The Engines of Pratt & Whitney: A Technical History

by Jack Connors

The Engines of Pratt & A Technical History recounts the role played by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) in the evolution of aircraft engines from 1925 to the present timefor the most part as told by the engineers who made the history. A technical reference of all P&W engines and their applications, the book describes the evolution of piston engines and gas turbines, and offers young engineers a wealth of insights about design, development, marketing, and product support efforts for customers at home and abroad. The first three chapters introduce the contributions of Frederick Rentschler, George Mead, and Leonard Hobbs, with stories of how each new piston engine came into being. From 19401945 P&W committed its engineering efforts to winning World War II, but when the war was over, P&W found itself on the outside of the gas turbine market, which was capably being served by General Electric and Westinghouse. How P&W emerged from being five years behind the competition in 1945 to a positio

Genres: Engineering

527 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ryan Melander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the right blend of technical details, history, and personal experiences. A large portion is dedicated to radial piston engines and the shift to jet engines after WW2. Then the book details each subsequent engine design and how it iterates on the previous generation all the way up to modern turbofans, both commercial and military. I really enjoyed the simple explanations of engine design. Overall it is well-organized and a useful reference book.