Editing Pratt & Whitney (section)

=== Early history ===
In April 1925, [[Frederick Rentschler]], an [[Ohio]] native and former executive at [[Wright Aeronautical]], was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=23–53}}, Chapter 2.</ref> His (offline) [[social network]] included [[Edward Andrew Deeds|Edward Deeds]], another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother [[Gordon S. Rentschler|Gordon Rentschler]], both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest [[machine tool]] corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded the board of Niles Bement Pond that their [[Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems|Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool]] (P&WMT) subsidiary of [[Hartford, Connecticut]], should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, [[George J. Mead]], and colleagues, all formerly of [[Wright Aeronautical]].<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> Conceived and designed by Mead,<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> the new engine would be a large, [[air-cooled engine|air-cooled]], [[radial engine|radial]] design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the [[World War I|post-World War I]] era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good [[rate of return|return]] seemed available,<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> P&WMT saw the post-war aviation industry, both [[military aviation|military]] and [[civil aviation|civil (commercial, private)]], as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. It lent Rentschler US$250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the '''Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company'''.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, the 425-horsepower (317&nbsp;kW) [[Pratt & Whitney R-1340|R-1340 Wasp]], was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] qualification test in March 1926; by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp23-53"/> The R-1340 powered the aircraft of [[Wiley Post]], [[Amelia Earhart]], and many other record flights.

The R-1340 was followed by another very successful engine, the [[Pratt & Whitney R-985|R-985 Wasp Junior]].<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II'' p. 112, Cypress, California, 2013 {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}</ref> Eventually a whole [[Pratt & Whitney Wasp series|Wasp series]] was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria.

George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its [[Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet|R-1690 Hornet]]. It was basically "a bigger Wasp".

In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with [[Boeing]] and other companies to form the [[United Aircraft and Transport Corporation]] (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government of U.S.]] banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the [[Mississippi River]] as [[United Aircraft|United Aircraft Corporation]], with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became [[United Technologies]].