PurePower Geared Turbofan engine

Bombardier Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney have announced Transport Canada type certification of the first PurePower Geared Turbofan engine — the PW1500G engine that will power Bombardier’s C-Series aircraft. Pratt & Whitney has conducted over 4,000hr of rigorous engine testing since September 2010. The PW1500G test programme included 340hr of flight testing on P&W’s experimental 747 Flight Test plane.

Rob Dewar — vice-president and general manager (C-Series) at Bombardier Commercial Aircraft — said: “Certification of the PW1500G is a significant milestone. We are very pleased with the engine’s performance and the overall, steady progress of the C-Series aircraft programme. We have met a number of key milestones over the last few months; we accepted the first pair of PW1500G propulsion systems, and we are in the process of completing final assembly of the first C-Series flight test aircraft.”

The PW1500G engines were type-certified through Transport Canada by Pratt & Whitney Canada and are assembled at the latter’s Mirabel Aerospace Centre in Quebec. The PurePower PW1500G engine uses a gear system that allows the engine’s fan to operate at a different speed to the low-pressure compressor and turbine. This gives significant improvements in fuel efficiency, as well as reductions in emissions and noise.