Allison Engine Company
The Allison Engine Company was an American aircraft engine manufacturer founded by James Ashbury Allison and based in Indianapolis . It emerged from the Indianapolis Speedway Team Company founded by James Allison on September 14, 1915 . The company was taken over by Rolls-Royce in 1995 and has operated as the Rolls-Royce Corporation , which is the main part of Rolls-Royce North America .
Allison started out as a vehicle tuner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis . Allison manufactured engine parts on behalf of customers, and the knowledge gained about the requirements for aircraft engines led Allison to redesign Liberty engines from the First World War . The company's founder constructed a V-12 engine with overhead camshafts, but died in 1928. The company was sold to General Motors and received the order to develop a six-cylinder in - line engine from a “half” V-12 . NH Gilman, the company leader, continued to work on both projects. Work on both the V-12 and the 6-cylinder was largely suspended during the global economic crisis . Gilman developed a V-12 engine with a projected 551 kW (750 PS) power and offered it to the US Navy . They were interested in the engine for their airships until the USS Macon (ZRS-5) crashed in 1935 as the last large airship in the US Navy.
At this point in time it was already clear that the engine, now called Allison V-1710 , was emerging as a competitive product. The US Army ordered a version called the V-1710C. However, the development work was largely funded by Allison. On December 14, 1936, the new engine took off on its maiden flight in a Consolidated A-11 A. On April 23, 1937, the now 736 kW (1000 hp) engine received its type certificate. It was used in the Lockheed P-38 , Bell P-39 , Curtiss P-40, and the North American P-51 .
After the end of the war in 1945, the production of jet engines began . The first model was the Allison J33 with a centrifugal compressor . A little later, the company manufactured the Allison J35 with an axial compressor . The Allison T38 and Allison T54 entered the PTL ( turboprop ) market . Modern types are the Allison AE1107 , Allison AE2100 and AE 3007 .
Allison Transmission
In 1945 General Motors founded the commercial vehicle transmission manufacturer Allison Transmission .
