Amazing! This bird spends most of its time in Mirabel Canada, where they are doing the cold-weather testing for their new geared turbo fan engines. Great to see it made its way to the States for a visit!
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Amazing! This bird spends most of its time in Mirabel Canada, where they are doing the cold-weather testing for their new geared turbo fan engines. Great to see it made its way to the States for a visit!
From Aviation Week:
http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.as...1-71d88c969133
Inside Pratt's new flying testbed
Posted by Guy Norris 3:49 PM on May 04, 2012
Pratt & Whitney’s latest geared turbofan engine – the PW1200G for the Japanese MRJ project – is now starting test flights on the company’s recently-inaugurated Boeing 747SP flying testbed. The high-altitude, long endurance and wide speed range capability of the SP make it ideal as a testbed particularly since the unusual-looking stub wing, which houses the test unit, can be adapted to take everything from small GTFs and business jet engines to turboprops. Sister company Pratt & Whitney Canada will use this testbed predominantly, while Pratt & Whitney will use the sister 747SP for testing larger engines. The second 747SP mounts the test engine in the No.2 inboard position under the wing in place of one of the aircraft’s standard JT9D powerplants.
The aircraft, now Canadian-registered with the appropriate identity C-GTFF, was originally built for Korean Airlines. First flown at Everett in January 1981, it entered service with Korean in March 1981 and remained in service with the carrier for the next 18 years. Following stints with The Air Medical Foundation and Transatlantic International Airlines, the 747SP spent several years in storage after being acquired by P&W in the mid-2000s. As with GE’s ex-Pan Am 747-100 flying testbed, Pratt’s 747SP gives away its origins in the first class area in the nose where the original seats and KAL décor can still be seen.
Link includes lots more pics!