Walter Engines
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- For the German company see Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft
Walter Engines a.s. is a Czech company based in Prague that manufactures aircraft engines.
[edit] History
The company was founded by Josef Walter in 1911 to produce motorcycles and motor tricycles. They started to manufacture cars in 1913, both their own models, and later the Fiat 508 and Fiat 514 on license. Car production ceased in 1954.
From the early 1920's the company manufactured BMW aircraft engines on license, as well as their own family of air-cooled radial piston engines. In the 1930s Walter also produced Bristol Jupiter, Mercury and Pegasus engines on license, before producing their 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 thirteen countries before World War II.
During World War II Walter produced Argus engines under license for Germany. Production of the BMW 003 turbojet was put into preparation, but none were produced.
The Walter plant survived the war intact and in 1946 the company was nationalized as Motorlet n.e. They produced Soviet-licensed piston engines, and in 1952 production of the Walter M05 jet engine began - 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 produced a series of Soviet-designed engines during the 1950s and 1960s, though piston engine production was closed and handed over to Avia in 1964.
In 1995 the company was privatised as Walter a.s., and in 2005 the aviation engine division became Walter Engines a.s.. In March 2007 it was announced that Walter Engines a.s would merge with Avia's aero-engine division.[1]
[edit] External links
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