PW615F Makes First Flight

It's flying. Well, at least the engine is.

The Citation Mustang PW615F engine successfully completed its maiden flight Tuesday. The 1.9 hour flight was flown on a CitationJet test bed from Cessna's facility in Wichita (KS).

Cessna received the Citation Mustang PW615F engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) on April 1. The first ground run test occurred eight days later. Since being delivered to Cessna, the PW615F engine has undergone approximately three hours of engine ground run evaluations. Prior to arriving at Cessna, it completed over 70 hours of testing at P&WC's engine test facilities.

The Cessna test marks the first time a P&WC engine has flown on an aircraft manufacturer's engine test bed before it was flown on P&WC's Boeing 720 engine test bed.

"This is the first major milestone for the Mustang program," said Citation Mustang Program Manager, Russ Meyer III.  "The first flight went very well, and we're eager to continue the PW615F engine test bed program to evaluate engine and FADEC operating characteristics."

The PW615F engine is the first 600 series engine P&WC has delivered to any manufacturer.  It is flat rated at 1,350 pounds of takeoff thrust at sea level to ISA +10�C and controlled by a dual-channel FADEC (Full Authority Digital Electronic Control). 

P&WC expects full PW615F type certification in the fourth quarter of 2005.

"Our new PW600 family of general aviation turbofan engines is designed to provide operators with optimum value and performance while significantly reducing ownership costs," said John Wright, Vice President, Business Aviation and Military Engines, P&WC. "The outstanding results of the PW615F development program to date indicate that it will deliver on all counts."

FMI: www.textron.com, www.cessna.com