On the Record with
GILLES OUIMET, PRESIDENT & CEO, PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA

Further on Falcons Is a Key P&WC Goal

"A key strategic objective." That's how Pratt & Whitney Canada president & CEO Gilles Ouimet describes getting his engines onto a second Dassault Falcon Jet.

"Forecasts for the next 10 years of business aircraft deliveries show Falcon Jet will be No. 2. Until our win on the Falcon 2000EX we were not present with one of the most capable and largest business aviation manufacturers in the world," Ouimet told Show News.

"It really was a monopoly by Brand X (Honeywell). It has been a long-term plan of action to convince Dassault to use our engines.

"Early on we competed on the 900EX, and for reasons not related to engine or commercial conditions they decided to stay with their then current supplier," Ouimet noted. "But we kept the dialog going, developed our product line, and finally the right powerplants and airframes converged," he said. "Now to extend our relationship further with Dassault is our key strategic objective."

Ground runs of the PW308C on the Falcon 2000EX have progressed very well, Ouimet said. Pratt is responsible for the whole propulsion package outboard of the pylon; engine certification with Transport Canada is due by October.

P&WC is also responsible for the whole propulsion package on the Hawker Horizon, which made its first flight in August. "The powerplant behaved completely flawlessly," Ouimet said.

It would have been a surprise if it hadn't.

"One lesson we learned over the last decade or so is that our customers simply will not accept, and frankly should not accept, the final development of a powerplant on-wing," said Ouimet. "As we've shrunk development time from five to three years, we have also enhanced the development process so we can mitigate the risk and have a program that's going to do what it's supposed to do."

A recently developed quality and risk management program called MERSI--for Mature Engine Reliability at Service Introduction --ensures absolute reliability at entry into service, according to Ouimet.

"If we apply it properly, our customers will say 'Merci'," he quipped.

Joking aside, Pratt & Whitney Canada continues to make major progress towards its goal of establishing itself as the predominant supplier of propulsion systems for business aircraft. Highlights among current programs include:

· PW600--Pratt recently agreed with Raytheon to develop the PW625F as part of a product line of 1,000- to 2,500-pounds-thrust engines to power personal jets. Ouimet, who flies a Piper Warrior, this year attended EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh for the first time and was impressed with the dynamics that would suggest success for a jet aircraft priced between $750,000 and $1.5 million. "We are looking at offerings in the light jet market," he said, but noted how Learjet has been the only example in the last 50 years of anybody building a company and developing a jet aircraft at the same time and getting into production. He is not prepared to develop an engine for less than platinum-plated companies, hence the tie-up with Raytheon-which itself has recently shown the difficulties in bringing new aircraft to market on time.

· PW500--"Running like clockwork." The 100th PW535 for the Citation Encore was delivered in July, and the 1,000th PW500 will be shipped soon. The 2,750- to 4,500-pounds-thrust engine replaces the JT15D and is aimed at entry-level to midsize intercontinental business jets. It powers the Citation Ultra Encore, Excel and Bravo.

· PW300--Now flying on the Horizon, soon to fly on the Dassault 2000EX, and will be certified for the Cessna Sovereign in mid-2002. The 4,600- to 6,500-pounds-thrust engine also powers the Fairchild Dornier 328/428JET family of 30-40 passenger regional airliners, Learjet 60, and Gulfstream 200.

· PW800--This 10,000-to 19,000-pounds-thrust geared fan engine will require an application in the 70-110 passenger regional airliner market before it is economically feasible to develop a business jet version. "It will make an excellent business aircraft engine over time," said Ouimet.

-John Morris