BULLETIN
WALTER No.2 1938 CZECHOSLOVAKIAN TRUCKS CARS AIRCRAFT ENGINES MINOR 6
SPIRAL-BOUND BOOK in CZECH
AN 80+ YEAR-OLD AUTHENTIC COMPANY
DOCUMENT
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Additional Information from Internet
Encyclopedia
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 Aviation since July 2008.
History
Josef Walter founded the company
in 1911 to make motorcycles and motor tricycles.[1] It started to make
automobiles in 1913: 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.
Walter ceased car production in
1954.
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.
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.
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.
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 builds 120 M601 engines per year; GE intends to increase
production, by 2012, to 1,000 engines per year. However this was never
attained, as in 2019, GE Aviation Czech is producing under 100 M601s and
H-Series.
The Walter Minor is a family of
four- and six-cylinder inverted inline air-cooled engines, developed under
auspices of ing. imůnek 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 (78 to 119 kW).
After Walter concentrated on the
turbine powerplants only, the production of piston engines has been transferred
to the Avia company that further developed the family, bringing fuel injection,
as the Avia M-137 and M-337. Nowadays the smallest of the family, the
four-cylinder carburetted Minor, is produced by a small company in the Czech
Republic, while the M337 was available from the LOM Prague.