Aircraft : $b its development in war and peace and its commercial futureDavid, Evan John
History
Aircraft : $b its development in war and peace and its commercial future
David, Evan John
Aeronautics; Airplanes
The Curtiss Aeroplane Company were making land-machines, seaplanes, and
engines for the British Government when the United States entered the
struggle. Mr. Curtiss, the inventor of the flying-boat, and the winner
of many aeronautical prizes and trophies, was the chairman of the board
of directors and Mr. John North Willys president.
In January, 1916, the company was incorporated, and in February of
the same year the stock of the Burgess Company of Marblehead, Mass.,
was acquired by the Curtiss Company. It also controlled the Curtiss
Aeroplane Motors, Ltd., of Canada and the flying-fields at Miami, San
Diego, Hammondsport, Newport News, and the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical
Station. The company had nine plants and four flying-fields in 1918.
The main plant was at Buffalo, N. Y. The chief plant is now at Garden
City, Long Island. The plants consisted of 2,000,000 square feet, and
employed 18,000 persons.
The company reached a quantity production of 112 complete machines a
week, and 50 a day was to be expected had not the armistice been signed
on November 11, 1918. Before and during the war the Curtiss plants
manufactured 10,000 aeroplanes and flying-boats and 15,000 motors. The
Curtiss plants produced a great variety of machines, including Spads,
Bristols, and Nieuports. The famous NC-1-2-3-4, which participated in
the transatlantic flight, were constructed for the navy by Curtiss
Company at Garden City, Long Island.
The Burgess Company was also doing business when the war broke out. The
firm was organized in 1909. The company supplied machines to the United
States Government for work on the Mexican border in 1914, and many
types of seaplanes were also constructed. In 1913 the company secured
the rights to manufacture under the Dunne patents, covering inherent
stability.
The Burgess plant at Marblehead, Mass., was one chosen by the navy to
build training-seaplanes producing N-9 and N-9-H seaplanes. The company
started producing one plane a day, but finally got up to four a day,
and employed 1,100 men and women. The company also built turn-engine
dirigible cars for the navy.
The Glenn L. Martin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was organized in the
fall of 1917 with the idea of building a gigantic American bomber
for work with the Allies in Europe. The first machine was flown in
August, 1918. Mr. Martin had been the organizer of the Glenn L. Martin
Company of Los Angeles in 1910, and had also been interested in the
Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation of New York and New Brunswick, N. J.
The Martin bomber constructed by this company had a wing spread of 71
feet and length of 45 feet. It carried 11 passengers and pilot, and
made several records.
The factory consisted of a single structure of 300 by 200 feet. The
war ended before the company got into quantity production of the huge
bomber.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account