Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G-JM engine successfully completes first flight

The Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G-JM engine successfully completed its first flight May 15th, launching the engine family’s flight test program. The PW1100G-JM engine for the Airbus A320neo aircraft flew on Pratt & Whitney’s Boeing 747SP flying test bed at the company’s Mirabel Aerospace Centre, in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. The successful ground test program led to more than 365 hours of ground performance and operability testing which cleared the way for this first flight. Three additional PW1100G-JM engines are conducting rigorous ground testing at Pratt & Whitney. To date, the PurePower engine program has completed more than 4,800 hours and 13,700 cycles of full engine testing. Engine certification for the PW1100G-JM engine is planned for third quarter of 2014 with entry into service planned for the fourth quarter of 2015.