The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation.[1] The name was changed in 1929.[2][3]
The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Aircraft Development Corp., Aviation Tool Co., Grosse Ile Airport, Inc., Marine Aircraft Corp., Park's Air College and Affiliated Companies, Detroit Aircraft Export Co., Gliders, Inc., and Eastman Aircraft Corp.[4] It also owned a 90% interest in the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company, practically all of the capital stock of the Lockheed Aircraft Company and a 40% interest in Winton Aviation Engine Co.[5] During the Great Depression the Detroit Aircraft holding company found that rising losses from other operations were draining the company coffers. On October 27, 1931, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation went into receivership. The heavier than air portions of the company were amalgamated under Lockheed, while the lighter than air divisions were formed into a new unit called the Metalclad Airship Corporation.[6]
This company is not related to the Detroit Aircraft Company, incorporated in 2011, and developing the Vertical Takeoff electric vehicle called the MOBi. The operator will be Airspacex.[7]
Ryan Aircraft Corporation: Incorporated into Detroit Aircraft on July 5, 1929, Ryan Aircraft acquired the assets and business of the Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Corporation, the successor to Ryan Air Lines. Ryan Aircraft manufactured four and six-place cabin monoplanes at their St. Louis facility, adjacent to the municipal airport. The Detroit Aircraft Corporation owned Ryan Aircraft's entire capital stock.
The Aircraft Development Corporation ZMC-2
Aircraft Development Corporation: was incorporated on July 12, 1929 in Michigan to take over and continue development and construction of "metal-clad" airships for commercial, military and naval uses. Company held patents covering design and construction of "Metalclad" rigid airships and airship mooring towers. The first "Metalclad" airship, the ZMC-2, was constructed for the U.S. Navy in 1929. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.[8][9][10]Edsel Ford, William May and William Stout, invested in the venture in an effort to make Detroit the manufacturing center of the dirigible industry. The Ford name was not closely associated with the ZMC-2 at the insistence of Henry and Edsel Ford, but Ford laboratories, on the property of the newly completed Ford Airport conducted tests on the ZMC-2 and paid $500,000 for the 225-foot (69m) dirigible mooring at Ford's airport
Aviation Tool, Co. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to take over and continue the development of automatic riveting machines and their application to all types of aircraft. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.[11]
Grosse Ile Airport, Inc. Incorporated in Michigan, Nov. 15, 1926. Owned and operated an airport on Grosse Ile, an island in the Detroit River. The airport covered 403 acres (1.63km2) of land and has water approaches on three sides. Contains a circular landing field. 3,000 feet (910m) in diameter, and an airship hangar. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.[12][failed verification]
Marine Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to specialise exclusively in all-metal amphibian and flying boat construction for commercial and naval uses. Manufactured an all-metal six-place cabin amphibian plane. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.
Eastman Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan. Nov. 26, 1928. Manufactured the Sea Rover and Sea Pirate flying boat ranging In price from $7,500 to $10,000. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.
Blackburn Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, May 20, 1929. to acquire design and patent rights on entire line of metal aircraft of Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. of England. DAC controlled 90% with the UK company holding 10% of the stock.
Detroit Aircraft Export Co. Incorporated in December 1928 for the purpose of handling export sales in South and Central China. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.
Gliders, Inc. Engaged exclusively in the manufacture of sailplanes. Factory located In Detroit, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock.[13][failed verification]
The Lockheed Aircraft Company of Santa Barbara, California had been a going concern all throughout the 1920s. However, in 1929, the management of Lockheed voted to sell majority share ownership to the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In July 1929, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation acquired 87 percent of the assets of Lockheed Aircraft Company.
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-unrelated Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was operational from 1912 to 1920.
Grosse Ile Township is a civil township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,371 at the 2010 census.
The Lockheed Vega is an American six-passenger high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-range design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in one, and Wiley Post used his to prove the existence of the jet stream after having flown around the world twice.
The ZMC-2 was the only successfully operated metal-skinned airship ever built. Constructed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile by The Aircraft Development Corporation of Detroit, the ZMC-2 was operated by the U.S. Navy at Lakehurst, New Jersey from 1929 until its scrapping in 1941. While at Lakehurst it completed 752 flights, and logged 2265 hours of flight time.
The Ford Trimotor is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933. A total of 199 Ford Trimotors were made. It was designed for the civil aviation market, but also saw service with military units.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1929:
The Stinson Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturing company in the United States between the 1920s and the 1950s.
Willow Run Airport is an airport in Van Buren Charter Township and Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation. Due to its proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, no major airlines schedule passenger flights to or from Willow Run.
Goodyear Aerospace Corporation (GAC) was the aerospace and defense subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The company was originally operated as a division within Goodyear as the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, part of a joint project with Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, leading to the development of rigid airships in the United States. As part of the failing relationship between the US and Germany in the era prior to World War II, the division was spun off as Goodyear Aircraft Company in 1939. The company opened a new factory in Arizona in 1941 which produced subassemblies, including subcontracted airframe construction and the design of the Goodyear F2G Corsair and Goodyear Duck.
Grosse Ile Municipal Airport is two miles south of Grosse Ile, in Wayne County, Michigan. It is owned by the Township of Grosse Ile. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a local reliever airport facility.
Zantop Air Transport was a United States airline formed from Zantop Flying Service in 1962. The Civil Aeronautics Board approved transfer of the operating certificate of Coastal Airlines to Zantop Air Transport, which had incorporated and become a supplemental air carrier. The former company had been a hauler for the Big Three automakers. With the new arrangement Zantop could provide individually waybilled services. The original founders of Zantop Flying Services, the Zantop brothers, all sold their stock and resigned from the company in 1966, at which time it became Universal Airlines, Inc.
Alclad is a corrosion-resistant aluminium sheet formed from high-purity aluminium surface layers metallurgically bonded to high-strength aluminium alloy core material. It has a melting point of about 500 degrees celsius, or 932 degrees Fahrenheit. Alclad is a trademark of Alcoa but the term is also used generically.
Metal-clad airships are airships which have a very thin airtight metal envelope, rather than the usual fabric envelope. This shell may be either internally braced as with the designs of David Schwarz, or monocoque as in the ZMC-2. Only four ships of this type are known to have been built, and only two actually flew: Schwarz's aluminum ship of 1893 collapsed on inflation; Schwarz's second airship flew at Tempelhof, Berlin in 1897, landed but then collapsed; the ZMC-2 flew 752 flights between 1929 and scrapping in 1941; while the Slate City of Glendale, was built in 1929 but never flew.
Ralph Hazlett Upson was a pioneer in the aviation field, holding Airship Pilot's Certificate #7, Balloon Pilot's Certificate #48 and Pilot's License #10290. Upson designed the world's only all-metal stressed-skin airship and contributed to aerospace technology research. He won the 1913 International Balloon Race. He was the second individual to win the Wright Brothers Medal in 1929.
Naval Air Station Grosse Ile was a Naval air station located on the southern tip of Grosse Ile, Michigan. It operated from 1927 until late 1969, and is now a township airport. During World War II NASGI was one of the largest primary flight training stations for Naval aviators, and RAF pilots. Among the many thousands of Navy pilots who began their careers at NASGI is game show host Bob Barker. Former President George H. W. Bush finished his active Navy career at NASGI attached to Torpedo Squadron 153(VT-153).
Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced the Ford Trimotor. At the height of the Great Depression, Ford closed the aircraft design and production division in 1936, temporarily re-entering the aviation market with the production of the B-24, at the Willow Run aircraft factory during World War II.
Vance Breese (1904–1973) was an American aviation engineer and test pilot.
George Henry Prudden, Jr. was an American aircraft engineer. He was instrumental in designing the first all metal aircraft in America. He was president of the Early Birds of Aviation in 1961.
Vladimir Pavlecka (1901-1980) was a Czech-American inventor and aircraft designer. He was the chief inventor of flush riveting and held other important patents.
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