 | |
| Industry | Machine tools, machinery, metrology systems |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Pratt & Whitney Company |
| Founded | 1860 |
| Headquarters | Originally Hartford, Connecticut; now Bloomfield, Connecticut |
Key people | Francis A. Pratt, Amos Whitney |
| Products | Instruments and systems |
| Website | www |
Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems is an American multinational corporation that specializes in producing high-precision measuring instruments and systems.
The Pratt & Whitney Company was founded in 1860 by Francis A. Pratt and Amos Whitney, with headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. The company manufactured machine tools, tools for the makers of sewing machines, and gun-making machinery for use by the Union Army during the American Civil War. [2] [3]
In 1925, Frederick Rentschler approached Pratt & Whitney for funding and a location to build his new aircraft engine. [4] Pratt & Whitney loaned him $250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, which evolved into today's widely known aircraft engine manufacturer.
In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and formed United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, the predecessor to United Technologies Corporation. His agreement allowed him to carry the name with him to his new corporation.
For many years, the company maintained a plant on New Park Avenue near the Hartford/West Hartford border, where they manufactured machine tools such as their jig-bore machines and other numerically controlled machines. They also manufactured engine lathes, milling machines and twist drills. The company is currently located in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
Main product lines include universal comparators, bench micrometers, and inspection gaging systems. These instruments primarily use laser interferometers, encoders and LVDTs, and are primarily used in quality departments, calibration laboratories, and in manufacturing environments.
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. As one of the "big three" aero-engine manufacturers, it competes with General Electric and Rolls-Royce, although it has also formed joint ventures with both of these companies. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbines for industrial and power generation, and marine turbines. In 2017, the company reported that in 2014 they had 38,737 employees supporting more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world. In 2013, Pratt & Whitney's revenue totaled $14.5 billion.
Wright Aeronautical (1919–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey. It was the successor corporation to Wright-Martin. It built aircraft and was a supplier of aircraft engines to other builders in the golden age of aviation. Wright engines were used by Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. In 1929, the company merged with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation to form Curtiss-Wright.
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, vertically-integrated, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of airframe and aircraft engine manufacturing and airline business, to serve all aviation markets, both civil aviation and military aviation.
The Rolls-Royce RB.44 Tay was a British turbojet engine of the 1940s, an enlarged version of the Rolls-Royce Nene designed at the request of Pratt & Whitney. It saw no use by British production aircraft but the design was licence built by Pratt & Whitney as the J48, and by Hispano-Suiza as the Verdon.
The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Frederick Brant Rentschler was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, industrialist, and the founder of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutionary aircraft engines, including those used in the aircraft of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and James Doolittle. He is also a co-founder of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, the predecessor of United Technologies Corporation.
Francis Ashbury Pratt was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, and co-founder of Pratt & Whitney.
Amos Whitney was a mechanical engineer and inventor who co-founded the Pratt & Whitney company. He was a member of the prominent Whitney family.
The United Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer formed by the break-up of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1934. In 1975, the company became United Technologies.
The Ranger Engines Division of the Fairchild Engine & Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft engine company. It was known as the Fairchild Engine Division after World War II.
The Pratt & Whitney J48 is a turbojet engine developed by Pratt & Whitney as a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Tay. The Tay/J48 was an enlarged development of the Rolls-Royce Nene.
The Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp is an American radial engine developed in 1942 to power military aircraft. It is one of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series of Radial engines.
The Pratt & Whitney X-1800 was an H-block aircraft engine project developed between 1938 and 1940, which was cancelled with only one example being built.
The Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E was a radial aircraft engine developed in the United States by Pratt & Whitney. It had two rows of seven cylinders each. Its only production application was on the post-World War II Saab 90 Scandia airliner.
Pratt & Whitney is a manufacturer of aircraft engines
The Pratt & Whitney R-1860 Hornet B was a relatively uncommon aircraft engine. It was a development of Pratt & Whitney's earlier R-1690 Hornet and was basically similar, but enlarged in capacity from 1,690 to 1,860 cubic inches (30.5 L). Cylinder bore was increased by 1/8" and the crankshaft stroke by 3/8". Both engines were air-cooled radial engines, with a single row of nine cylinders.
The Pratt & Whitney XH-3130 was an H-block aircraft engine project developed for the United States Navy in the late 1930s. The design was later enlarged as the XH-3730), but the project was canceled in 1940 in favor of Pratt & Whitney developing the R-4360 Wasp Major air-cooled radial engine.
The Pratt & Whitney R-2060 Yellow Jacket was a liquid-cooled aircraft engine project developed for the United States Army in the early 1930s. The engine had five banks of four in-line cylinders, and displaced 2,060 cubic inches. Designed to produce 1,000 hp, the engine produced 1,116 hp on its final run after 35 hours of testing. The engine was cancelled in favor of continuing development of Pratt & Whitney's air-cooled R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine.
George Jackson Mead was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with Frederick Rentschler, of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Mead and Rentschler left Wright Aeronautical with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925. Their first project was to build a new, large, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine of Mead's design, which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the R-1340, and a large series of Wasp models and Hornet models followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent United Aircraft. He served as the president of the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission during World War II, as a manager in the U.S. government's war materiel production effort.
RTX Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitalization, as well as one of the largest providers of intelligence services. RTX manufactures aircraft engines, avionics, aerostructures, cybersecurity solutions, guided missiles, air defense systems, satellites, and drones. The company is also a large military contractor, getting a significant portion of its revenue from the U.S. government.