GE's T58 turboshaft engine powered the United States' first helicopter flight more than 45 years ago and continues its importance in military service today.

In 1957, two T58 turboshaft engines, each rated at 1,050 shaft horsepower (shp), replaced a piston engine in a Sikorsky HSS-1F helicopter for the historic first flight of a U.S. jet-powered helicopter.

Within the year, Sikorsky, Kaman and Piasecki Helicopter designed, and began production of, T58-powered helicopters for, respectively, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.

In 1959, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified for the first time a turbine engine for a helicopter -- the CT58, a civil version of the T58. That same year, GE began adaptation of T58 technology to produce the LM100 gas turbine/gas generator for marine and industrial applications.

By 1984, when GE ceased production of the T58 and CT58, more than 6,300 GE engines were in service on helicopters throughout the world. In addition, still more of the engines had been produced under license in Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom.