BMW 132 still produced after the war?

Hi everyone!

Around 1943, BMW stopped producing the BMW 132 itself, because they needed all of their producing capacity for the 801. Although no longer a top-notch engine , the BMW 132 was still needed, mostly for the Junkers Ju 52, so the production was moved to Gnome-Rhône in france, whose leaders were engaged in collaboration

Nowstarts the confusing part. I found a late 1947 edition of the american Aeroplane magasine (here) which states the Gnome Rhone factory (now nationalized under SNECMA) was still producing the BMW 132, at a rate of 20 units per month. They add the production will stop soon (about three months, sop presumably january 1948)

That's weird to me in several regards.

First, no history book mentions that. I looked up in several books about BMW engines, about Gnome-Rhone and about SNECMA, noone mentions the BMW 132 production continuing after the war.

Second, i seems impossible that the whole supply chain for the 132 was still up and running. Many parts came (of course) from Germany. The factories producing those part were as we all know heavily bombed at the end of the war. Also maybe some of those factories were now in the soviet occupation zone. Did they have a stockpile of part that could last three years?

My third problem was the use... But this one is solved :! the Junkers 52 was still produced in france untill 1948 (checks out) as the Amioot AAc.1 Toucan

Welcome to the forum.

Raminagrobis said:

I looked up in several books about BMW engines, about Gnome-Rhone and about SNECMA, noone mentions the BMW 132 production continuing after the war.

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What are those books?

Raminagrobis said:

Second, i seems impossible that the whole supply chain for the 132 was still up and running. Many parts came (of course) from Germany. The factories producing those part were as we all know heavily bombed at the end of the war. Also maybe some of those factories were now in the soviet occupation zone. Did they have a stockpile of part that could last three years?

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The BMW 132 was not a high-tech engine, so it is very much possible that the French were making a good deal of the parts themselves. Add what can be salvaged from France and from the French occupation zone, plus what can be sourced from the USA (the low-tech 132s - unlike the later models - used on the Ju 52s, were close siblings to the P&W Hornet), and there supply chain is probably good enough.

Note that many countries were still using the Bf 109s in the early 1950s, despite the non-existence of the OEM support to supply the spare parts.

Interesting article on the 'WWIIafterWWII' website, about the war-time production of the Ju-52 by the French and their post-war AAC.1 Toucan variant. It also addresses the French manufacture of the BMW132 in WWII and after.

"AAC.1 Toucan: France's post-WWII Ju-52"

Here is an excerpt from the SNECMA Board of Directors meeting dated December 17, 1946.

See § III:

"Une première commande de 650 moteurs BMW 132 du type équipant les avions Junkers 52 qui ont permis la remise en route du réseau de transport aérien français a été terminée en septembre 1945.
Une deuxième commande de 800 moteurs de même type dont 320 produits en 1945 a suivi sans interruption".

"A first order for 650 BMW 132 engines of the type used in the Junkers 52 aircraft, which enabled the French air transport network to resume operations, was completed in September 1945.
A second order for 800 engines of the same type, 320 of which were produced in 1945, followed uninterruptedly."

A similar document for 1946, though less well-written, mentions a new order for 2,000 BMW 132s.

Bretoal2 said:

Here is an excerpt from the SNECMA Board of Directors meeting dated December 17, 1946.

See § III:

"Une première commande de 650 moteurs BMW 132 du type équipant les avions Junkers 52 qui ont permis la remise en route du réseau de transport aérien français a été terminée en septembre 1945.
Une deuxième commande de 800 moteurs de même type dont 320 produits en 1945 a suivi sans interruption".

"A first order for 650 BMW 132 engines of the type used in the Junkers 52 aircraft, which enabled the French air transport network to resume operations, was completed in September 1945.
A second order for 800 engines of the same type, 320 of which were produced in 1945, followed uninterruptedly."

A similar document for 1946, though less well-written, mentions a new order for 2,000 BMW 132s.

Click to expand...

Real history

bauple58 said:

Real history

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The same was true for the Argus As-411 engine, manufactured by Renault (then SNECMA after that company took over the car manufacturer's aeronautical activities) under the name Renault 12S and then 12T until the mid-1950s (!!!).

At the root of all this (including the BMW 132) was the German industry taking control over French companies located in the Northern Zone of France (occupied zone). These engines, along with other aeronautical components, were manufactured "under license."

See also the Heinkel 274 affair, which was transferred to the French firm Farman—which led to the project's collapse.