Pratt & Whitney on the GTF

I had a chance to sit down with Matthew Perra, Communications Manager with Pratt & Whitney commercial engines division, this morning. My wide ranging interview runs about 19 minutes and covers a wide range of topics including Geared Turbo Fan launch customers for both the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Bombardier CSeries. Matt also talks about the 737 and A320 replacement possibilities for a scaled up Geared Turbo Fan.

Perhaps most interesting, the GTF, which is expected to enter flight testing on Pratt & Whitney’s 747SP test bed the summer, is now under going ground testing with synthetic fuels. The 50% natural gas to liquid blend performed identically to traditional fuel. Perra says that the GTF will be certified for synthetic fuels right out of the box.

You can download it here.

This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.