate in the European market for unmanned air vehicle engines. "The emerging UAV market has a strong demand for commercial off-the-shelf engines, mainly out of the business aviation segment," says MTU senior vice-president defence programmes Michael Schreyoegg.
Source: Flight International
