Innovation Refined

Avatar for Lisa GordonBy Lisa Gordon | September 29, 2013

Estimated reading time 23 minutes, 33 seconds.

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) might be celebrating several big milestones in 2013, but the festivities won’t shake the company’s 85-year focus on building dependable aero engines.
Founded in 1928 in Longueuil, Que., P&WC initially specialized in the sale, repair and overhaul of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) radial piston engines, widely used on bush planes and early airliners. The company kept busy during the Second World War years with government engine and overhaul contracts. It sold and serviced Hamilton Standard propellers, and established Canadian Propellers Limited as a manufacturing plant.
Legendary History
P&WC played an important – and yet often unrecognized – role in the development of Canada’s innovative post-war aircraft manufacturing industry. 
It convinced de Havilland Canada to buy P&W engines to power the successful DHC-2 Beaver and DHC-3 Otter bush planes, supplied the Hamilton Standard propellers used on Canada’s first airliner – the Canadair North Star – and sold the U.S.-designed P&W J75 engines that powered the supersonic Avro Arrow.
In 1952, P&WC started manufacturing R-1340 Wasp engines and P&W piston engine spare parts, which became an important stepping stone toward the company’s goal of becoming Canada’s gas turbine engine manufacturer. The focus was on designing a smaller gas turbine engine in the 500 shaft horsepower (shp) range, as a replacement for piston engines. 
P&WC assembled a team of 12 engineers who set about making this vision a reality. As it turned out, they made history while they were at it. The result of their collaboration was the legendary PT6 engine, which would go on to propel P&WC into a leading role in the global aviation industry.
Like all great innovations, the development of the PT6 was the result of imaginative and innovative engineering, coupled with calculated risk-taking. The company wasn’t sure of its first customers, so it designed an engine equally suitable for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. 
As it happened, the PT6A turboprop made its first flight mounted to the nose of a Beech 18 test bed aircraft on May 30, 1961.
Initially, four helicopter manufacturers (Hiller, Kaman, Lockheed and Piasecki) selected the PT6B turboshaft for new models; but it was soon evident that the turboprop had greater sales potential. At the top of the PT6 prospect list were de Havilland Canada (DHC) and Beech Aircraft.
In 1963, DHC evaluated a pair of PT6As on an experimental STOL (short takeoff and landing) Otter – which inspired the Twin Otter – and flew the PT6 on the prototype DHC-2 Mk. III Turbo Beaver, replacing a P&W R-985 Wasp Jr. engine.
Beech Aircraft and P&WC teamed up in 1963 to convert a Beech NU-8F (modified Queen Air) to PT6 power, in order to interest the U.S. Army. Beech was so impressed with the engine that it launched development of a new turboprop business aircraft, and placed an order for 16 PT6As. 
The first production PT6A-6 engines were shipped to Beech Aircraft Company in December 1963, to power the prototype King Air 90, which first flew in Wichita, Kan., on Jan. 20, 1964. It instantly won sales.
The timing of the PT6’s entry into service was perfect. The engine soon powered turboprop aircraft serving the business (King Air), utility (Turbo Beaver, Pilatus Turbo Porter), and commuter airline (Twin Otter, Beech 99, Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante) markets.
The PT6 quickly started to demonstrate its outstanding reliability and time between overhauls (TBOs) escalated, which helped bring operating costs down.
The launch of the PT6 Twin Pac (two PT6 power sections with a combining gearbox) in the late 1960s firmly established the engine in the emerging medium twin helicopter market (Bell 212/UH-1N, Sikorsky S-58T, Bell AH-1J).
As well, P&WC continuously responded to growing requirements of the business, utility, airline, agricultural and military flight training sectors with new members of the PT6 engine family. 
Along the way, the reliability of the PT6 was instrumental in the creation of the single-engine passenger IFR turboprop market, with aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12. 
Industry Workhorse
“It’s been 50 years since then,” said Nicholas Kanellias, general manager of general aviation programs at P&WC. “Today, the engine has over 130 applications, and 90 models, with 70 of them being PT6A turboprops.”
To date, P&WC has produced more than 51,000 PT6-variant engines in the 500 to 1,700 shp class, including helicopter engines, with about 28,000 of them still flying. Of those, 24,000 are PT6A turboprop engines, which have found their way into all corners of the globe, flying in more than 180 countries for 10,000-plus operators. According to the manufacturer, a P&WC-powered aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in the world every second.
“If anything, one of the key things we’ve focused on with the PT6 is pushing the performance envelope, but keeping the cost down – keeping maintenance simple, keeping the engine rugged,” said Kanellias, who has been with P&WC for 17 years.
Indeed, the PT6 works in some of the world’s harshest regions and most extreme climates. In 2001, it was a PT6-powered de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, operated by Calgary’s Kenn Borek Air, that achieved the impossible: a rescue flight from Calgary into the Amundsen-Scott Research Center at the South Pole, during the dead of polar winter.
Although that particular flight stands out as remarkable, it likely wasn’t all that surprising to most PT6 operators. In the half century since it was released, the PT6 engine has earned a reputation as a general aviation workhorse. The vast majority of its 7,200 operators are small organizations who depend on it to haul everything from corporate executives to chickens, cargo and commuters.
Founding a Nation
With such a diverse customer base, management at P&WC wondered how they could bring everyone together to celebrate 50 years of the PT6. With the upcoming anniversary on the horizon, the company founded the “PT6 Nation” in 2010, an online community that invites operators, pilots, maintenance professionals and fans to share their stories and experiences with the engine, which has chalked up an impressive 380 million flying hours since it was first flown.
“We called it the PT6 Nation so everybody could come together to wave the flag,” explained Kanellias. “In this anniversary year, we are trying to do something different: a new theme, every month.”
Along with the PT6 Nation website, P&WC has also launched an aggressive social media campaign. At the time of writing, the PT6 Nation Facebook page had attracted 42,000 fans since it was founded in 2010. Close to 7,500 people were following the movement on Twitter; while over on Instagram, 800 fans were sharing PT6 photos and stories. This year, the company also established a presence on Foursquare, a social networking site that allows users to “check in” at various venues to connect with friends.
“Before we did this, the PT6 network of customers was scattered on various websites around the world,” said Kanellias. “Now, we’re giving them a way to connect with everybody worldwide.
“There is a humanitarian aspect to the PT6 and some of its missions,” he continued. “It has opened up many areas of the world, and helped shape the world that we know. For operators, the PT6 made single-engine IFR flights with passengers possible, because its reliability permitted them to operate in remote locations. That changed the world, especially in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, where they recognize the reliability and use those types of aircraft: the Cessna Caravan, the Pilatus PC-12, the Piper Meridian…all of those can operate and carry passengers.”
Indeed, P&WC has always focused on delivering value to its customers. Kanellias said the company has adopted a culture of continuous improvement across its entire product line, investing several hundred million dollars per year into research and development.
“For 50 years, the PT6 has focused on improving power-to-weight ratio, improving fuel consumption, improving reliability,” he added. “We are committed to being cleaner and greener. Going forward, we’re also looking at how we can improve fuel efficiency. We’ve done that over the last 50 years; [since the first PT6] we’ve improved fuel consumption by 20 per cent.”
P&WC is working on developing the latest generation of electronic controls for its engines, which are designed to ensure that powerplants achieve maximum efficiency during all stages of flight. This idea has met with some resistance from PT6 operators, although Kanellias said this tide seems to be turning.
“The PT6 has been the bread and butter of simple operating aircraft. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat with an operator and talked to them about incorporating simple electronic controls, and many didn’t want them,” he said. “Military trainers use them, but for the most part everybody else didn’t want them. In their minds, it was something that could break, and why change it if it works?”
A good example of the benefits of electronic controls is engine health monitoring, a service P&WC now offers its customers. Traditionally, maintenance engineers have been required to perform regular hot section inspections on PT6 engines, at roughly halfway to the time between overhaul (TBO), or approximately 1,800 hours. Now, however, electronic engine condition trend monitoring (ECTM) delivers reports that summarize an engine’s performance, allowing maintenance personnel to plan ahead for coming inspections. 
“It gives customers a choice,” said Kanellias. “You either have a mandatory hot section inspection, or you can monitor trends via electronic reports. The objective is getting to a point where [as an OEM] you align with customer needs and value.”
Pursuing Gold
As a United Technologies company, P&WC has adopted the parent company’s operating system, better known as ACE, or Achieving Competitive Excellence.
“The premise is simple: know what you want to do, put it down in a process, and as you go forward, improve it,” explained Kanellias. “A big part of ACE focuses on manufacturing and delivering reliability to our customers. The ultimate goal is a value chain, right from our suppliers all the way through the manufacturing cycle and then to support.”
All divisions at P&WC are working their way through the bronze and silver levels of ACE, with their eye on gold, which represents the pinnacle of departmental achievement. The company also requires its suppliers to follow a program or system that ensures that they, too, develop a culture of excellence. With 60 to 70 per cent of engine parts purchased from suppliers, it’s critical to share the same commitment to quality.
With more than 10,000 customers operating all variants of P&WC engines, ACE has been particularly useful in the CFirst, or Customer First, department.
“Nobody likes to call for help and be put on hold,” said Kanellias. That’s why, when operators call P&WC to report a problem, they receive integrated support services, coordinated through two main centres in Montreal and Singapore. CFirst staff provide 24/7 coverage anywhere in the world, with inquiries logged into a digital databank that employs a simple, colour-coded tracking system to prioritize responses.
“We are known for that support mentality and having that service network,” said Kanellias proudly.
P&WC can deliver parts anywhere in 12 hours, with an AOG (aircraft on ground) return to service time of less than 24 hours. This impressive feat is managed with the assistance of seven parts distribution centres, 30 designated overhaul facilities (DOFs), more than 100 field reps, and 100 mobile repair team technicians.
In addition to delivering top notch customer service, there is an added benefit from this structure: the company keeps its finger on the pulse of its products, and is tipped off immediately to any performance or durability issues that may be developing in the field. If an area of concern is identified, P&WC pulls together an integrated product development team to proactively address and deal with it, minimizing customer impact.
Obviously, though, it’s better to catch any potential issues before they make it into the field. To that end, every engine that goes out the door is subjected to rigorous testing in P&WC’s on-site engine test cell.
“Other industries work off a sampling principle when it comes to testing,” said Kanellias. “We don’t do that; we test each one, and that allows our customers to do less flight testing. We have a minimum spec we have to meet; we meet it, and the engine goes out the door, stamped by an authorized inspector.”
But before an engine makes it to the test cell, it has to pass muster with P&WC’s computerized visual inspection system, or CVIS. Developed in conjunction with AV&R Aerospace – a Quebec-based company specializing in industrial robotics for automated visual inspections and production finishing – the CVIS circles around a finished engine, taking between 30 and 50 photos, which are then compared to its photographic reference library of “perfect” engine pictures. Anomalies are immediately spotted and flagged by CVIS, allowing staff at P&WC to catch and resolve any production issues.
“There is a wager system going, on the floor, to make sure they don’t get caught by the robot,” laughed Kanellias. “No one wants their work to be rejected by a machine.”
He added that customers who visit P&WC’s engine assembly facilities are often impressed by the high-tech equipment and the level of automation used in the production process. “Most customers don’t realize how much technology goes into producing our engines until they see it,” he said. 
Beyond The PT6
Although the PT6 is undoubtedly P&WC’s most successful product line, there are in fact 13 engine families produced by the manufacturer: JT15D, PT6A, PT6B, PT6C, PT6T, PW100, PW150, PW200, PW210, PW300, PW500, PW600 and PW800. In total, the company has produced 80,000-plus engines, 50,000 of which are still in service, having accumulated more than 600 million flight hours. About 3,000 engines roll off the assembly lines every year. Smaller PT6 models can be built in a work week – including four days on the build stand and one day for testing and packaging.
In addition to manufacturing facilities in Longueuil and Lethbridge, Alta. – which has been designated a PT6 centre of excellence and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year – P&WC also operates facilities in Saint-Hubert and Mirabel in Quebec; Mississauga and Ottawa in Ontario, in Halifax, N.S., and in Thompson, Man., where a state-of-the-art cold weather testing and research facility for aircraft engines has been established in a joint venture with Rolls-Royce Canada.
Engines from P&WC power a wide range of aircraft, from agricultural to corporate, and from regional to helicopters, as well as those used for utility/military applications.
“Pratt has a varied product line, probably the most varied of any engine manufacturer in the world,” said Kanellias.
He added that the lion’s share of P&WC engines is found on helicopters and corporate aircraft, with a good smattering of agricultural planes thrown into the mix. “Ag is a market that has grown tremendously in the past few years. And, we really see the utility market as the one market in the world that will continue and even grow. Those types of aircraft are used everywhere in the world. It’s amazing how people find all kinds of uses for those aircraft.”
Kanellias said it’s always an eye-opener to attend trade shows and operator conferences, because that’s where P&WC staff members hear about the very unique and varied applications of the PT6 engine.
Those venues are also great for connecting with the end users of P&WC products. “The challenge has been getting out there. How do we do more to communicate with our customers?” said Kanellias. “We try to be at the forefront of communication technology. As well, we have great ambassadors. Our field service staff does a great job of making first contact. Our DOFs wave the flag as well.”
Waving the flag is what it’s all about for P&WC in 2013. It’s a milestone year for the company – 85 years in business, 50 years of the PT6, and 20 years for the Lethbridge facility – and celebrations are in full swing.
“We’ve had 50 inspiring years of turboprop innovation,” concluded Kanellias. “I think we can go on for hours about what Canadians have contributed to the aviation and aerospace industry. As a country, we’ve contributed a tremendous amount. Right here, 12 simple, unassuming engineering types sat down and came up with the PT6 engine – and 50 years later, we’re celebrating not an event, but a continuation.”

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