The Story of Safran Helicopter Engines

As of 1939 the contracts granted to the company pushed it to switch to an industrial production rate. The Aeronautics Technical Service (STAé) for instance ordered S39 compressors to equip the Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine mounted on the Dewoitine D.520 fighter plane.

The factory bought in Mézières-sur-Seine (Yvelines) in Septembre 1939 becomes operational in June 1940. However, that year, faced with the advance of the German army, the French government moves the defense industries south. Turbomeca sets up in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées) where its activity is divided between the manufacture of compressors for aircraft engines and turbocompressors for gasifiers.

In 1941, André Planiol is sent on a mission to the United States, where he ends his career with the founding of the Stratos company to manufacture compressors equipping American combat aircraft. He retains interests in Turbomeca until 1954, when the Szydlowski family buys out all of his shares.

In 1942 Turbomeca leaves the Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre factory, which has become too small, and moves to Bordes near Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). However, the invasion of the southern zone by the Germans slows the progress of the company since they seize a large part of the machine tools of the workshop.

In the early 1950s, Turbomeca develops two flagship products, the first industrial successes that ensure the prosperity of the company until the mid-1960s: the Marboré and Artouste engines.

In 1949, the STAé asks Joseph Szydlowski to develop a small auxiliary turbojet engine for René Leduc's thermopropulsive nozzle aircraft. Named Marboré I, this turbojet makes its first test in April 1950 and its first flight in June 1951 on the back of the Fouga Gémeaux glider. Afterward the Marboré becomes the reference engine for several jet trainers: the Spanish Saeta HA200, the British Miles Student, the American Beechcraft Jet Mentor and Cessna T-37.

The Adour turbojet program is initially designed to equip the Jaguar, a Franco-British military aircraft built by the SEPECAT. A major event in the history of Turbomeca accompanies its implementation: the creation of the Tarnos plant in 1965, a symbol of the successful conversion of the Forges de l'Adour industrial site. Condemned by the restructuring of the European steel industry, the closure of the site threatens a major labor pool for which Turbomeca's expansion needs represent a reconversion solution.

The Tarnos factory specializes gradually in support professions. Today, the site is the backbone of Turbomeca's worldwide support and service network, as well as the largest repair site for in-service engines. In 2015, the year of its fiftieth anniversary, a major site modernization project is undertaken.

From the mid-1970s, changes have a lasting impact on several aspects of Turbomeca's history.

As Joseph Szydlowski grows older, the decision is made in 1973 to hire a general manager to lead the company: Gérard Pertica, former director of the helicopter division of Aerospace. When the founder of the company dies in 1988, his daughter Sonia Meton assumes the presidency of the company. In 1989, the Szydlowski family takes control of the Labinal group, which became a 45% shareholder in Turbomeca two years earlier, in exchange for the rest of the company's shares. Turbomeca therefore becomes a subsidiary of Labinal.

Competition from the American Lycoming LTS101 helicopter engine challenges Turbomeca's Arriel engine technology. Despite many launch difficulties, the Arriel engine eventually establishes itself as a benchmark of reliability in the world of helicopters. Turbomeca becomes Eurocopter's main engine manufacturer and makes itself known to other helicopter manufacturers worldwide.

In the mid-1980s, faced with the decline in sales of turbojet engines for military aircraft, Turbomeca refocuses on helicopter engines and decides to diversify into the design of auxiliary power units (APU) for commercial aircraft. Turbomeca joins forces with the American company Sundstrand and creates the company APIC (Auxiliary Power International Inc.) to develop and market this type of engine. However, the collapse of the helicopter engine market in the 1990s, when Turbomeca had to make a major financial effort to establish itself on the APU market, puts the company in great difficulty. Despite the colossal investments and the technical and commercial success of the APUs, Turbomeca has to sell its share of APIC to Sundstrand.

The renewal of the helicopter market in the early 2000s allows Turbomeca to regain an enviable position in this area, which becomes the company's sole specialization.