Curtiss-Wright purchased a license for the Sapphire in 1950, with plans to have the production lines running in 1951. However a series of delays due to design changes by Curtiss-Wright, such as substituting the Sapphire's machined midsection solid forged diffuser frame with a fabricated one of welded nodular iron, led to its service introduction slipping two years. The fabricated assembly, a more practicable production job with about one fifth the cost, was subsequently adopted for the Sapphire. As part of an expansion in defense contracts,
Buick also built J65s. Its version of the engine, the J65-B-3, was approved for use by the U.S. Air Force in 1953. Components were produced by subcontractors including
Oldsmobile, which built the compressor and turbine rotor assemblies;
Harrison Radiator, which built the combustion chamber and tailcone; and
Brown-Lipe-Chapin, which built the turbine stator blades and compressor stator assemblies. Final assembly was carried out in a portion of a purpose built plant in
Willow Springs, Illinois.
Wright T49 A
turboprop version of the J65 (Sapphire) was developed by Curtiss-Wright as the
Wright T49, and a commercial derivative, the
Wright TP51A2 was also designed. The T49 first ran in December 1952 at , followed by flight testing in a
Boeing XB-47D test bed from 26 August 1955. By this time however, the market for the engine had vanished. ==Variants==