TURBOMECA - SAFRAN Group

1938

1938 saw the founding of Turbomeca by Joseph Szydlowski: ''I saw the birth of aviation, I believed in it, I wanted to be a part of it, and from this desire, Turbomeca was born half a century ago'', he said at the company's 50th Anniversary in 1988.

1939

Establishment of Turbomeca at its site in Mézières.
Production of the first compressors for Hispano.

1942

Establishment of Turbomeca at its site in Bordes at the foot of the Pyrenees in South West France. Here, Szydlowski managed to continue developing his compressors in spite of the War and succeeded in powering allied planes in '45.
Production of the centrifugal compressors S39 et PV19 for supercharging Hispano Suiza engines.

1948

Trials of the first gas turbine designed and manufactured by Turbomeca, the TT782.
This engine was named ''Orédon'' after a Pyrenean lake.
Most of Turbomeca's subsequent engines bear the names of places in the Pyrenees: turbo-shaft engines are named after lakes, simple turbo-jet engines after mountain peaks, by-pass jet engines after mountain passes and turbo-propeller engines after valleys.

1938 - 1948