Pratt & Whitney

December 8, 2025 - It lent Rentschler US$250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, the 425-horsepower (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp, was completed on Christmas Eve 1925.

Also covered is the development of the J58, which powered the Mach 3+ YF-12 and SR-71 aircraft and subsequent military engines - the TF30 in the F-111; the F100 in the F-15 and F-16; the F119 in the F-22; and the F135 in the F-35 series. Pratt & Whitney’s contribution to the luxury commercial jet era travel is also detailed, with its JT3, JT3D, JT4, JT8D, JT9D, PW2000, PW4000, and PW6000 in Boeing, Douglas, and Airbus aircraft. This history of Pratt & Whitney’s role in the evolution of aircraft engines from 1925 to the present day offers young engineers a wealth of insights about design, development, marketing, and product support for commercial and military customers.

In 1925, the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company was founded by Frederick B. Rentschler, pioneer of the air-cooled radial engine design which enabled unprecedented power-to-weight ratio.

August 18, 2025 - In the late 1950s, a team of 12 Canadian Pratt & Whitney engineers began the development of the first small turbine engine in Canada, the PT6. The first example was delivered to a customer in 1963. In 1962, the company was renamed United Aircraft of Canada (UAC), and assumed its current name ...

Frederick Rentschler knew that the best airplane could only be built around the best engine. "The power plant is at the heart of the matter," he said when he established the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in July 1925 to design and build aircraft engines. The Pratt and Whitney Tool Company, ...

The original PT6 engineering team decided to start with a 500 shaft horsepower engine – something that critics found counterintuitive at a time when the piston engine ruled the small-aircraft aviation world. But it turned out to be a bold and brilliant choice… ... Pratt & Whitney Canada begins development of a hybrid electric flight demonstrator in partnership with Collins Aerospace.

Pratt & Whitney is one of the largest aircraft engine manufacturers in the world. The company gained a leading position in the piston-driven aircraft engine market during the 1930s and made the transition to jet engines during the early 1950s.

Pratt & Whitney’s history is a story of relentless grit and unwavering dedication, from developing era-defining engines in the early 20th century to unleashing new technologies that power the skies today.

October 24, 2024 - A graduate of Princeton University, Rentschler came from an industrious Midwest family with social connections, and through his banker brother soon learned that the Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company of Hartford, with its long history as a manufacturer of precision tools, had both capital to invest and extra factory space. As it happened, the president of Pratt & Whitney’s parent company, Niles-Bement-Ponds, was a friend of the Rentschler family, and with little fuss a deal was struck in July 1925 creating the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company as a separate business with Rentschler at the helm. The following month, Rentschler and his design team, led by chief engineer George Mead, moved into the Capitol Avenue factory that a few years earlier had been home to the Pope-Hartford Electric Automobile Company and began to work on the Navy’s engine.

The Engines of Pratt & Whitney: A Technical History recounts the role played by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) in the evolution of aircraft engines from 1925 to the present timefor the most part as told by the engineers who made the history.

November 29, 2025 - It had its first run on March 16, 2001. This led to the Geared Turbofan (GTF) program, which was based around a newly designed core jointly developed with German MTU Aero Engines.

June 15, 2025 - Pratt & Whitney Celebrates 100 Years of Engine Innovation · Engine maker reflects on its successful history and looks to the future of aircraft propulsion tech · P&W V2500-E5 Engine. © Pratt & Whitney · Share · Post · Share · Print · Copy · Email · By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor ·

July 22, 2025 - Pratt & Whitney celebrates 100 years of engine innovation, from the iconic Wasp to today's GTF and F135 engines, powering military and commercial aviation.

Our technologies have made aviation ever-more efficient, changed the boundaries of time and shortened the distance between people and places. We launched the wide-body age with the JT9D and the narrow-body age with the JT8D, lowered fuel consumption with the PW2000 and V2500, pioneered a revolutionary geared fan architecture in the Pratt & Whitney GTF™ engine.

June 16, 2025 - Its derivative, the JT8D, one of the most popular engines in aviation history, powered the inaugural flight of the Boeing 727, and was also the engine on the Boeing 737, Douglas DC-9, and Sud Aviation Caravelle. Today, more than 1,000 JT8Ds are still in service. ... The V2500 was developed by the International Aero Engines consortium, where Pratt & Whitney is today the leading member, and selected as an engine option for the Airbus A320 family and McDonnell Douglas MD-90.

June 17, 2024 - The F-35B is a short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft designed to operate off amphibious assault ships and small aircraft carriers. ... The F135 out-competed the rival General Electric/Rolls-Royal F136 engine to be selected for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F135 is developed from the Pratt & Whitney F119 (which was developed to power the F-22 Raptor).

Pratt & Whitney’s history is a story of relentless grit and unwavering dedication, from developing era-defining engines in the early 20th century to unleashing new technologies that power the skies today.Learn more