What became of this Aerospace Company ?

[Michel Van]

a littel series of, who is who in Aerospace Company and Wat became of them
if you wanted, you can correct my errors or missing information,

Douglas Aircraft Company
founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. in California
Ed Heinemann start work there in 1926 as draftsman
in WW II they form BVD (Boeing-Vega-Douglas) consortium for B-17 Bomber (later for B-47)
famous Product: DC-3, A-4 Skyhawk, MIM-14 Nike-Hercules, Thor-Delta, S-IVB stage for Saturn.
Douglas form a United States Army Air Forces think-tank wat became later The RAND Corporation

in 1967 Douglas Has problems to cheep production up to meet demand for Civilian and Military Aircraft
so they merge with with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
and became McDonnell Douglas. (MDD)

1997 McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing
the Douglas Aircraft Company put with in the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division,
ending more than 75 years of Douglas Aircraft Company history

the last remaining part of Douglas is the Long Beach facility were Boeing builds the The C-17 Globemaster III

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
was founded by Jim s. McDonnell in 1939 ,(St. Louis, Missouri)
after WW II McDonnell began developing jets (to become a major supplier to the US Navy)
they build the legendary FH-1 Phantom, F2H Banshee, F3H Demon, F-101 Voodoo and the F-4 Phantom II
for NASA they build Mercury and Gemini Space craft.

in 1967 McDonnell Aircraft Corporation run into similar problems like Douglas Aircraft Company.
so they merge with with Douglas and became McDonnell Douglas. (MDD)

McDonnell Douglas.
after the merge changes were made
all Space and missiles division of the two forms then the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company.
the Douglas Aircraft Company produce now civilian aircraft for MDD
the Military production goes to McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri
as MDD they produce
F-4 Phantom II, F-15, AV-8 Harrier II, F/A-18 Hornet, C-17 Globemaster III
BGM-109 Tomahawk, the civilian MD series and Skylab space station and Parts for Saturn V

in 1984 MDD take over Hughes Helicopters from the Summa Corporation.
renamed them to McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in 1985.
famous for AH-64 Apache, MD-500, MD Explorer

1997 McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing become The Boeing Company
(i have no information hat happen to McDonnell part of MDD after Boeing take over)

 

[KJ_Lesnick]

Damn shame McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing...

Kendra Lesnick

 

[sferrin]

Damn shame McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing...

Kendra Lesnick

Funny thing is now there's talk that there was too much consolidation. Too late for that though.

 

[Michel Van]

next in series

North American Aviation
founded by Clement Melville Keys on December 6, 1928
as a holding company for airlines !!!
the Air Mail Act of 1934 forced a end to those holding company.

so NAA has to change to Aircraft manufacture but with James H. "Dutch" Kindelberger as boss
General Motors Corporation "General Aviation division" merge with NAA in 1933
the Factory were move to southern California
NOTE car manufacture General Motors has nothing to do with General Dynamics
during the War NAA open more Factory in USA
they build T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber during WW2

after the war NAA start development in Jet plane and Rockets
they build F-86 Sabre jet fighter, F-100 Super Sabre, A-5 Vigilante and the X-15 rocket plane
they start development of the F-107, F-108, XB-70 Valkyrie , the Navaho intercontinental cruise missile.
the NAA Rocketengine division became in 1955 the company "Rocketdyne".
with Autonetics Division NAA development D-17 guidance computer from the Minuteman I ICBM
the Future was Bright for NAA, until
The cancellation of he F-107, F-108, XB-70 Valkyrie , the Navaho programs. NAA was in trouble

the new CEO Lee Atwood decided to focus on the space program.
then came Apollo program with Apollo Spacecraft and S-II Stage for Saturn V
until Apollo 1 fire and NAA had to hire Martin Marietta engineers to get the "bug out"
in march 1967 NAA merge with Rockwell-Standard (a automotive suppliers) and became

North American Rockwell
the Autonetics Division of NAA become Rockwell Semiconductor
NAR build the OV-10 Bronco, development the B-1 bomber and Space Shuttle
NOTE this is odd, but its only NAR spacecraft that kill 18 US-astronauts
(X-15, Apollo 1, STS Challenger, Colombia)
in 1973 the Company is rename into:

Rockwell International
1978 they build first GPS-satellites
1984 RI re-merge with Rocketdyne and buy Aero Commanders, (business aircraft manufactured)

December 1996 began RI to spin-offs its business
like sell its its defense and all of its space business (include Rocketdyne) to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
Rockwell Semiconductor became Conexant, the automotive and truck Division as Meritor,
the rest became Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Automation. this ends Rockwell International.

aftermat
2005 Boeing Integrated Defense Systems sells Rocketdyne to UTC Pratt & Whitney

 

[Michel Van]

Bell Aircraft Corporation
know for there fine aircraft and X-plane

founded by Lawrence Bell, who work as manager at the Glenn L. Martin Company,
later a manager of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.
as Consolidated move in 1935 to San Diego
Lawrence Bell take over the former Consolidated production plant in Buffalo, New York.

in 1937 BAC get is the first military contract the YFM-1 Airacuda, a unique aircraft but with Design flaws.
1941 the P-39 Airacobra became a success for Bell
also beginn of the Bell Helicopter division (famous Model 47/H-13 Sioux)
and with The P-59 Airacomet, the first US jet fighter to fly
during war BAC build also for the B-29 Superfortress program.
the most famous Bell aircraft is the X-1 the first aircraft to break the sound barrier.
during the 1950s BAC build various X-plane for NASA and DoD
as Lawrence Bell died in 1956, he leaving the company in financial difficulty.

in 1960 Bell Aircraft Corporation is buy by Textron Inc. (the world's first multi-industry company)
for $32 million in cash!

BAC was cut in several divisions:
Bell Helicopter Company (later Bell Helicopter Textron)
Bell Aerosystems
Hydraulic Research and Manufacturing of Burbank, California
later became the rest the Bell Aerospace Corporation.

Textron Inc.
next to Bell Helicopter Textron, Bell Aerospace Corporation. they buy
Avco Corporation for $2.9 billion in 1985.
the Cessna Aircraft Company In 1992.

today Textron Inc sells (a selection)
Helicopter
Bell 407
AH-1 Cobra
V-22 Osprey (with Boeing)
Cessna piston-powered aircraft
Cessna Bussines Jets

 

[F-14D]

Damn shame McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing...

Kendra Lesnick

Funny thing is now there's talk that there was too much consolidation. Too late for that though.

Realize this part of the topic is a bit old, but it wasn't so much that MDD merged with Boeing as that Boeing ate MDD. Due to a couple of short-sighted decisions on the DC-10/MD-11 programs, plus the fact that McDonnell management really didn't know how to sell to the civilian aircraft world, their civil business was not doing that well. Plus, their military programs were winding down. Although the AV-8B might still have some limited orders, it would not be a big future program. The F-15 had a lot of potential growth left, but USAF wasn't going to allow that to be exploited lest it threaten the F-22. F/A-18E/F was always seen as an interim program with not much happening beyond Navy orders, and its lack of sauces in international competitions since has borne this out. When MDD was eliminated from JSF consideration, they knew they had to become part of something else with a more secure future to survive, and so they looked upon Boeing's overtures with great favor as a survival tactic. It was clear form the start that MDD would become a subdivision of Boeing rather than a merger of near equals as with Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman. What has been discussed ever since was that while many could see that this was a wise move for MDD, there has been some question as to whether it was a smart move for Boeing.

 

[CFE]

Richard Aboulafia has described the McDD-Boeing merger as "McDD using Boeing's money to buy Boeing." It's a fair assessment when you see a lot of the McDD executives running the show at Boeing (particularly Harry Stonecipher, before his career went down in flames.)

It's tough to see why Boeing would give the McDD executives another chance when they already ran a once-great company into the ground. All they could offer up on the commercial side were warmed-over derivatives of the DC-9 and DC-10 while Boeing was pushing the envelope with the 737NG and 777.

Boeing's big gains from the merger were existing defense programs like F-15, F/A-18, C-17 and Delta which kept the company going during the lean post-9/11 years, when the commercial airliner market was in decline. Boeing is still trying to milk the F-15 for the "Silent Eagle" program and to increase Super Hornet sales with pitches to Australia & India.

 

[Michel Van]

The Lockheed Corporation part one

was established as The Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company in 1912 by the brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead.
later renamed it the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company and located in Santa Barbara,
but in 1926 the Company goes bankrupt
Allan Loughead formed the Lockheed Aircraft Company out the remains
NOTE: Loughead is pronounced in US as Lockheed
1928 The Introduced of Vega, a six-passenger monoplane.
In 1929 Lockheed is sold to Detroit Aircraft Corporation.
but during in The Great Depression Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt.
Investors leaded by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross bought the company out of receivership in 1932.

the Lockheed Corporation launching in 1934 with HQ at the airport in Burbank, California. with Robert E. Gross as chairman
1935 The Introduced of Model 10 Electra, design by Hall Hibbard and a young student assistant: Clarence "Kelly" Johnson.
he was promoted to aeronautical engineer and remain in the attention of Lockheed management.
1936 the Introduced of Model 12 Electra Junior
1937 with Model 14 Super Electra, Lockheed expand his market
1939 "Kelly" Johnson redesign Model 14 to light Bomber Hudson A-28 for the British RAF.
1940 Lockheed purchased Union airport
1941 the Introduced of first P-38 of 10037
during WW2 Lockheed builds in total 19278 aircraft !!! next to Vegas, A-28, P-38 were also B-17
1942 Johnson presend the US Army airforce a Jet engine Fighter L-133
but The USAAF considered the L-133 to be too advanced for the time, and did not pursue the project.
only then to be confronted by German Jetfighter in Europe
1943 "Kelly" Johnson get order to build a Us jet-fighter so fast as possible
in 1944 the XP-80 "Green Hornet" fly for fist time, only 143 days after order!
This "quick and dirty" approach of his Team gave them nicknames "Skunk Works"

in 1950 Lockheed dominate the market with long range-passenger plane Constellation serie
but Boeing 707 made in 1958 the Constellation obsolete
lucky in same time Lockheed gain major contract with DoD
C-130, C-141, F-104, U-2 and Polaris SSLM, and for CIA the A-12 (later SR-71)
in 1960 Lockheed develop the C-5 Galaxy and L-1011 TriStar, but both project brought problems,
1971 the company face bankrupt and asked the US government for a loan.
1975 "Kelly" Johnson retire
1976 the Lockheed bribery scandals.
1977 the company rename Lockheed Corporation do restructure and expanding into non-aviation activities.
1978 The company's Hollywood-Burbank Airport is sold to its nearby cities and becomes Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport

In 1980s Lockheed Corporation leave the civilian Aircraft market and focus on military application.
1981 The F-117 Nighthawk enter service
1985 Acquires Metier Management Systems.
1986 Acquires Sanders Associates electronics in New Hampshire.
1991 Lockheed, General Dynamics and Boeing begin development of the F-22 Raptor.
1992 All aerospace-related activities end at the Burbank facility, Stunk Works relocate
1993 Acquires General Dynamics' Fort Worth aircraft division, own now the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
1995 Lockheed Corporation merges with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin.
2006 Lockheed Martin F-35 enter service

Today Lockheed-Martin in divided in four groups:
Aeronautical System Group
Missiles, Space and Electronics System Group
Marine System Group
Information System Group

 

[The Artist]

Some additional information on the early days of North American can be found here http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,7515.msg75950.html#msg75950 and in the following comments (within that thread).

 

[Byeman]

I put this together a few years ago, it is not complete

US Aerospace Incest


Glenn L. Martin teaches William E. Boeing to fly

Glenn L. Martin Company
Founder
Glenn L. Martin
Notable employees
Donald Douglas - chief engineer
Larry Bell - factory manager
Dutch Kindelberger - chief draftsman
James S. McDonnell -project engineer
Chance Vought
Mergers
Wright Company briefly
Lockheed Corp
Acquisitions
GE Aerospace (who previously acquired RCA Astro-Electronics)
General Dynamics - Atlas (Convair)
Ford Aerospace (parts) Most went to Loral
Vought
Goodyear Aerospace
IBM Federal Systems
Sperry

Lockheed
Founder
Loughead brothers
Notable employees
Jack Northrup - chief engineer
Mergers
Martin Company
Acquisitions
Sanders
GD Fort Worth division (Convair

Boeing Company
Founder
William E. Boeing
Acquisitions
1929, Chance Vought Corp., Hamilton Metalplane Division, Boeing Aircraft of Canada, Stout Airlines, Northrop Aircraft Corp, Stearman Aircraft Co., Sikorsky Aviation Corp., Standard Steel Propeller Co. and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co.
It becomes United Aircraft and Transportation Corp.
In 1934, it is divides into three separate companies: United Aircraft Co., Boeing Airplane Co. and United Air Lines

Rockwell International Aerospace groups (North American Aviation)
McDonnell Douglas
Hughes Satellites
Divestures
Rocketdyne

Douglas Aircraft
Founder
Donald Douglas
Notable employees
Dutch Kindelberger - chief engineer
Jack Northrup - chief engineer
Mergers
McDonnell Aircraft
Acquisitions
Northrop Corporation (early version)

McDonnell Aircraft
Founder
James S. McDonnell
Mergers
Douglas Aircraft
Acquisitions
Hughes Helicopter

North American Aviation
Notable employees
Dutch Kindelberger - President
Mergers
Rockwell Standard
Acquisitions
General Atomics

Hughes Aircraft
Founder
Howard Hughes
Notable employees
Simon Ramo
Dean Wooldridge
Divestures
Hughes Helicopter
Hughes Space and Comm Company


Northrop Grumman
Founder
John K. Northrop
Acquisitions
Grumman
Teledyne Ryan
TRW


Ramo Wooldridge Company (TRW)
Founders
Simon Ramo
Dean Wooldridge
Mergers
Thompson Products
Divestures
Aerospace Corp


United Aircraft Corp
P&W
Sikorsky
Vought
Hamilton Standard

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Feels like I'm reading an obituary for the US aersoapce industry. :'(

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

back when there were real competitions... *nostalgic music cue: revolutionary road ending theme* :'(

 

[Triton]

Was there any announcement of a new company name when Lockheed Martin announced its $8.3 billion merger with Northrop Grumman in 1998? Or would the Northrop Grumman name have disappeared. Of course, Lockheed Martin's plans were abandoned on July 16, 1998 due to strong government opposition.