Geared for Success: Landmark Year for PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ Engine

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney has surpassed the milestone of receiving orders -- including options -- for more than 2,000 PurePower Geared Turbofan engines while completing more than 1,250 hours and 2,800 cycles of full engine testing for its first two applications.  So far this year Pratt & Whitney's order book for the PurePower Geared Turbofan, which was recently described by TIME magazine as "the most important development in aviation in 2011," has commitments from 25 airline and lessor customers.  Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

In March, the PurePower engine won the first announced engine selections for the Airbus A320neo aircraft. Shortly after, Airbus named it the lead engine on the company's A320neo, scheduled to enter service in 2015. Since the beginning of the year, Pratt & Whitney has won commitments to power more than 370 firm A320neo aircraft, equating to more than 700 engines.

In September, the PW1524G engine for the Bombardier* CSeries* aircraft completed its first flight test program on board Pratt & Whitney's Flying Test Bed, logging 25 flights with 115 flight hours. A second PW1524G engine will begin flight testing this month at the company's Mirabel Aerospace Centre, in Mirabel, Quebec (Canada). The state-of-the-art facility, which opened earlier this year, features advanced manufacturing technologies and will house final production assembly and test for both the PurePower^® PW1524G and Pratt & Whitney Canada's advanced PurePower^® PW800 engine family for the next generation of large business jets. 

This summer, Pratt & Whitney also concluded the initial phase of ground testing of the PW1217G engine for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet. The engine completed more than 300 hours and 1,100 cycles.  The Mirabel Aerospace Centre flight test operations are preparing a second flying test bed to begin flight tests of the PW1200G engine in the first quarter of 2012.

"2011 has been a landmark year for the PurePower engine program," said Todd Kallman, president, Commercial Engines & Global Services. "When we first launched the PurePower program, we promised the industry it would change everything.  We delivered on that promise with a commitment to continue flawless execution of its test program and entry into service."

In addition to more than 1,250 hours of full engine testing, Pratt & Whitney performed critical part-level and engine sub-system testing to validate PurePower engine program designs, including hundreds of hours of core testing; design validation of the Fan Drive Gear System; fan blade for bird ingestion; blade containment; and compressor performance for the advanced PW1000G core. 

The PurePower engine family is designed to power the next generation of passenger aircraft. The combination of its gear system and advanced core allows PurePower engines to deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions with a 50-percent reduction in noise over today's engines.

The PurePower engine has been selected as exclusive power for the Bombardier* CSeries* aircraft and Mitsubishi Regional Jet.  It will also power the first Airbus A320neo aircraft, as well as the Irkut MC-21 narrow-body jet.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

This release includes "forward looking statements" concerning anticipated business opportunities that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including with regard to the programs described in this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward looking statements include the impact of deterioration or extended weakness in global economic conditions on demand for our products and services, the financial strength of customers and suppliers and on levels of air travel; and challenges in the design, development, production and support of advanced technologies and new products and services. For information identifying other important economic, political, regulatory, legal, technological, competitive and other uncertainties, see UTC's 10-K, 10-Q and other reports filed with the SEC.

* Trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

For more information on the Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine, visit www.purepowerengines.com

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SOURCE Pratt & Whitney

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