Welch Aircraft Company

Last updated
Welch Aircraft Company
Formerly
  • Orin Welch Aircraft Company
  • Welch Aircraft Industries
Industry Aerospace
FounderOrin Welch
Defunct1944 (1944)
FateBankrupt
Headquarters
Anderson, Indiana
,
United States

History

The Orin Welch Aircraft Company was originally located in Charleston, West Virginia. [1] It purchased the holdings of the Muncie Aerial Company in 1928. [2] In 1929, it inaugurated a new airfield southwest of Anderson, Indiana. [3] Later that year, it would be purchased by the city. [4] Unfortunately, fire destroyed the plant in 1930. [5] As a result, it eventually moved to Bendix Municipal Airport in South Bend, Indiana in 1936. [6] By 1939, it had been renamed Welch Aircraft Industries. [7] It was then acquired by the Aircraft Corporation of La Porte, Indiana in 1940. [8] It was then moved to the Wyoming Valley Airport near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. [9] By 1941, it was planned for a new factory to be located in Exeter, Pennsylvania. [10] Then, in 1943, a proposal was made to relocate to Scranton, Pennsylvania. [11] However, in 1944 the company went bankrupt. [12]

Contents

Aircraft

Model nameFirst flightNumber builtType
Welch OW-1 19274Single engine biplane utility airplane
Welch OW-2 19282Single engine biplane utility airplane
Welch OW-3 19283Single engine biplane utility airplane
Welch OW-4 19291Single engine monoplane utility airplane
Welch OW-5 193138Single engine monoplane utility airplane
Welch OW-6 6 [13] Single engine monoplane utility airplane
Welch OW-7 8Single engine monoplane utility airplane
Welch OW-8 2Single engine monoplane utility airplane

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References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Indiana News in Brief". Indianapolis News. 18 July 1927. p. 19. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Greene, Richard A. (21 September 1928). "Muncie is Ideal Airport City". Muncie Evening Press. p. 22. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Mahoney, Claude A. (1 June 1929). "Anderson Aerial Festival Draws Birdmen". Indianapolis Star. pp. 1, 2, 12. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "City Will Own Airport". Indianapolis News. 13 November 1929. p. 21. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "7 Anderson Planes Destroyed by Fire". Seymour Daily Tribune. 10 November 1930. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "Aircraft Factory Moves to City: Welch Firm Locates at Bendix Port". South Bend Tribune. 22 May 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Welch Aircraft Opens School". South Bend Tribune. 11 June 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Welch Aircraft Assets Bought". Wilkes-Barre Record. 16 October 1940. p. 15. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "New Airplane Factory to Locate in Valley". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 15 March 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "Plan Authority to Get Industries for Area". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 28 March 1941. p. 14. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Welch Aircraft Firm Will Locate in City". Scranton Tribune. 10 July 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Welch Aircraft Assets Sold". Wilkes-Barre Record. 7 September 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Eckland, K. O. (2 May 2009). "American Airplanes: Wa - We". Aerofiles. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

Bibliography

  • Abel, Drina Welch (1983). The Welch Airplane Story: Airplanes Designed and Manufactured by Orin Moore Welch. Terre Haute, Indiana: Sunshine House.
  • Jackson, Stephen T. (6 July 2013). "An Airfield Named Welch". Herald Bulletin. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  • Miley, Scott L. (8 May 2016). "Pioneering Flight in Anderson". Herald Bulletin. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
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