13.09.2010, 17:35
I wanted to find out what happened to all the Axis aircraft builders postwar as I'm sure a lot of people probably would want to know.(I know there are those who already know that) Obviously most of them are gone or have merged as they were banned from making any planes, then allowed to make aircraft, then merged with other companies and thus ceased to exist.
I'm posting all the ones I knew/found that still exist, sort of exist, or are gone postwar. Taken from Wikipedia. The site that you can trust, sort of.
Germany-
Focke Wulf- formally merged with Weserflug in 1964, becoming Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which after several further mergers it is now part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS).
Junkers-The Junkers company survived the Second World War and was reconstituted as Junkers GmbH and eventually merged into the MBB consortium. Within West Germany, Junkers GmbH was engaged in research on the future of aerospace transportation during the fifties and early-1960s.
Messerschmitt-After World War II, the company was not allowed to produce aircraft. One alternative the company came up with was the three wheeled motorcycle/bubble car or Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175 / KR200, which was designed by an aircraft engineer Fritz Fend.
The cars were actually made by Fend's own company in the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg and Willy Messerschmitt had very little to do with the vehicles other than ruling that they carried his name. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964.
Less known is the fact that the Messerschmitt factory also produced prefabricated houses, which were designed as "self-building-kits" mainly based on an alloy frame work.
On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow, becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB), the aviation division of Blohm + Voss. The company then changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). In 1989 MBB was taken over by Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA), which was renamed Daimler-Benz Aerospace in 1995. The former DASA now operates as "EADS Germany".
Heinkel-Following the war, Heinkel was prohibited from manufacturing aircraft and instead built bicycles, motor scooters (see below), and the Heinkel microcar. The company eventually returned to aircraft in the mid 1950s, licence building F-104 Starfighters for the West German Luftwaffe.
In 1965, the company was absorbed by Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which was in turn absorbed by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in 1980.
Japan-
Kawasaki-During the occupation of Japan after the end of World War II, all of Japan's aerospace industry was dismantled, designs destroyed and plants converted to other uses. After the ban on aircraft development was lifted, in March 1954, a new company was founded by the merger of subsidiary companies K.K. Kawasaki Gifu Seisakusho and Kawasaki Kikai Kogyo K.K., retaining the name of the pre-war Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo KK,
The Kawasaki KAL-1 (July 1953) was the first postwar all-metal aircraft of Japanese design. Early production covered 210 Lockheed T-33 jet trainers, 48 Lockheed P-2H Neptune maritime patrol aircraft and 239 Bell 47 helicopters, all under license from the United States. Kawasaki was also a major subcontractor for components for the domestically-developed NAMC YS-11 turboprop transport.
Kawasaki Kokuki K.K. was dissolved and became a division of the reorganized Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) in April 1969.
Mitsubishi-still around, makes AC units, cars, planes for the JSDAF, vacuum cleaners. But from wiki-In the post-war period, lawsuits and demands for compensations were presented against the Mitsubishi Corporation, in particular by former Chinese slave laborers
I'm posting all the ones I knew/found that still exist, sort of exist, or are gone postwar. Taken from Wikipedia. The site that you can trust, sort of.
Germany-
Focke Wulf- formally merged with Weserflug in 1964, becoming Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which after several further mergers it is now part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS).
Junkers-The Junkers company survived the Second World War and was reconstituted as Junkers GmbH and eventually merged into the MBB consortium. Within West Germany, Junkers GmbH was engaged in research on the future of aerospace transportation during the fifties and early-1960s.
Messerschmitt-After World War II, the company was not allowed to produce aircraft. One alternative the company came up with was the three wheeled motorcycle/bubble car or Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175 / KR200, which was designed by an aircraft engineer Fritz Fend.
The cars were actually made by Fend's own company in the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg and Willy Messerschmitt had very little to do with the vehicles other than ruling that they carried his name. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964.
Less known is the fact that the Messerschmitt factory also produced prefabricated houses, which were designed as "self-building-kits" mainly based on an alloy frame work.
On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow, becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB), the aviation division of Blohm + Voss. The company then changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). In 1989 MBB was taken over by Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA), which was renamed Daimler-Benz Aerospace in 1995. The former DASA now operates as "EADS Germany".
Heinkel-Following the war, Heinkel was prohibited from manufacturing aircraft and instead built bicycles, motor scooters (see below), and the Heinkel microcar. The company eventually returned to aircraft in the mid 1950s, licence building F-104 Starfighters for the West German Luftwaffe.
In 1965, the company was absorbed by Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which was in turn absorbed by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in 1980.
Japan-
Kawasaki-During the occupation of Japan after the end of World War II, all of Japan's aerospace industry was dismantled, designs destroyed and plants converted to other uses. After the ban on aircraft development was lifted, in March 1954, a new company was founded by the merger of subsidiary companies K.K. Kawasaki Gifu Seisakusho and Kawasaki Kikai Kogyo K.K., retaining the name of the pre-war Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo KK,
The Kawasaki KAL-1 (July 1953) was the first postwar all-metal aircraft of Japanese design. Early production covered 210 Lockheed T-33 jet trainers, 48 Lockheed P-2H Neptune maritime patrol aircraft and 239 Bell 47 helicopters, all under license from the United States. Kawasaki was also a major subcontractor for components for the domestically-developed NAMC YS-11 turboprop transport.
Kawasaki Kokuki K.K. was dissolved and became a division of the reorganized Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) in April 1969.
Mitsubishi-still around, makes AC units, cars, planes for the JSDAF, vacuum cleaners. But from wiki-In the post-war period, lawsuits and demands for compensations were presented against the Mitsubishi Corporation, in particular by former Chinese slave laborers