General Electric T58

The General Electric T58 is an American turboshaft engine developed for helicopter use. It grew out of a 1953 US Navy requirement for a helicopter turboshaft weighing under 400 pounds and delivering 800 horsepower; the engine General Electric eventually built weighed only 250 pounds and delivered 1,050 horsepower. First run in 1955, it stayed in production until 1984, by which time some 6,300 units had been built, and on 1 July 1959 it became the first turbine engine to gain FAA certification for civil helicopter use. Its distinctive features include an all-axial compressor, several rows of variable pitch stators at the front and a single stage power turbine that delivers power to the rear while the hot exhaust is diverted sideways. The design was license-built and developed in the United Kingdom by de Havilland as the Gnome, and it was also manufactured by Alfa Romeo and the IHI Corporation.