History
Turbomeca was founded August 29, 1938 by Joseph Szydlowski and André Planiol following their patent of a supercharger in 1937. Hispano-Suiza ordered a demonstrator to equip its 12 Y engine, used among others on the MS 405 C1.
Turbomeca changed rapidly from an artisanal production to an industrial one benefiting from the politics of re-armament. This is shown by the production figures of the following three years: 18 compressor in 1938, 300 in 1939 and 1200 in 1940. Although the factory at Mézières-sur-Seine was only really operational in June 1940, the government advised the move to the south of France due to the German advance. During the same month, Turbomeca had relocated in newly requisitioned workshop in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre near the Hispano-Suiza engine factory in Tarbes. The buildings were found to be too small and in 1941 a place is bought in Bordes near Pau. Between the autumn of 1941 and June 1942 Turbomeca moved. In November 1942, Szydlowski fled to Switzerland. Between October 1942 and 1944, the production stale and the workforce went from about 300 to about 50.
From 1950, Turbomeca produced the tiny centrifugal flow Palas turbojet, producing 1.6 kN (353 lbf). The Palas was also produced by Blackburn and General Aircraft in the UK and Continental in the USA. From 1957, it manufactured the Bastan turboprop for the Aérospatiale N 262 airliner. Blackburn had a licence for producing other Turbomeca designs.
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited was established in 1968 to develop the Adour jet engine for the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar. The company went on to develop the RTM322 turboshaft, which powers Westland WAH-64, and some models of the AgustaWestland EH101 and NHI NH90.
In 2001 Turbomeca and Rolls-Royce won a $1 billion USD contract to equip 399 German, French and Dutch NH90 helicopters with their RTM322 engines.
As of 2012, Turbomeca turbines power civil, parapublic and defence helicopters for all the leading helicopter manufacturers (mainly Eurocopter, but also AgustaWestland, Sikorsky, NHI, Kamov, HAL).
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