Engines
Great Design Is Key To Half-Century of PT6’s Staying Power
Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6 turboprop changed the engine game.
Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6 turboprop changed the engine game.

The term game-changer is grossly overused in aviation, but few would dispute that the arrival on the market of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6 turboprop 50 years ago this year did indeed change the engine game. The breakthrough technology that allowed this innovative turboprop to displace the piston and radial engines of the day was P&WC’s combination of the “free-turbine” and “reverse-flow” inlets.