Pratt & Whitney Canada Details PW600 Demonstrator Program

Well advanced into component testing for its proposed PW600 next-generation small gas turbine, Pratt & Whitney Canada launched a full-scale demonstration program on August 1 that is expected to lead to a complete core validation run sometime before the end of 2001.

According to P&WC marketing VP John Wright, who has responsibility for the Canadian engine manufacturer's business aviation and military sales, both turboprop and turbofan derivatives would be developed from the PW600 gas generator. "In the 'fan version, we're looking at three ranges of thrust within a 1,000-2,500 pounds thrust design bracket," he told Show News. "For the turboprop, the power range would be in the 600-900 thermal horsepower range."

Essentially, the core would be scaled to produce turbofans in the following thrust ranges: 1,000-1,200 pounds, 1,500-1,800 pounds, and 2,200-2,500 pounds. This brackets P&WC's JT15D turbofan series, and as such, a PW600 series would form a new bottom end for the company's product line, ultimately replacing the JT15D turbofan and butting up against the existing PW500 family.

The engine program is ambitious from a couple standpoints. First, it covers a broad thrust and power range, extending P&WC's' purview further down into the developing owner-flown business jet market (1,000 pounds thrust and lower). Secondly, it is targeted at significantly lowering manufacturing and purchase costs, a challenging proposition for any turbine engine manufacturer, Wright pointed out. Indeed, cost reduction could be described as the overriding objective of PW600 development, since competing successfully in the owner-flown market requires a combination of lower unit costs and high production volumes.

Concerning production economies of scale, Wright cited the considerable market research P&WC has committed to determining new opportunities in general aviation. "The market is in a growth mode," he said. "There are people willing to step up from heavy pistons into turbines. The question then becomes, do you have a value proposition for the market that offers the opportunity for a turboprop- or turbofan-powered aircraft? The heavy pistons today are priced under a million dollars; the existing light entry-level jets start above $3 million. This leaves a huge gap. Now, the solution is to fill that gap within the cost targets."

The largely unexplored low end of the gas turbine market exists, Wright maintained: "Based on the business case you have to generate (to turn a profit), it is there. We're confident that our analysis says we can step up to that challenge."

But just how big is the market for mini-jets? P&WC's business model reflects a market for "thousands" of small turbofans, Wright claimed, "substantially higher than the numbers we see today for the existing turbine market. Looking at the bottom end of today's (jet) market, Cessna CJ1 production is running at around 60 a year; we think the 1,000-1,200 pounds thrust market is significantly higher than that." (Williams International, whose NASA GAP-funded FJX turbofan demonstrator program is well along toward certification, has reached similar conclusions from its market research and production volume projections.)

With a successful demonstrator engine program under its corporate belt, P&WC believes it could begin a full-scale development program leading to production certification of one of the projected PW600 variants within 36 months or less from the signing of an airframe launch customer.