Название: Curtiss: Company Profile 1907-1947
Автор: Martyn Chorlton
Издательство: Kelsey Media
Серия: Aeroplane Company Profile
ISBN: 978 1907426797
Год издания: 2014
Язык: English
Cтраниц: 132
Формат: True PDF
Размер: 51,9 MB
Curtiss, as a company, contributed a great deal in establishing the US aircraft industry firmly on the world stage, but behind every great company is usually one forward thinking man, and in this case it was Glenn Hammond Curtiss. He was not only a multitalented engineer he was more importantly a good businessman and it was this latter ability which would see the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company grow into a huge organisation within a short period of time. By the end of the First World War, Curtiss had built over 10,000 aircraft and, unlike so many other companies, did not 'turn turtle' once the conflict was over, when virtually all military contracts were cancelled. Glenn Curtiss began to distance himself from his own company from the early 1920s but would remain a director until his premature death in 1930. One is left to wonder if the future of the company, which merged to become Curtiss-Wright in 1929, would have followed a different path if Glenn Curtiss had continued his original proactive role at the helm. The lack of research and development invested in the company leading up to the jet age also saw the premature demise of Curtiss-Wright itself. The aircraft Curtiss-Wright created leading up to Second World War were not the best, but the company's business-like approach to aircraft manufacturing meant that they could produce large numbers for a variety of customers, foreign included, at a reasonable price. The whole story of the P-40 was more a political story which, in many people's eyes, saw an inferior aircraft stay in production for almost three years longer than it should have, bringing great wealth to Curtiss-Wright. As mentioned, this wealth was not invested in the future of the company and, in 1947, its one attempt at breaking into the area of jet aircraft had failed and the aviation side of Curtiss-Wright was sold to North American Aviation.