The Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine took to the skies for its first flight on June 20, launching the engine family's first flight test program. The PW1524G engine for the Bombardier CSeries aircraft flew its maiden flight on Pratt & Whitney's 747SP flying test bed at Pratt & Whitney Canada's Mirabel Aerospace Centre, in Mirabel, Quebec (Canada). Open since May 6, this state-of-the-art facility, which features advanced manufacturing technologies, is where final production assembly and test will occur for both the PurePower® PW1524G and P&WC's advanced PurePower® PW800 family of engines for the next generation of large business jets. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

"The engine performed even better than we expected on this first flight, building on the success of our ground test program," said Bob Saia, vice president, Next Generation Product Family. "To date, we have conducted nearly 400 hours of full engine ground testing. We are very pleased with the initial results, which have demonstrated the geared architecture's benefits of low fuel consumption, lower noise and a robust operational design. The engine is real, and it's flying now. We have four PurePower engines at test and five engines in the build phase." This initial flight test program validates performance, engine operability and in-flight starting.

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

The PurePower PW1000G series engines use an advanced gear system allowing the engine's fan to operate at a different speed than the low-pressure compressor and turbine. The combination of the gear system and an all-new advanced core deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency, environmental emissions and noise.

The PW1500G engine test program will run a total of eight test engines over the next 18 months with engine certification scheduled for 2012. Entry into service is scheduled for 2013.

The PurePower family of engines shares common, advanced cores across the PW1000G and PW800 models, and features flight proven, next-generation technology. The engine core consists of an ultra-efficient high-pressure compressor, a low-emissions combustor, and state of the art high-pressure turbine module.

The PW1500G engine test program also supports the development of Pratt & Whitney Canada's PurePower PW800 engine for the next generation of large business jets. The PurePower PW800 engine is a 10,000- to 20,000-pound thrust turbofan that has double-digit improvements in fuel burn, environmental emissions, engine noise and operating costs.