Story ID: 705Pratt & WhitneyCanadaNBAA12NM.doc
P&WC Highlights Strong Support Systems
By: Curt Epstein
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Word Count: 558
Pratt & Whitney Canada (Booth No. 3160) announced it has enrolled the 4,000th engine in its Eagle Service Plan (ESP) pay-per-hour maintenance program. The tiered program offers operators a choice of maintenance coverage. The basic plan includes parts and shop labor costs for scheduled engine overhaul/refurbishment and hot-section inspection, basic unscheduled engine and line replaceable unit/accessory maintenance and required product-support improvements at shop visits. Over the past two years the powerplant maker has added 1,000 new engines to the program. Total global enrollment for all PW&C-backed hourly maintenance programs now includes 7,500 engines from approximately 2,100 operators.

P&WC has reached a milestone with regards to its installed fleet of data acquisition systems. Some 4,500 flight data monitoring devices are now installed in aircraft belonging to more than 1,000 customers around the world. These devices include the company’s Flight Data Acquisition Storage and Transmission System (Fast), which was introduced last year. “Fast is unique in that it goes beyond traditional diagnostics, prognostics and trend monitoring,” said Raffaele Virgili, vice president for customer service. “The product can acquire, store and transmit data from the aircraft flight data recorder, thus allowing for customer review of full flight operational quality assurance information.” The system is installed on the Dassault Falcon 7X and has received STC approval for Bombardier’s Learjet 60 and Q400 regional turboprop.

To accommodate increased maintenance demand, P&WC is relocating its Long Beach, Calif. regional service center to a new facility in Cypress, Calif. with more capacity. The 23,000-sq-ft energy-efficient facility (4,500 sq ft larger than the current location) will allow for a new machine/clean line room to support broader repairs. Over the coming months, the location will add a wider range of services for the PT6, PW535/545, PW615/617 and PW200/PW210 as well as dedicated repair areas for larger engines and more in-depth work scopes.

P&WC reported that its mobile support teams are on track to finish this year with an exemplary on-time delivery rate for event response. “Year-to-date results show our mobile teams have performed more than 900 events around the globe, with 95 percent on-time delivery to meet customer needs,” said Virgili. Currently P&WC has 93 licensed A&P technicians on rotation with two on-call at each of the company’s six regional service centers in the U.S., and 14 mobile response team support vehicles stationed around the country, plus additional mobile teams around the world.

As it prepares to mark its second birthday, P&WC’s website PT6Nation.com now has more than 30,000 followers across many social platforms. The site provides new ways to connect with customers, learn how the engine is performing in the field and deliver customized support to keep them flying, explained Denis Parisien, P&WC’s vice president of general aviation products.

P&WC has continued to make investments in the design of the PT6 series, which is now available in 130 applications. Over the half century of the venerable turboprop’s life, P&WC has wrung a four-fold increase in power-to-weight ratio from the ubiquitous engine. Next year, the company will celebrate the official 50th anniversary of the PT6’s first flight in a modified Beech Queen Air that blazed the trail for the King Air 90.