Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan , United States . It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft .
7-506: Dr. Sam B. Williams worked at Chrysler on their automotive turbine systems , but always imagined a wider set of applications for the small gas turbine engine. He left Chrysler to form Williams Research Corporation in Birmingham, Michigan , in 1954. In 1981, the company became Williams International . It has been building small turbofan engines since the 1950s for use in cruise missiles as well as target and reconnaissance drones . Using
14-652: The USA number one in small gas turbine engine technology and competitiveness, and for his leadership and vision in revitalizing the U.S. general aviation business jet and trainer jet aircraft industry." He was also an inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame 1998. In addition to efforts in aviation, he helped promote inventors and inventions in medical research for cancer and for degenerative eye disease, with which he
21-536: The early 1970s. Also in the 1980s, Williams identified a need in the general aviation market for a small, light jet engine to power cost-effective personal and corporate jet aircraft. The company introduced the FJ44 engine, which in turn made possible the introduction of a number of small jet aircraft. In 1992, NASA initiated its Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program to partner with manufacturers and help develop technologies that would revitalize
28-763: The missile engines, Williams developed a series of personal VTOL flying craft, including a jet-powered belt in 1969, the Williams Aerial Systems Platform (WASP) , also known as the "flying pulpit" in the 1970s, and the X-Jet , which was evaluated by the United States Army in the 1980s. The WASP platform was the only competitor to the Garrett STAMP in the United States Marine Corps STAMP (Small Tactical Aerial Mobility Platform) program of
35-610: The new engine. The aircraft and engine were debuted at the 1997 Oshkosh Airshow . The production version of the engine, the EJ22 flew on the prototype Eclipse 500 VLJ (which had evolved from the V-Jet II), but was subsequently replaced by a Pratt & Whitney engine. Sam B. Williams Sam Barlow Williams (7 May 1921 in Seattle, Washington – 22 June 2009 in Indian Wells, California )
42-569: The sagging general aviation industry. In 1996, Williams joined AGATE's General Aviation Propulsion program to develop a fuel-efficient turbofan engine that would be even smaller than the FJ44. The result was the FJX-2 engine. Williams then contracted with Burt Rutan 's Scaled Composites to design and build the Williams V-Jet II , a Very Light Jet to use as a testbed and technology demonstrator to showcase
49-440: Was an American inventor and founder of Williams International . He was best known for his development of the small fan-jet engine, and received several prestigious awards for innovation in this field of aviation. Among the awards that Williams received were: The Medal of Technology was awarded to Williams for: "His unequaled achievements as a gifted inventor, tenacious entrepreneur, risk-taker and engineering genius in making
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