Pratt & Whitney's completes first phase of testing on the PW1000G demonstrator engine

Pratt & Whitney has said that the PW1000G (GearedTurbofan) demonstrator engine has finished the first phase of flight testing on the company's B747SP flying testbed.

According to Bob Saia, vice president, next generation product family, the engine has completed 12 flights and run approximately 43 hours. The tests were focused on performance and operability, and according to  Saia, the engine has performed "flawlessly" and "met all of our pre-flight performance targets."

The power plant has now been shipped to Toulouse for installation on an Airbus-owned A340 flight test aircraft in preparation for a joint Airbus-P&W flight test programme scheduled for the fourth quarter of the year.

"This second phase of testing, which will include approximately 75 flight hours, will focus on engine performance and acoustic testing while providing valuable installation and operating data," Saia said.

To date the engine has undergone a total of 306 hours of flight and ground-based testing.