First Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine completes initial ground tests

Pratt & Whitney successfully completed initial ground testing on its first PurePower PW1000G series engine, the PW1524G engine for the Bombardier CSeries aircraft. The engine completed nearly 200 hours of ground tests at the company’s West Palm Beach, Fla. facility. The first engine ran nearly three times longer than Pratt & Whitney’s legacy experience for a first engine test program. Pratt & Whitney began ground testing of the PW1524G engine on schedule in September. Assemblies of the second and third PW1524G development engines are nearing completion. The second engine will also be tested at the West Palm Beach, Fla. test facility before being shipped to the company’s Mirabel Aerospace Centre facility in Quebec, Canada. The engine will be mounted to the Pratt & Whitney 747 flying test bed for first test flights scheduled to begin in mid-year. Engine certification and aircraft first flight are scheduled for 2012.