 | |
 Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company in Ithaca, New York in 1915 | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1910 |
| Founders | |
| Fate | Bought by Consolidated Aircraft |
| Successor | Consolidated Aircraft |
Key people | Frank L. Morse |
The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, until it was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1929.
Founded in 1910 by English immigrants William T. Thomas and his brother Oliver W. Thomas [1] as Thomas Brothers Company in Hammondsport, New York, [2] the company moved to Hornell, New York, and moved again to Bath, New York, the same year. [2] At the Livingston County Picnic in 1912 The Thomas Brothers Hydro-aeroplane was scheduled to fly the first Hydro-aeroplane in Livingston County but later reported the winds prevented the flight. [3] During 1913, the company operated the affiliated Thomas Brothers School of Aviation at Conesus Lake, McPherson Point in Livingston County, New York state [2] [4] (taking a page from Glenn Curtiss, who did much the same at Keuka Lake). In 1913, the name became Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company and based in Ithaca, New York. [2] On December 7, 1914, the company moved to Ithaca.
In 1915, Thomas Brothers built T-2 tractor biplanes (designed by Benjamin D. Thomas, no relation to the brothers and also an Englishman, formerly of Vickers, Sopwith, and Curtiss, [1] and later the company's chief designer) for the Royal Naval Air Service [5] and (fitted with floats in place of wheels) [6] for the United States Navy as the SH-4. They received an order for 24 T-2's from the British, for use in the European war. Because the Curtiss OX engines weren't available, they founded an engine subsidiary, the Thomas Aeromotor Company, which would stress their finances. [7] In 1916, the company won a contract from the United States Army Signal Corps for two aircraft for evaluation, the D-5. [6]
In January 1917, financial difficulties led to the company merge with Morse Chain Company (headed by Frank L. Morse), who was backed financially by H T Westinghouse, [7] becoming Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation, still based in Ithaca. [2] The company then made an attempt at selling training biplanes to the United States Army and was successful with the S-4 trainer (which included a handful of S-5 floatplanes and a single S-4E) and MB series of fighters. The last company design was the O-19 observation biplane. In 1929 the company was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, becoming the Thomas-Morse Division, and ceased business in 1934. [2]
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Brothers D-2 | |||
| Thomas Brothers D-5 | |||
| Thomas Brothers HS | |||
| Thomas Brothers T-2 | 1914 | 25 | Single engine biplane |
| Thomas Brothers S-4 | 1917 | Single engine biplane advanced trainer | |
| Thomas Brothers SH-4 | 15 | Floatplane version of T-2 | |
| Thomas-Morse MB-1 | 1918 | 1 | Single engine monoplane fighter |
| Thomas-Morse MB-2 | 1918 | 2 | Single engine biplane fighter |
| Thomas-Morse MB-3 | 1919 | 265 | Single engine biplane fighter |
| Thomas-Morse MB-4 | 1920 | 2+ | Twin engine biplane mail plane |
| Thomas-Morse MB-6 | 1921 | 3 | Single engine biplane racer |
| Thomas-Morse MB-7 | 1921 | 2 | Single engine monoplane racer |
| Thomas-Morse MB-9 | 1922 | 1 | Single engine monoplane fighter |
| Thomas-Morse MB-10 | 1921 | 1 | Single engine monoplane trainer |
| Thomas-Morse R-5 | 1922 | 2 | Single engine monoplane racer |
| Thomas-Morse TM-24 | 1925 | 1 | Single engine biplane observation airplane |
| Thomas-Morse O-6 | 5-6 | All metal version of Douglas O-2 | |
| Thomas-Morse O-19 | 176 | Single engine biplane observation airplane | |
| Thomas-Morse XP-13 Viper | 1 | Single engine biplane fighter | |
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the US Army, the "Jenny" continued after World War I as a civil aircraft, as it became the "backbone of American postwar [civil] aviation".
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904, he began to manufacture engines for airships. In 1908, Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association, a pioneering research group, founded by Alexander Graham Bell at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, to build flying machines.
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades, it merged with the Wright Aeronautical to form Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1909:
Antony Habersack Jannus, more familiarly known as Tony Jannus, was an early American pilot whose aerial exploits were widely publicized in aviation's pre-World War I period. He flew the first airplane from which a parachute jump was made, in 1912. Jannus was also the first airline pilot, having pioneered the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line on January 1, 1914, the first scheduled commercial airline flight in the world using heavier-than-air aircraft. The Tony Jannus Award, created to perpetuate his legacy, recognizes outstanding individual achievement in the scheduled commercial aviation industry and is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society founded in Tampa, Florida, in 1963.
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The XP-13 Viper was a prototype biplane fighter aircraft designed by the American company Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation. The airplane was delivered to the United States Army in 1929, but they did not adopt it.
The Thomas-Morse O-19 was an American observation biplane built by the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Corps.
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The Standard Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, founded in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1916
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The Thomas Brothers T-2 was an American-built biplane which served with the Royal Navy.
The Thomas-Morse S-4 Scout was an American biplane advanced trainer, operated by the United States Army and the United States Navy. Dubbed the "Tommy" by pilots who flew it, the aircraft became the favorite single-seat training airplane produced in the U.S. during World War I. It had a long and varied career beginning with the S-4B, which first appeared in the summer of 1917.
The Savoia-Marchetti S.56 was an Italian single-engine biplane flying boat trainer and tourer, built by Savoia-Marchetti.
The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American company which designed and built aircraft. The founder, Allan Lockheed, went on to form the similarly named but otherwise unrelated Lockheed Aircraft Company in 1926, which would merge with Martin Marietta in 1995 to form today's Lockheed Martin.
Alfred Victor Verville was an American aviation pioneer and aircraft designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his forty-seven years in the aviation industry, he was responsible for the design and development of nearly twenty commercial and military airplanes. Verville is known for designing flying boats, military racing airplanes, and a series of commercial cabin airplanes. His planes were awarded with the Pulitzer Speed Classic Trophy in 1920 and 1924.
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The Cooke 1913 Tractor Biplane was an experimental tandem biplane aircraft built by the Cooke Aeroplane Company in 1913.
Media related to Thomas-Morse aircraft at Wikimedia Commons
