A Boeing 777 test engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a UTC subsidiary, was delivered by a flatbed-truck to students at Connecticut Aero Tech School on Friday morning.
The PW4098 commercial engine--a test engine for a Boeing 777--is mammoth, weighing 7 tons.
When it finally arrived students couldn't wait to unwrap their new learning tool. "It felt like unwrapping a present for Christmas. It's great, it's just absolutely great, I love it," said Adam Svinland, a student at the school.
The engine was built as a test engine for the Boeing 777 in the late 90's. It's now valued around $10 million, and it's being donated to students to provide first-hand knowledge of modern-day commercial airplane engines.
"The engine represents newer technology than what the student goes through here, what they go through in a two-year program. So it's really above and beyond actually," said Jerry Howell, a commercial engine instructor for Pratt & Whitney.
The engine happens to be Pratt & Whitney's largest gas turbine engine ever built. It consumes two tons of air every second to help produce 98,000 pounds of thrust.
There are 54 students enrolled at the tech school , which provides post-high school vocational training.
The new test engine is the latest addition to an extensive fleet of jet engines there. "We have a variety of engines to cover the gamut to the very small airplanes, now to the very largest airliner, we can expose them to a lot of great stuff," said Charlie Hinton, program director at Connecticut Aero Tech School.
