Page 25 - Volume 11 Number 1

In the mid-1950s, Beech Aircraft Corporation was already looking toward turbine engines when it briefly marketed the French Morane- Saulnier MS760 jet that carried four people in a pressurized cabin. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
Meanwhile, up north in Montreal, the
Pratt & Whitney Canada division (PWC)
of New England­based Pratt & Whitney
Aircraft (PWA) was about to make a
technical transition that would have a
massive impact on its future business. In
1951 the Canadian company’s primary
product remained the air­cooled radial
engine, specifically the R­1340 Wasp. By
1954, however, when the long­running
R­1340 program was nearing its end, the
company began building Wright R­1820 radial engines under license to Wright Aeronautical. These powerplants were installed on the Royal Canadian Navy’s Grumman Tracker, an anti­submarine warfare aircraft.
By 1954, PWA officials had decided that the company’s future lie with turbines, not reciprocating engines, and announced that a new facility would be built in Longeuil, Montreal. Plans called for transferring to PWC all tooling for production of the R­985, R­1340, R­1830 and R­2000
radials, as well as spare parts, making the Canadian division the sole source for those components.
In 1956, however, the Canadian division was revamped under the direction of CEO Ron Riley. The reorganization included a plan to create a new group responsible for conducting design and development of gas turbine engines, and Riley was quick to authorize a search to find men who were well acquainted with design and development of such powerplants.
JANUARY 2017 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23