General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecessors

130 Pages·1990·118.45 MB·English

by  John Wegg

PUTNAM
General Dynamics
- - .Aircraft
-------';--~
and their Predecessors
John Wegg
General Dyna:mics
General Dynamics
Aircraft
and their Predecessors
John Wegg
~ /
- . '- .
The AFTI/F-16 (75-750) at Fort Worth in 1982. (General Dynamics)
NAVAL
INSTITUTE
PRESS
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments 7
Author's otes 9
Thomas Brothers and Thomas-Morse 11
Thomas BrothersAircraft 15
Thomas-:\1orse Aircraft 19
Thomasand Thomas-:\1orse Selected Projects 31
Dayton Wright 32
Dayton Wright Aircraft 34
Dayton \Vlight Projects 41
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation 42
Consolidated :\1odels and Production Summary 49
Consolidated Aircraft 50
John \Vegg 1990
Hall-Aluminum 110
First publishedinGreat Britainby Hall Aircraft 111
Putnam Aeronautical Books,an imprintof
Conway:\IaritimePress Ltd Stinson 116
24 Bride Lane, FleetStreet
London EC4Y8DR Stinson Aircraft 118
Selected Stinson Projects 147
Publishedand distributed in the United
StatesofAmerieaand Canada bythe Vultee 148
_aval Institute Press
Annopolis, ylaryland 2l-1D2 Vultee Aircraft 152
LibraryofCongressCatalogCard :'-10. Barkley-Grow Aircraft Corporation 170
89-60237
Barkley-GrowAircraft 170
ISBN0-87021-233-8 Convair 173
'n,iseditionisauthorized forsaleonly ConvairAircraft 178
in the L'nited Statesand itsterritories Convair Selected Projects 221
and possessions,,mdCanada.
General Dynamics 228
All rights reser.·ed. Cnauthorized
duplicationeontra\'enesappliCllblela\\'s. General DynamicsAircraft 232
General Dynamics elected Projects 247
:\lanufaeturedinGreat Britain.
Index 249
Preface and Acknowledgements
()fall themajoraircraftmanufactw-ers craft. FurthercomplicatingthefOimat are ofconsiderablevalue: Reu.benFleet
.,ctive intheUnited Statestoday, none was the intricate family tree of the and the story ofConsolidated Aircraft,
has had such a complicated corporate predecessor companies, themselves by William Wagner (Aero Publishers,
history as General Dynamics. The frequently the subjects of takeovers, 1976), and John Underwood's The
presentGeneralDynamicsisadefence mergers, and acquisitions. Stinsons (Heritage Press, 1967).
wnglomerate encompassing not only Therefore, this book isdivided into Any attempt to chronicle the more
aircraft (which contribute about one four separate parts which more logi than one hundred basic types pro
third of its revenue), but also sub cally follow the progress of aircraft duced and built by the ten companies
marines, missiles, space and electro design and manufacturing by the ten includedinthisbookfacestheproblem
nics, and land vehiclesand systems. companies,althoughinevitablythereis that after so many corporate changes
As its title suggests, this book re- someoverlapandsomeanomalies.The since 1910, agreatdeal ofcontempor
trictsitscoveragetoaircraft,andother quartet consists of the Consolidated ary source material and photographs
productsofGeneral Dynamicsareex lineage, encompassing Thomas and are now either in inaccessible storage,
duded. However, there are three air Thomas-Morse, Dayton Wright, or lost. General Dynamics itself doe
l raftmanufacturersthatareeligiblefor Consolidated, and Hall Aluminum; nothaveacompanyhistorian,although
melusion in this volume but have had theVulteegroupofcompanies-Stin attemptsatgatheringinformationwere
to be omitted because of space con- son, Vultee, and Barkley-Grow; the madeatvarioustimesbyitsemployees.
Iderations. Canadair, owned outright Convair or Consolidated Vultee era; Howard 0 Welty and Nelson Fuller
by the Electric Boat Company (fore andfmally GeneralDynamics.Eachof authored a multi-part series about the
runner of General Dynamics) since these sections include histories of tlle historyofConvair/General Dynamics
July 1947, became Canadian-control manufactw-ersthemselves,followedby inthein-housepublicationCorrvairiety
I·d in 1976, and is comprehensively theaircrafttypesand,unlikeotllerPut inthelate19505,andacompany-spon
Ulvered in acompanion Putnam, Ca nam titles, which use appendices, sored public relations exercise called
lIadian Aircrqft since 1909. Also in selected projects and production DynmnicAmericaappeared in 1958.
duded in that title is Fleet Aircraft of information. Another company-sponsored his
'<mada, formed to produce the Con Withsuchavastsubject, therehave torical revievv appeared in 1973, to
llidatedModel14underlicence.The been limits to the exhaustiveness of commemorate the fiftieth anniversary
utheromittedcompany isCessnaAir detail thatcan beincluded. Therefore, of the Convair Aerospace Division of
.raft, acquired by General Dynamics althoughattemptingto remaincloseto General Dynamics. Written by Jack
m1985.ClydeCessna'saircraftmanu the Putnam tradition ofthoroughness Smothers, much material was con
fllcturingcareerdatesbackto1911 and with regard to historical and technical tributed by Gordon Jackson, acknow
mce 1927, the numberoftypes pro facts, some aircraft type histories have ledged as the unofficial histOl;an of
duced byhis company and thesheer been subject to editi.ng by the author, Convair. Fortunately, a great deal of
vulumeofproductionalmostdemands along with licence production ofother Jackson's notes, gathered over a long
,separate volume in the Putnam air unrelated manufacturer's types. Also, periodwithhelpfrom LarryPeterson,
raft manufactw-erseries. tlle sections referring to unbuilt pro from company archives, photographs,
These three deliberate pretermis- jects and production lists have been and through interviews with em
ums have not Ie sened the need for a intentionallyrestrictedi.nscope.Asthe ployeeshassurvivedand arenowwith
lhfferent approach to thatfollowed by main focus hasbeento record thehis the San Diego Aerospace Museum.
ulhertitlesin thisseJ;es,astheremain tory of aircraft, sin1i.lar sacrifices have This fme establishment, which has
till( ten companies produced over one been made with regard to the fullness risenphoenix-likefromtlleashesofthe
hundred basictypes,astaggeringarray ofcorporatehistoryand biographiesof disastrous fire that almost totally
Ifsub-types,andacombinedtotalpro founders and keyfigures. In the latter destroyed the previous collection, is a
luction figure in excess of62,000 air- case, two previously published works haven of refuge for Consolidated and
8 GENERAL DYNA:\IlCS
Convair material. Through the kind books by Allen Blue(B-24 Liherator),
offices of Ray Wagner, archivist, and Gary L Killion (The Convair TVJins),
his staff, the musewn's collection was Jay Miller (Convair B-58), and Ray
openedto theauthorand proved tobe Wagner (American Combat Planes).
an indispensable source. Most of the general arrangements
Although this book was not spon drawings were produced by Carl G
sored byGeneral Dynamics,Jack Isa Al1remark, whoseskill and careisevi
bel and ZJoeThornton, publicaffairs denttoall. GratitudealsogoestoCon
managers at San Diego and Fort way Maritime's editor John Stroud,
Worth respectively, assisted with notonlyforhisshrewdcommentsand
photographs and information wher corrections,butalsoforhisknowledge
Author's Notes
everpossible.Iamalsoindebtedtosev able writing over many years which
eral former Convair employees for inspired this author down the path of
reading and correcting parts of my aviationjournalism.
manuscript thanks to their firsthand
knowledge, namely William F Chana JOH~ WEGG
(flight test engineer), Donald P Ger California, 1990
meraad,JolmW Knebel,andBJLong In general, style and presentation of serial number. However, the latter is tions, the official designations being
(test pilots). facts in this book follows along the the numberstamped on the data plate Convair22/22M, and Convair30/30A
Many fellow historians, often ex accepted lines ofthe Putnam manu attached to the aircraft. on the type certificate. In the case of
perts on a particular subject in their facturer series. The most obvious Therefore, as the manufacturers in Vultee, the style V1-A, V11-GBT,
o,vn light, wlselfishlysharedtheirfiles deviation concems the useofthe term this book are American, the decision V12-D etcwas that used by thecom
of docwnentation and photographs Manufacturer's Serial Nwnber (msn) has been made to break with an panyitself,althoughofficialdocuments
with me. My heartfelt thanks to Ri insteadofthehithertoacceptedstyle,in arguablyunsoundtraditionandusethe ofotheragenciesfrequentlyshowalter
chard Sanders Allen, Harold M An enthusiastcirclesatleast,ofConstruc industl)'-acceptedform. Militat)'serial native presentations.
drews, Walter J Boyne, Dustin W tor'sNwnber(c/n). Aircraftmanufac numbers are shown in parentheses,
Carter, Jean-Pierre Dubois, Rene turers assign an individual serial with USAFexamples prefixed by the Abbreviations
FrancilJon, Robert A Gordon, Terry nwnbertotheirproductsasameansof fiscal yearofallocation, and Navyser
Judge,GaryL Killion,Robel1:EMar identification, a nwnber that is rarely ialswith BuA(Bureau ofAeronautics) Aswithanyspeciali edsubject,theavi
tin, Alain Pelletier, and Patrick Vinot changed (ifso, then most often in re or BuA-, the latter denoting that the ation world is peppered with ahost of
Prefontaine. Othersoffered advice,as building projects) and thus, wllike serialwasprefLxedbytheletterA.The abbreviations and acronyms. Some
sistance,researchsources,information, nwnbersorlettercombinations issued majority of the General Dynamics willbefamiliar, othersnot,thusaIi tof
and photographs that all added to this by registration authorities, or military group of companies allocated a new those appearing in this work follows
volwne, and my grateful acknow serialnumbers,fonn apennanentrec sequence of manufacturer's serial
ledgements go to James J Davilla, ord.Consequently,thehistol)'ofapar nwnbers,startingatone,foreachtype AAB Army Air Base
AB Air Base
H S Fyfield Jr, Harvey Lippincott, ticular aircraft may be traced via this built. An exception wasVultee, which
ADC Air Defense Command
Leonard E Opdycke, J J Paul, Jim nwnber. Manufacturer'sSerial Num issued numbers sequentially from the
AFB Air Force Base
Presley (1 aval Air Museum), Board ber,commonlyabbreviatedtojustser V1 until the V12 (1 to 144), then
AFRES Air Force Reserve
man C Reed, and Michael J Strole ial nwnber, is the accepted form used changedtoblocksofnwnbersforeach AFSC Air Force Systems
As the former Convair photograph intheindustryintheUnitedStatesand type. Command
fues are no longer intact or accessible, other countries, although some com Certain designation styles used in AMRAAM Advanced Medium
the majorityofthe illustrations had to paniesusethevariationFactol)'orAir this book may be another issue for Range Air-to-Air
be culled from a variety ofcollections, frame Serial Nwnber. some readers, particularly with regard Missile
including the author's. Every attempt However, in an attempt to avoid to the Convaircivil transports and the ANG Air National Guard
has been made to creeLt the original confusionwithmilitaryserialnwnbers, Vulteemodels. Althoughanabbrevia NGB Air National Guard
Base
photographerbutregrettably,overthe the enthusiast movement, apparently tion used within thecompany, C-Vor
APSA Aerolineas Peruanas SA
passageoftime,manynameshavebeen originating with that i.n the United CV (Consolidated Vultee) has never
APU Auxiliary Power Unit
lostand myapologies to thoseslighted Kingdom in the immediate post-Sec appeared as part of an aircraft model ASR Air-Sea Rescue
by an incorrect credit line. Special ond'WorldWaryears,adoptedtheuse designation. Whilstthe useofCV-240 ASV Air-to-Surface-Vessel
thankstoPeterM. Bowers, Stephen]. of 'c/n' which quickly spread world etc (but note that Convair CV-240 ASW Anti-Submarine War
Hudek, and A R Kriegerfor access to wideand intopublicationsofallstand would be redundant) is perhaps ad fare
theirvast negativecollections,and also ards. Unfortwlately, 'constructor's missible, it should bestressed that the ATC Approved Type Certifi
to Richard Aardsma, G James Ala nwnber' itself is ambiguous because official model is Convair 240, appear cate
AVENSA Aerovias Venezolanas
back, Larry Milberry, Merle C Olm manufacturers often have other num ingthuson theaircrafttypecertificate.
SA
sted, and RobertJ Ruffle, allofwhom beringsystemsin usebesidestheserial Convair-Liner has also appeared in
BG Bomb Group
provided illustrations. nwnber sequence, such as line num various forms, but this is the copy BG (H) Bomb Group (Heavy)
Publishedsourcesofparticularvalue bers, fuselage numbers, and customer righted style used by Convair and BW Bomb Wing
werevolwnesoftheAmericanAviation nwnbers. Insomecases,thelinenwn which appears on the individual air BOAC British Overseas Air
HistoricalSocietyJournal,Convairiety, ber is far more imPOI1:ant during pro craft data plate. In a similar vein, it ways Corporation
Stinson Plane News, Stinson Plane duction and for subsequent record should be noted that Convair880and BuA Bureau ofAeronautics
Talk, and The Vultair; plus notable keeping by the manufacturer than the Convair990 are promotional designa- (Navy)
10 GENERAL DYNAMICS THOMAS BROTHERS AND THOMAS-MORSE 11
CAA Civil Aeronautics NACA National Advisory Com- TAA Trans-AustraliaAirline
Administration mittee for Aeronautics TAC Tactical Air Command
CAC ConsolidatedAircraft NAAS Naval Auxiliary Air TACA TransportesAheos
Corporation Station Centro-Americanos
CASA ConstruccionesAero- NAF Naval Air Facility TAM Tran portesAheos
nauticas SA (Spain) NAS Naval Air Station Militares(Peru)
CAT Civil Air Transport NASA National Aeronautics TC Type Certificate
(Taiwan) and Space TEAL Tasman Empire
CATC Central Air Transport Administration Airways Ltd
Corp NASM ational Air and Space TFG Tactical Fighter Group
CCTS Combat Crew Training Museum TFS Tactical Fighter Squa-
Squadron NATC Naval Air Test Center dron
CIA Central Intelligence NATO North Atlantic Treaty TFW Tactical FighterWing Thomas Brothers and
Agency Organisation TRAPAS Societe Fran<;ais de
CIC Commander-in-Chief NATS Naval Air Transport Transports Ahiens du Thomas-Morse
CNAC China National Service Pacific Sud
Aviation Corporation NEIF Netherlands East Indies TUSAS Turk U<;ak Sanayii
CPAL Canadian PacificAir Air Force Anonim Ortakligi
Lines NTU Not Taken Up (Turkish Aircraft
CSW Combat Support Wing OCU Operational Conversion Industries Inc)
DBF Destroyed By Fire Unit TWA Trans World Airlines
del Delivered PACAF Pacific Air Force USAAC United States Army Air WilliamT Thomas,fow1deroftheair graduate, Frank H Burnside, became
DEWS Distant Early Warning (USAF) Corps (effective craft company that bore his name, chiefcompanypilotand flew theTho
ECM Electronic Counter PMTC Pacific Missile Test 2 July, 1926) graduated from the Central Technical mas E pusher to 13,OOOft in 1913,
Mea ures Center USAAF United States Army Air
College, South Kensington, in 1908at claiming a new United States record.
ECS Electronic Counter- QANTAS Queensland and Forces (effective 20
theageof22,andfindingsuitableem Thatyear, thecompanywasincorpor
measures Squadron Northern Territory June, 1941)
ploymentelu iveinhisnativecountry, ated as the Thomas Brothers Aero
ECW Electronic Counter- Aerial Services USAAS United States Army Air
measures Wing RAAF Royal Australian Air Service (effective 20 emigrated to the United States. Tho plane Company with William as
ELINT Electronic Intelligence Force May, 1918) mas was a motorcycle enthusiast and presidentand Oliverasvice-president.
Esk Eskadrille(Danish) RAF Royal Air Force USAF United States Air Force had worked on gas engines during a 'Work continued on new pusher
FAA Federal Aviation Agency RAI Reseau Aerien (effective pre-college apprenticeship with the designs, and also a single-seat mono
FAMA Flota Aerea Mercante Interinsulaire 18 September, 1947) British Westinghouse Manufacturing A rarephotographofthe two keyunre plane was tried without success, and
Argentina RCAF Royal Canadian Air USAFE United States Air Force Company.AfterarrivinginNewYork, lated Thomasesfrom Britain. On the two wooden-hulled flying-boats were
FICOI Fighter Conveyor Force Europe Thomaswashiredinthedraftingroom left isdesignerB Douglas Thomas, on tested. Experiencingleaksin the hulls,
FIS Fighter Interceptor REAL Redes Estaduais Aheas USCG United States Coast at the Herring-Curtiss Company at therightis William T Thomas who the brothers experimented with metal
Squadron Ltda Guard
Han1.J11ondsport. Glenn Curtiss "vas founded the Thomas Brothers Com covering, one of the earliest uses of
FLIR Forward-Looking Infra- Reg Registration/registered USN United States Navy
Red RNZAF Royal New Zealand Air VIASA Vias Internacionales holderoftheworld'smotorcyclespeed panyin 1909. (Randolph F Hall) metal foraircraftstructureundertaken
FY Fiscal Year (USA) Force Aereas SA record, a builder of famous racing in the USA.
HAL Hindustan Aircraft Ltd RoKAF Republic ofKorea VP Patrol Squadron (US engines, and an avid promotor offly Late in 1914, Benjamin Douglas
HUD Head Up Display Air Force Navy) ing. Thomas made drawings for the thatyear, thecompanymovedtoBath, Thomas (no relation but al 0 from
IPTN Industri Pesawat SAAB Svenska Aeroplan VPB Patrol Bomber Squa- GoldenFlyeranditsfour-cylinder40hp New York, and soon grew to eight or England)joined the Thomas brothers
Terbang Nurtanio Aktiebolag e1ron (US Navy) engineandfortheRedDevilbiplaneon ten employees. atBath. BDouglasThomashadgrad-
(NurtanioAircraft SABCA Societe Anonyme Beige VTOL Vertical Take-offand behalfofCaptThomasA Baldwin. An improved model ofthefir tair
Industry Ltd, de Constructions Aero- Landing Intentondesigningandbuildinghis craft, theThomasTA, wascompleted
Indonesia) nautiques WFU Withdrawn From Use
own aircraft, Thomas left Curtiss ~ which won several races and both bi The originalbuildingrentedin 1914
JJAALT JJaupgaonsloAviernLskinies SABENA dS'oEcxieptleoiAtantoionnymdeelBaeige WWORS WWeriatttheenrORfefconnaiss- obtained the use of a bam at H~­ planes were used for exhibition flying by the Thomas AeroplaneCompany
Aerotransport Navigation Aerienne ance Squadron mondsport owned by the Roulette toprovidesomeincome.TheThomas inBrindleyStreet, Ithaca, New
JATO Jet-Assisted Take-Off SAC StrategicAir Command Wine Company and began work in SchoolofAviation Incopenedin1912, York, whichbecameknows as the
KLM Koninklijke Luchtvaart SAM Surface-to-AirMissile ="lovember 1909, assisted by Bert the first certificated by the Board of InletPlant. It stillstands today.
Maatschappij SANA Sociedad Argentina de Chambers, a Herring-Curtiss motor Regents in New York State. An early (Harold Andrewscollection)
voor Nederland en Navegacion Ahea cycle mechanic. Thomas did business
Kolonien (Royal Dutch SAS Scandinavian Airlines
as Thomas Brothers Company,
Airlines) System
althoughhisbrother,OliverW,didnot
KNILM Koninklijke Neder- SATA Societe Anonyme de
arrive from England until several
landsch-Indische Transports Ahien
months later.
Luchtvaart Skv Skvadron (Norway)
Maatschappij Sm Smaldeel (Belgium) The first aircraft, a two-seater
LACSA LineasAheas SOC Struck OffCharge pusher biplane powered by a 22hp
Costarricenses SONACA Societe Nationale de Kirkham automobile engine, was
LAPE Lineas Aheas Postales Construction Ahospa- completed the following spring and
Espafiolas tiale SA (Belgium) flown by Chambersfrom Page Farm,
LTC Limited Type STC Supplemental Type Homell, NewYork, towheretheshop
Certificate Certificate
had moved thatwinter. Thomas him
MATS Military Air Transport STOL Short Take-Offand
selfstarted flying in June 1910. Later
Service Landing
12 GENERAL DYNAMICS THOMAS BROTHERS AND THOMAS-MORSE 13
Afterits reorganisation as the Thomas With the MB-3, Thomas-Morsehad
Morse Aircraft Corporationin 1917, thechance to obtainamajor US
the company'smainplantwas on lnny contactwhichwouldhaveguar
South Hill, Ithaca, attachedto the (/Ilfeedit apostwarroleas amajor
Morse Chain Company'sbuilding. manufacturer. However, through com
(AircraftYear Book) petitivebidding, Boeingobtainedthe
orderfor the improvedMB-3A and
711Omas-Morse turneditsattentionto
theless lucrative task ofdeveloping all
More 'Tommy Scouts'werebuilt than metaldesigns. (Harold Andrews
any other Thomas-Morse typeandit colJection)
was themostfamous Americanair
craftoftheFirst World War, even However, although the war had
thoughit took no partin theconflict. brought some orders, the Thomas
This isan S-4B in 1918-style US concernrequiredadditionalfundingto
ArmyAirServicemarkings. remain in business, leading, on 31
(PeterM Bowers colJection) January, 1917, to the organisation of
theThomas-MorseAircraftCorpora
tion with the Morse Chain Company
ofIthaca payingoffall debts, advallC
ing workingcapital and talilllgcontrol
assoleshareholder.Principalstockhol
dersinthenewcompanywereHerman
H Westillghouse,oftheairbrakefam
ily, and J F Miller, president of the
Union Switch alld Signal Company.
FrankLMorse,oftheparentcompany
headed the new corporation and Wil
liam Thomas was named vice-presi
dent alld general manager. B Douglas
Thomas contillued as chief engineer
but Oliver moved to the Dayton
Wright Company and after the war
managed family cattle interests in
Argentina, where he died in 1947.
A new concretee;.,.1:ension was built productioncontractorderfor fiftywas Aftersevenyearsofunsuccessfulall
totheMorseChainCompanyplanton placed in1919butamajordisappoint metalaircraft design, Thomas-Morse
SouthHill, Ithaca, and the InletPlant mentoCCUlTed thefollowingyear, one finally achievedabreakthroughwith
was retained for sub-assembly. In ad from which the company never fully the 0-19series. However, the com
dition,anexperimentalshopwassetup recovered. As it "vas well known that panywas soldto ConsolidatedbEfore
uated from King's ColJege, London, ducedbyanattractiveofferbythelocal possibility of adapting the British in a former corset factory on Center the Air Service planned to procw-e work on theprodw;tionmodels started
worked for Vickersand then the Sop board of trade, a year's free rent on a Greenenginewasexploredbutasolu
Street. The S-4 'Tommy Scout' another two hundredofthe improved andthe vast majorityof0-19s, includ
withAviationCompany.InMay1914, three-storey building ill Brindley tion was found by obtaining the ser trainer won Army approval alld by MB-3A design, Thomas-Morse in ingthe 0-19Billustrated, was built at
Glenn Curtiss had invited him to the Street.Thislaterbecameknownasthe vicesofGeorgeH Abeland Harold N October 1917, the company had a vested in the necessary jilZs/and dies. BuffalobyReubenFleet'scompany.
United States following a visit to the InletPlant. DesignerA V 'Fred' Ver Bliss and forming the Thomas Aero backlogofonemillion dolJars, includ However, the policyattl)/;;imewasto
Kingston factOl)'. Beforehisdeparture ville also joined the company during motor Compally on 5 August, 1915. ing orders for one hundred SAs at offerthecontractouttoJ)'idandBoeing 'we got the jump on everybody with
from England, Thomas designed the this period. A flying school wasset up Abel alld Blisshad designed an engine
$5,400 each, twelve SH-4s for the offered the lowest price and obtained the S-4 and then we got thejwnp on
ModelJforCurtissandatHan1l11ond ononeoftheCOuntl)"SearliestmWlici at the BF Sturtevant Compally, Bos
~avyat$7,575 each,and aquantityof the order. Interestingly, Reuben Fleet everybody with the MB-3. But when
sportThomasassisted with thedesign pal airports, an earth runway carved ton, and had all agreement whereby if
Thomas-Morseengines. At peak pro was in charge of purchasing and had we tried to get thejwnp in metal, we
of the Model H flying-boat Amen:ca, through apeachorchardon theshores opportunities existed elsewhere, they
duction in 1918, the Ithaca plants attempted to get Thomas-Morse to were in real trouble.' The US lagged
intended for an Atlantic crossing. of Cayuga Lake, and was used for and the engille design were free to
employed1,200workersalld threetest lowerits price below$13,200perunit. far behind Europe, particularly
Thomaswasinitiallywlsalaried,but trainingRoyal Canadian FlyingCorps moveon. pilots, Frank Burnside, R C 'Tex' In later years, Fleet himself was the Germany, in metal aircraftdesign and
worked under an agreement whereby pilots during the war. A new tractor design, the D-2, was Marshall and Paul D Wilson. When victim of this policy when he lost a construction and Thomas-Morse
he would supervise construction and The T-2 flew soon after the com initially powered by a 135hp Sturte
Burnside left the company in 1920, Consolidated contractto Martin. frequently had to adapt woodworking
receive half of any profits, and he pany arrived at Ithaca and was con vallt, then bythenear twinThomas8,
Wil on took over as chief pilot until Following the loss of the MB-3A tools for the task. Corrugated sheets
started immediately on a tractor sidered one of the best aircraft of its all adaptation ofthe Sturtevant eight
1928. contract,thecompanyconcentratedon were made by running smooth stock
design, designated T-2, using his ex day. A British Admiralty purchasing cylinderwater-cooledengine. In 1915,
Although affected by post-Armi all-metal designs, the first US manu through a wood planer fitt d with
periencewith the CurtissModel]. On comrrusslon ordered twenty-four FrankBwnsideflewaD-2at97.4mph
stice contract cancellations, the com factw-er to do so, starting with the con-ugated rollers and to make extru
7 December, 1914, another move was T-2s but further contracts were not andclaimedanewworldspeedrecord. panyfollowedonthesuccessoftheS-4 MB-9 and MB-lO in 1921. But little sions, dies were procw-ed bythe com
undertaken, this time to Ithaca, New forthcoming, reportedly because of a Severalsimilaraircraftwereorderedby with the compact MB-3 designed successwasachievedforthefirstseven pany and loalled to the Alwninwn
York. The Thomases had been in- shortageofCurtissOX-5engines.The the US Navyand Anny.
around the 300hp I-lispano engine. A years. As BDouglasThomas recalled, Company of America. Dw-al tubing
14 GENERAL DYNAMICS THOMAS BROTHERS AND THOMAS-MORSE 15
was available only in limited sizes and TheModel TA in itsoriginalform
much materialwaspurchasedinEng with aSOhp Kirkham engine with
land from Vickers. singlepilotcontrols. (AircraftYear
Although the TM-22/24 series Book)
proved unsuccessful, they attracted
considerable attention for Thomas
Morse. Inlate1924theArmyordered
two sets ofmetal wings for the DH-4
whichwere taticandflighttested,fol TA Tractor withSOhp Kirkham en
lowed by another pair for the Boeing gine. (AircraftYear Book)
PW-9whichweresimilarlysatisfactor
ilytested. In 1925, theAirCorpssug
gested that the company undertake a
Thomas Brothers
metalversionoftheDouglas0-2.Two
XO-6s were produced at a loss of Aircraft
$60,000 followed by three production companyattheinvitationofF Trubee Thefirst Thomas design initsoriginal
aircraft. A completelynew design, the Davison, Assistant Secretary of War configurationwithlargepanels
XO-6B, followed. In 1928, this rede for Air, who was concerned that mountedoutboardofthe wingstruts.
signed model was procured as the Thomas-Morse would be w1able to (AircraftYear Book)
Biplane
XO-19and,followingteststhatproved produce the 0-19 in quantity. Tho
thesoundnessoftheconcept,itwasex mas-Morse was transferred to Buffalo (XB2Y-l) dive-bomber for which the
Thomas started work on his first air
pectedthatsubstantialorderswouldbe as a subsidiary of Consolidated, Navysuppliedthebasicdesigns. Butit
craftat Hammondsport in November
placed. becoming Unit 4 at the North Elm wasnotasuccess,andheretiredinJuly
1909and the pusher biplane was first
Before this occurred the Morse wood Avenue plant, and completed 1933 to live in La Jolla, California.
flown from PageFarm,Hornell, New
Chain Company was sold to Borg 171 0-19s, the last in 1932. The fmal Thomas-Morse ceased to be an active
York, the following pring by Bert
Warner. The aircraft subsidiary, con aircraft to bear the Thomas-Morse part of the Consolidated corporate
Chambers. The machine seated pilot
sideredafmancialliability,wasomitted name was the XO-932, the ultimate structure and two years later was
andpassengerside-by-sideonthelead
from the transaction, however. Frank development of the 0-19 series, later quietlydi solved. WilliamT Thomas,
ingedge ofthe lower wing. In itsfirst TA TA Tractor
L Morse remained inchargeand on 5 designated Consolidated Model 23. thefounderoftheenterptise,hadleftin
form, largepanelspivotingonforeand
August, 1929, he sold the company's BDouglasThomas, responsiblefor 1921. For many years he devoted his
afthingesatthecentreoftheoutboard The second Thomas design was a In 1912, an unsuccessful tractor ver
designs to Consolidated Aircraft for all the company's designs except the time to building and flying model
wing struts served for roll control. refmementofthefirstand initiallyflew sion of the TA biplane was built (or
6,000 shares of Consolidated stock S-7,movedtoBuffaloaspresidentand aircraft and in 1928 joined the
Later, these were replaced with aile atBathwitha50hpKirkhamsix-cylin convertedfrom an existingTA) witha
(worth about $440,000 at the time). chief engineer. His last work there CLmningham-Hall Aircraft Corp as
rons. The four-wheel undercarriage der aero-engine that permitted up to 50/65hpKirkhamengine,fitted witha
Fleet had become interested in the was on the Consolidated Model 24 chiefengineer.
was mounted on bamboo skids at threepersons,includingthepilot,tobe single pontoon and outriggerfloats for
tached to the wing centre section that carried. During1911,itwasconverted water-based operations. Performance
Thomas and Thomas-Morse S-6 1 XO-932/YI0-41
Production Summary S-7 1 (Consolidated 23)***** supported the 22hp Kirkham auto intoasuccessfulhydroplanebysubsti wasnotasgoodastheoriginalTAand
mobile engine with its chain-driven tuting pontoons for the wheels, and further work wasabandoned infavow'
S-9 1 XP-13 Viper
propeller. With two on board itcould was still able to carry one passenger. ofpusherdesigns.
Thomas MB-l 1
stayaloftfor20minutes. Subsequently In 1912, a further improved model
MB-2 1 Sub-Total 876
Biplane 1 the elevator, supported by bamboo TAwas built with a 65hp Kirkham Span 37ft; weightempty 900lb; ma"i
TAO' 2 MB-3 65 struts, was modified and twin rudders engine and on 31 October, was flown mumspeed 58mph; endurance2hr.
MB-4 2 TOTAL 945
TATractor** 1 fitted and the chain-drive was aban by Walter E Johnson at Bath with a
MB-6 3
Monoplane 1 doned in favow' of a direct-drive passengerfor 3hr51min, anAmetican A Model TA convertedas ahydro
MB-7 2
NacellePusher 2 system. endurance record. The improved TA plane. This maybetheimproved
EO' 12 MB-9 1 Inaddition, afuselage oftheYl0-42 was also won aseriesofraces includingthe version with a6Shp Kirkham asit
MB-lO 1
B(Flying-boat)*** 4 builtfor statictests only. Span 27ft; weightempty6501b. 25-rnile $1,000 prize event at the hasdualcontrols (Harold Andrews
TM-22 (R-5) 2
T-2 25 Acontracttoconvel'tseventy-fiveDH Syracuse State Fair in 1912 collection)
TM-23 1
SH-4 15 4stoDH-4Bstandardwasplacedbutnone
D-2/D-5/HS 6 TM-24 1 weredelivered.
XO-6 2
Sub-Total 69
0-6 3
XO-6B**** 1
Thomas-M<;>rse
XO-19**** 1 .. Possibly interchangeable, at leastone
S-4 1 0-19 2 'school machine' was built at Ithaca.
S-4B 101 0-19A 1 .... Possiblyconverted from existingTA.
S-4C (Gnome) 50 0-19B***** 70 *.... Possibly only three aircraft.
S-4C (Le Rhone) 447 0-19C***** 71 ........ Possiblysame airframe
S-4C (post contract cancellation) 1 0-19E***** 30 .......... Builtby Consolidated at Buffalo.
S-4E 1 YO-20 1
S-5 6 XO-2 1
YO-23 1
16 GENERAL DYNAMICS THOMAS BROTHERS AND THOMAS-MORSE 17
Monoplane Model E
A single-seat monoplane with a Developed from the TA, twelve air
50/60hp Ma;-::imotor fow'-cylinder craft were reportedly built from 1913
engine was built in 1913 and was with65hpKirkhamengines.Thespe
flown dUling the spring. The paired cifications were similar to those ofthe
four-wheel undercarriage was sup TAbutatleastone,knownastheSpe
plementedbyskids.Theintentionwas cialBiplane,had 33ftspanwingsanda
toinstalla70hpKirkhanlenginebutit gross weight of 8501b. Fitted with an
is unliJ,ely that this was done. 80hpCurtissengine,onewasflown by
FrankH Burnside,anearlygraduateof
Span 32ft, length 30ft; weight empty OriginalFlying-Boat, onLakeSalubria in 1912. (AircraftYear Book) theThomasSchoolofFlyingandsub
7501b. Thomas Monoplane (SOhp Maximotor). (AircraftYear Book)
sequentlychiefpilotofthecompany,to
13,OOOft in 1913 to claim a new US
Nacelle Pusher
altitude record. One aircraft survives
with Cole Palen's collection at Old
Two sinUlar 'nacelle pusher' biplane
Rhinebeck, ew York.
designs were built and flown during
1913. Both featw'ed paired four
Model BFlying-boats
wheel/skid undercaniagesand had the
elevator and twin rudders supported A ide-by- idetwo-seatbiplaneflying
byabambooframee>.1:endingfrom the
boat with a 60/65hp water-cooled
wingcentresection. Thesingle-seater,
engine was builtand flown from Lake
also referred to as the Standard Bi Salubria in 1912. A second, more
plane, had a 10ft longer-span upper Second Flying-Boat, with a steel-coveredhulland a 90hp Austro-Daimler refmed 'boat, was built with a 90hp
wing, a 65hp Kirkham engine, and a engine. (Aircraft Year Book) Austro-Daimler engl11e and was
nacellemowltedin betvveenthewings. capableof65mph.AstheThomasbro
The three-seater, powered by a 90hp Single-seat NacellePusher (1913). (AircraftYear Book)
thershadtroublewiththewoodenhull
Austro-Daimlerengine,hadthelonger absorbingwater,thusaddingweightto
nacelle attached clirectly to the lower the aircraft, 30-gauge galvanised iron
wmg. sheets were used to cover the wooden
franle hull of the second aircraft, re
(Single-seater): Span 37ft; weight
inforced at the bow and underneath
empty 9001b; ma;xinlum speed 58mph,
with wood planking. In 1914, a third
endurance2hr.
design appeared with thesameengine
and thi ,togetherwith amore tream
Three-seat NacellePusher (1913)
with 90hpAustro-Daimlerengine. lined model produced in 1915, aI 0
witha90hpAustro-Daimler,hasbeen
(AircraftYear Book)
1915-modelFlying-Boat (B-4) withstreamlinedbowandextendedfin. (Harold The 1914modelFlying-Boat (B-3)
ModelE single-seater. (AircraftYear
Andrewscollection) onLakeSalubria. (Stephen JHudek)
Book)