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OCR for page 236
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OCR for page 237
PERRY W. PRATT
1914-1981
BY EDWARD H. HEINEMANN
AND EDWARD R. COWLES
PERRY W. PRATT a leading aircraft engine designer who made key
contributions to the development of jet propulsion, died on January
6, 1981, at his home in Jupiter, Florida. He spent his entire career,
spanning more than three decades, with Pratt and Whitney Aircraft
and its corporate parent, United Technologies.
When he retired in 1971, he was the company's Chief Scientist
and directed the advanced study and planning group of scientists
and engineers who were responsible for searching out and investigat-
ing new fields of activity for the corporation, its operating divisions,
and its subsidiaries.
Mr. Pratt was born January 10, 1914, in Lompoc, California. He
graduated from Oregon State University and did graduate work at
Yale and New York University.
Mr. Pratt joined Pratt and Whitney Aircraft (no relation) as a Test
Engineer in 1939, and was Project Engineer for the R-2800 Double
Wasp engine, which powered a wide array of Allied fighters,
bombers, and transports during World War II.
When Pratt and Whitney Aircraft went into the jet engine field,
Mr. Pratt was chosen to head the Technical and Research Section of
the Gas Turbine Department. In this capacity he had a key part in
the development of Pratt and Whitney Aircraft's family of gas tur-
bine engines, which today power a large number of the Nation's
front-line military aircraft and three-quarters of the free world's
commercial jetliners.
237
OCR for page 238
238
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Mr. Pratt was named Assistant Chief Engineer of the Pratt and
Whitney Aircraft Division in 1950, Chief Engineer in 1952, Assist-
ant Engineering Manager in February 1957, and Engineering Man-
ager later that same year. During this period he was granted patents
for inventions of induction apparatuses and ignition controls for
· ~ .
aircraft engines.
In 1958 United Technologies created the position of Vice-
President and Chief Scientist for the corporation, and Mr. Pratt was
elected to that post, which he held until his retirement.
During his career Mr. Pratt was recognized by several technical
and engineering organizations for his outstanding contributions. He
was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1967. The
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) presented him
the George Washington ASME Award in 1956 in recognition of his
contributions to the engineering profession. He received the Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers' Gas Turbine Division Award
for 1967 for his leadership and technical contributions in the devel-
opment of aircraft turbojet and turbofan engines.
In 1968 the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics selected Mr.
Pratt to share the Goddard Award, given to "a person who has made
a brilliant discovery or a series of outstanding contributions over a
period of time, in the engineering science of propulsion or energy
conversion." The citation accompanying the award read: "For their
independent and sustained major contributions, each in his own
country, to the development of the aircraft gas turbine; and for their
imagination, competence and persistence which have made these
engines outstanding in human transportation."
In 1972 Mr. Pratt was chosen to receive the Elmer A. Sperry
Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for
his role in the development of the iT3 turbojet, the power plant for
America's first commercial jetliners, the Boeing 707 and McDonnell
Douglas DC-8.
It was the first turbojet engine in the Western world to produce
10,000 pounds of takeoff thrust, and the first to power a production
aircraft, the F-100, at supersonic speeds in level flight. More than
21,000 of the engines were produced for such commercial and mili-
tary aircraft as the Boeing 707, B-52, and KC-135; the McDonnell
OCR for page 239
PERRY W. PRATT
239
Douglas DC-8, F-101, and A-3; North American Rockwell F-100;
General Dynamics F-102; and the LTV Aerospace F-8.
Perry Pratt and Luke Hobbs (also of United Technologies), who
shared the Sperry Award, were recognized "for their leadership,
vision and engineering skill in directing the design and development
of the ~T3 turbojet engine . . . which by its performance and reliabil-
ity was an essential element in the initiation and rapid growth of the
. . . · · ~ ~
Jet age in commercla . air transportation.
During his career Mr. Pratt served in a variety of capacities. He
was a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Aero-
nautical Engineering, Princeton University; a member of the Aero-
nautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Academy of
Engineering; a member of the Industrial and Professional Advisory
Council, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Pennsylvania State
University; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Coordi-
nating Research Council.
Mr. Pratt is survived by his wife, Edith Abraham Pratt of Jupiter,
Florida; a son, Spencer Pratt, and a daughter, Mrs. Albert Phillips,
both of Glastonbury, Connecticut; his mother, Ruth Pratt of Corval-
lis, Oregon; a brother, Edwin Pratt of Bellevue, Washington; and
three grandchildren.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
gas turbine
