4 January 2021: Pratt & Whitney in a recent milestone rolled off its 50,000th PT6 turboprop engine off the production line. Currently the new PT6 E-Series engine is in full production which powers the Pilatus PC-12 NGX.
Irene Makris, vice president, sales and marketing at Pratt & Whitney Canada said, “From the first application more than 50 years ago, the now iconic PT6 engine turns possibilities into realities for our customers around the world on more than 130 different applications today. With each new model of engine developed and designed for a mission, platform, and customer in mind, our employees continue to build a more efficient, smarter engine with a shrinking environmental footprint– and they continue to rise to the challenge every day.”
The PT6 turboprop engine is the proven choice for demanding, high-cycle/high-power applications in single- and twin-engine aircraft for all kinds of missions and applications. The engine fleet’s current flying population is more than 25,000 units and it has accumulated more than 410 million flight hours and counting–that’s more flying time than anyone else in this segment.
“This production milestone is unmatched in the industry. It offers us another opportunity to celebrate the engine’s on-going success as we continue exploring new horizons for even more flying possibilities,” Makris further added, “The achievement sits as the collective cornerstone of Pratt & Whitney in General Aviation. With the PT6 E-Series engine now at the forefront, we remain committed to pushing innovation as we’ve been doing since the very beginning.”
Makris sees the 50,000-engine marker as the opportunity to pause and thank customers and employees for this remarkable accomplishment. It is a testament to the on-going success of the engine and the innovation behind its on-going evolution. The most recent example of this being the launch of the PT6 E-Series engine, the first the first turbine engine in the general aviation market to offer a dual-channel integrated electronic propeller and engine control.
