YVRLTN From Canada, joined Oct 2006, 2119 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 2892 times:
My colleague flies a Cessna and he had no idea the company was named after its founder Clyde Cessna - he thought it was just a name someone dreamed up like Bombardier. Thinking about it, with some notable exceptions such as Airbus, Bombardier / Canadair, Embraer, Raytheon, Eurocopter and so on, many of the aircraft we still see today and are familiar with, their manufacturer is named after their founding person, often as far back as the 1920's - here are some that come to the top of my head:
William Boeing
James McDonnell
Donald Douglas
Glenn Martin
Sherman Fairchild
Leroy Grumman
Jack Northrop
Allan Loughead - company renamed as per the phonetic pronounication 'Lockheed'
Gerard Vultee - (Consolidated Vultee or Convair)
Edward Stinson
William Piper
Lawrence Bell
Igor Sikorsky
Andrei Tupolev
Alexander Yakovlev
Sergey Ilyushin
Oleg Antonov
Eustace & Oswald Short - (Shorts Bros)
Al & Art Mooney
Geoffrey de Havilland
Anthony Fokker
Claude Dornier
Harry Hawker - name retained by Raytheon for the 125 design purchased from BAe.
There are many others, particularly in British and European aviation in all those companies that now form BAe, Eurocopter / Aerospatiale and the great German aircraft of WW2 - I hope that was interesting / informative
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5962 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 2862 times:
Also:
Glen Curtiss - the Curtiss Aircraft Company
Orville & Wilbur Wright
The two later merged to form the Curtiss-Wright company...
And, another non-name name:
Supermarine. Somehow, I don't think this one was the last name of it's founder
Ditto for Gulfstream...
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
DALMD88 From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 2370 posts, RR: 15 Reply 5, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 2736 times:
Also add Walter Beech of Beechcraft and Ed Swearingen creator of the beloved Metro/Merlin turboprop.
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5962 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 2659 times:
Quoting DALMD88 (Reply 5): Ed Swearingen creator of the beloved Metro/Merlin turboprop
Last I recall, the Merlin was a pain in the A** to re-fuel (had to be overwinged, and it had really tall landing gear), and the Metro was referred to by all as the "San Antonio Sewer Pipe"
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
Aeroweanie From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 1601 posts, RR: 52 Reply 8, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 2606 times:
A couple more:
Ernst Heinkel
Willi Messerschmitt
Hugo Junkers
Marcel Bloch - changed his name to Marcel Dassault after WWII
Alliott Verdon Roe - Avro!
Frederick Handley Page
Edward Vickers (founded steel foundry in 1828 that led to Vickers Aircraft)
Chance Vought
Alexander Procofieff de Seversky
Sherman Fairchild (son of a founder of IBM!)
Stanley Hiller
Frank Piasecki
Larry Bell
Frank Robinson
Rudy Enstrom
Claude Ryan
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca
Reuben Fleet
Curtiss Pitts
C.S. Rolls and Henry Royce
Gianni Caproni
Rinaldo Piaggio
Max Holste - also helped design the Embraer Bandeirante
George "Buck" Weaver - Weaver Aircraft Company (WACO)
Henry Ford - don't forget the Trimotor!
Vincent Justus Burnelli
Julian Don Alexander
Edward, Mark, Robert, Thomas and Zantford Granford - the Granford brothers (Gee Bee)
Emil Matthew "Matty" Laird
Grover Loening
Donald Luscombe
Lloyd Stearman
Clarence Gilbert & Gordon Taylor - Taylorcraft
William Stout
Leland Snow
Fred Ayers
Willard Rockwell - bought Aero Commander and North American Aviation
Benny Howard - Damn Good Airplanes
Ted Smith - The Piper Aerostar was originally the Ted Smith Aerostar...
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5962 posts, RR: 4 Reply 9, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 2578 times:
Not an aircraft manufacturer per se, but they make the kits for the world's most popular amateur-built aircaft:
Van's Aircraft
All plane kits built by them are an RV-X (RV-6 being the most popular thus far...). RV are the initials of the company's founder and chief design engineer, Richard VanGrunsven, better known to homebuilders as "Van."
Breiz From France, joined Mar 2005, 1815 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 2535 times:
Although the nationalization of the French aircraft industry around the WW2 removed most of the known names, here are some:
Louis Blériot
Marcel Bloch (to become Dassault after the WW2)
Louis Bréguet
Gaston and René Caudron
Marcel Dassault
Deperdussin
Maurice Hurel and Dubois
Hubert Latham
René Leduc
Robert Maurane
Henri Potez
Raymond Saulnier
All these names, save for Dassault, became part of S.N. (Société Nationale) something, later turned into Nord and Sud Aviation, which became SNIAS and then EADS.
Remcor From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 351 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 2474 times:
Billy Airbus - single handedly hammered the first Airbus from wrought iron and sheepskin.
Revelation From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 10569 posts, RR: 21 Reply 13, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2408 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 4): I am surprised no-one has mentioned that well known aviation pioneer Jean-Claude Airbus wink
Given the co-CEOs, and the makeup of the board of directors, shouldn't we recognize his brother, Dieter-Claude Airbus?
Floridaflyboy From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 1988 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2401 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 4): I am surprised no-one has mentioned that well known aviation pioneer Jean-Claude Airbus
Aah, I was just going to say something along those lines. Good call. Cannot forget his dad, Mr. Eads.
KELPkid From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 5962 posts, RR: 4 Reply 15, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2394 times:
Quoting Floridaflyboy (Reply 14): Aah, I was just going to say something along those lines. Good call. Cannot forget his dad, Mr. Eads.
I thought he also had SUD Aviation and Aerospatiale in his family tree... and for good measure, the fuselage barrels of the Dassault Mercure were passed down to his most popular product
Celebrating the birth of KELPkidJR on August 5, 2009 :-)
57AZ From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 2550 posts, RR: 2 Reply 16, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2320 times:
As to the US posters, what a bunch of heathens! You post Wm. Boeing, D. Douglas and Walt Beech, yet forget to mention one of the top two or three most important founders in US aviation history-Clyde Cessna! Of all the 121 and 135 pilots in the US, probably 1/2 of them got their private license in a Cessna.
"When a man runs on railroads over half of his lifetime he is fit for nothing else-and at times he don't know that."
Fanofjets From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 1898 posts, RR: 3 Reply 17, posted (6 years 1 month 2 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 2259 times:
Got a few more for ya...
Charles and Gabriel Voisin (builders of Voisin biplanes flown by Henry Farman)
Henry Farman (who started building his own planes after flying his Voisin)
Burt Rutan (SpaceShipOne, Voyager, VariEze)
Bernard H. Pietenpol (The Air Camper was introduced in 1928, and plans for these are still available)
Willard Custer (Inventor of the CW-5 Channel Wing)
Peter M. Bowers (Founder of the Fly Baby series of homebuilts)
Jim Bede (BD-5 world's smallest jet)
The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
ReidYYZ From Kyrgyzstan, joined Sep 2005, 536 posts, RR: 1 Reply 18, posted (6 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 2226 times:
How about Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney?
And with:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 4): I am surprised no-one has mentioned that well known aviation pioneer Jean-Claude Airbus
in mind, what about the little known General Ebinezer James Howard Electric (USN-Ret.)- inventor of the light bulb, aircraft leasing, and the guy who improved upon Frank Wittle's jet engine a.k.a. the Whittle Unit.
Quoting Breiz (Reply 10): Marcel Bloch (to become Dassault after the WW2)
Rwy04LGA From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 2252 posts, RR: 7 Reply 19, posted (6 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days ago) and read 2224 times:
Quoting 57AZ (Reply 16): As to the US posters, what a bunch of heathens! You post Wm. Boeing, D. Douglas and Walt Beech, yet forget to mention one of the top two or three most important founders in US aviation history-Clyde Cessna! Of all the 121 and 135 pilots in the US, probably 1/2 of them got their private license in a Cessna.
Quoting YVRLTN (Thread starter): My colleague flies a Cessna and he had no idea the company was named after its founder Clyde Cessna
That was the first sentence of the thread start.
The early bird gets the worm, BUT...the second mouse gets the cheese!
Jeffry747 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 962 posts, RR: 2 Reply 20, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 2188 times:
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21679 posts, RR: 23 Reply 21, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 2176 times:
Quoting Jeffry747 (Reply 20): If I remember right, Gulfstream aircraft were originally built by Grumman before they went solo
Yes, Gulfstream was originally part of Grumman. They've had about 5 owners over the years, including Chrysler for a few years in the mid-1980s. Since 1999 a subsidiary of General Dynamics, which also owned both Convair and Canadair for many years.
KBFIspotter From United States of America, joined May 2005, 729 posts, RR: 1 Reply 23, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 2159 times:
Another one to add to the list would be Lance Neubier, founder of Lancair, and Roy LoPresti, founder of LoPresti Speedmerchants as well as being a designer for Piper and Mooney.
Ptrjong From Netherlands, joined Mar 2005, 3779 posts, RR: 20 Reply 24, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 2149 times:
If my information is correct, Marcel Bloch's brother was a tank commander and took on the name Dassault while in the resistance movement, from char d'assault = main battle tank. Marcel took on the name after the war, I'm not sure exactly why. BTW he survived Buchenwald concentration camp, he was Jewish, and refused to work for the Germans.
Peter
The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad (Salvador Dali)
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