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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automobiles, Aerospace |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Parent | GE Aerospace |
Walter Aircraft Engines is an aircraft engine manufacturer and former automotive manufacturer. Its notable products include the M601 turboprop. The company is based in Prague, Czech Republic. It has been a subsidiary of GE Aerospace since July 2008.
Josef Walter founded the company in 1911 to make motorcycles and motor tricycles. [1] It started to make automobiles in 1913: [1] initially its own models, and later the Fiat 508, [2] 514, [3] 522 and 524 [4] under licence.
By 1926 Walter was Czechoslovakia's fourth-largest car maker by sales volume. In 1929 it still held fourth place, and production peaked at 1,498 cars for the year. [5] By 1932 Walter production had slumped to 217 cars for the year. [6] The figure recovered to 474 in 1933, [7] but fell again to 102 in 1936 [8] and to only 13 in 1937. [9]
Walter ceased car production in 1954. [1]
From the early 1920s Walter also manufactured BMW aircraft engines under license, as well as its own family of air-cooled radial piston engines. In the 1930s Walter also made Bristol Jupiter, Mercury and Pegasus engines under licence, and then created its own in-line inverted air-cooled four- and six-cylinder engines, and in 1936 an air-cooled inverted V12. Walter aircraft engines were used by the air forces of 13 countries before World War II. [1]
During World War II Walter made Argus engines under license for Germany. Manufacture of the BMW 003 turbojet was put into preparation, but none were produced. [1]
The Walter plant survived the war intact and in 1946 the company was nationalized as Motorlet n.p. It made Soviet-licensed piston engines, and in 1952 began manufacturing the Walter M-05 jet engine. This was the Soviet Klimov VK-1 engine, based on the Rolls-Royce Nene, which powered the MiG-15, and was exported to many countries. The company made a series of Soviet-designed engines during the 1950s and 1960s, though piston engine production was closed and transferred to Avia in 1964. [1]
In 1995, the company was privatised as Walter a.s., and in 2005 the aviation engine division became Walter Aircraft Engines. [1] In July 2006 it was acquired by the Czech investment firm, FF Invest. In March 2007 it was announced that Walter Aircraft Engines would merge with Avia's aero-engine division. [10] The company was also merged with the precision casting company PCS.[ citation needed ]
In September 2007, it was announced that the company's assets (which do not include its current facility in Prague) would be purchased by GE Aviation. The transaction was completed in July 2008. GE's interest in Walter has to do with the former's desire to compete more aggressively with Pratt & Whitney in the small turboprop market; Pratt & Whitney holds a commanding market share there. Walter builds the M601 engine, which GE hopes to refine and position against Pratt & Whitney's PT6. Walter currently[ when? ] builds 120 M601 engines per year; GE intended to increase production, by 2012, to 1,000 engines per year. [11]
Data from:Engine Data Sheets:Czechoslovakian Aero Engines [12]
Walter developed families of engines based on common bore and stroke:
Related lists
The Bristol Jupiter is a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine that was built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turned it into one of the finest engines of its era.
The Bristol Mercury is a British nine-cylinder, air-cooled, single-row, piston radial engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. Developed from the earlier Jupiter engine, later variants could produce 800 horsepower (600 kW) from its capacity of 1,500 cubic inches by use of a geared supercharger.
The Monosoupape, was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company. It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated exhaust valve to replace the many moving parts found on more conventional rotary engines, and made the Monosoupape engines some of the most reliable of the era. British aircraft designer Thomas Sopwith described the Monosoupape as "one of the greatest single advances in aviation".
The Walter Mikron is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted straight engine for aircraft.
The Avia BH-1 was a two-seat sports plane built in Czechoslovakia in 1920. It was the first product of the Avia company, and it was originally designated BH-1 exp. The BH-1 was a low-wing braced monoplane of wooden construction, with tailskid undercarriage. Power was provided by a Daimler engine, which proved inadequate to fly the aircraft with both seats occupied.
The Gnome-Rhône 14N was a 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine designed and manufactured by Gnome-Rhône just before the start of World War II. A development of the Gnome-Rhône 14K, the 14N was used on several French and even one German aircraft.
The Walter Minor is a family of four- and six-cylinder inverted inline air-cooled engines, developed under auspices of ing. Šimůnek and used on light aircraft. First produced in 1929, the Minor engines' family has an advanced design for the period and sports steel cylinders, aluminum heads and overhead valves, with identical bore and stroke of 105 mm (4.1 in) and 115 mm (4.5 in), respectively. Typical power ratings varied from 105 to 160 hp.
The Bristol Titan was a British five-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the late 1920s. It had the same size cylinders as the earlier Bristol Mercury engine, 5.75 in × 6.5 in, and produced between 200–240 hp (150–180 kW). Later versions of the Bristol Titan also used a Farman-style reduction gear produced by Gnome-Rhône.
The Avia M 332 is an air-cooled four-cylinder inverted inline engine. It was designed by Bohumil Šimůnek, of Motorlet Walter Aircraft Engines, as a more powerful replacement for the four-cylinder Walter Minor engine, going into production in 1958. Piston aircraft engine production was transferred from Walter to Avia in 1964, the engine becoming the Avia M 332.
The Motorlet M-701 is a Czechoslovak jet engine. It was used to power the Aero L-29 Delfín jet trainer, with about 9,250 engines built between 1961 and 1989.
The Cosmos Mercury was a fourteen-cylinder twin-row air-cooled radial aeroengine. Designed by Roy Fedden of Cosmos Engineering, it was built in the United Kingdom in 1917. It produced 347 horsepower (259 kW). It did not enter production; a large order was cancelled due to the Armistice.
The General Electric H-Series is a family of turboprop aircraft engines produced by GE BGA Turboprops. The initial H80 is an updated derivative of the Walter M601, while the H75 and H85 are later derivatives.
The Walter Mars was a Czechoslovakian 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for powering aircraft, a licensed built Gnome-Rhône 14M.
The Walter Castor was a Czechoslovakian seven-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for powering aircraft that was developed in the late 1920s. The Super Castor was a nine-cylinder development. Castor I production began in 1928, Castor II in 1932 and the Castor III in 1934.
The Gnome 7Σ Sigma is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine.
Walter was an automotive manufacturer based in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The plant survived the war intact and in 1946 the company was nationalized as Motorlet n.p. Walter ceased making cars in 1951. It continues to make aircraft engines as Walter Aircraft Engines.
The Walter Atlas was a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use built in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s.
The Walter NZ 85 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use built in Czechoslovakia by Walter Aircraft Engines in the late-1920s.
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