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To test pre-production PT6 engines, Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) obtained a Beechcraft C-45 on loan from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Modifications were accomplished by de Havilland Canada. The PT6A powerplant weighed 270 pounds and required ballast in the cabin
to improve longitudinal stability. During its 20-year service with PWC, the unique test bed flew more than 700 flights totaling 1,068 hours evaluating a wide variety of PT6A engines. The airplane was retired in 1980. (ROBERT K. PARMERTER)
a lot of punch for its size and weight. If PWC shelved the PT6, “that would be the end of it,” said one senior company official. Undaunted and determined to save the PT6, PWC president Thor Stephenson went to Hartford and strongly defended the program. Ultimately, PWC’s decision to keep or kill the PT6 lay with one company: Beech Aircraft Corporation. KA
NOTES:
The author expresses his thanks to Kathy Roberge of Pratt & Whitney Canada, for her kind assistance in the preparation of this article.
1. Sullivan, Mark; “Dependable Engines – The Story of Pratt & Whitney;” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, Va.; 2008.
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid. In 1971, Bruce Torrell became
president of Pratt & Whitney.
5. Ibid. In December 1962, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, Limited, was renamed United Aircraft of Canada, Limited, to more clearly express the diverse interests of parent company, United
Aircraft Corporation.
6. According to Robert K. Parmerter,
PWC bought the C-45 from the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1971, when it was refurbished and registered CF-ZWY-X. It was used to test many versions of the PT6 and last flew in June 1980 after flying 719 test flights that totaled more than 1,000 flight hours. The airplane was converted to its original twin-engine configuration and donated to the Ecole Nationale d’Aeronautique, an aviation trade school, located in St. Hubert, Quebec.
About the Author: Ed Phillips, now retired and living in the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kan. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
MAY 2015
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 25