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There have been many men who have tried to design aircraft . This paper discuses three of the most famous people who have started companies making aircraft . These people include Wilbur and Orville Wright, Leroy Grumman and Mr. Lockheed
Bishop Milton Wright and Susan Catharine Wright had four sons, Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, and Orville, and one daughter Katharine. Wilbur, their third son, was born on a small farm near Millville, Indiana April 16, 1867, while Orville (1871-1948). Bishop Wright moved frequently from job to job, so the Wrights shifted houses frequently, though the house on 7 Hawthorn Street remained long in the family's possession.
The Wright household was a stimulating place for the children. Orville wrote of his childhood: "We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity." The house had two libraries: Books on theology were kept in the bishop's study, while the downstairs library had a large and diverse collection. Although Bishop Wright was a firm disciplinarian, both parents were loving and the family was a close one.
The family moved from Richmond, Indiana back to Dayton in June of 1884, the month Wilbur was to have graduated from high school. Wilbur left Richmond without receiving his diploma, and returned to Central High School the next year for further studies in Greek and trigonometry.
Probably during the winter of 1885-1886, Wilbur was hit with in the face with a bat while playing an ice-skating game. The injury at first did not seem serious. In the Bishop's words, "In his nineteenth year when playing a game on skates at an artificial lake at the Soldier's Home near Dayton, Ohio, a bat accidentally flew out of the hand of a young man... and struck Wilbur, knocking him down, but not injuring him much. A few weeks later, he began to be affected with nervous palpitations of the heart which precluded the realization of the former idea of his parents, of giving him a course in Yale College." For the next four years, Wilbur remained homebound, suffering perhaps as much from depression as from his vaguely-defined heart disorder. During this period, Wilbur cared for his mother Susan, who was dying from tuberculosis.
During the years 1900, 1901, 1902, and 1903, the two brothers developed the first effective airplane.
.Leroy Grumman was born in Huantington, New York in 1895 and had a early interest in airplanes while in high school . After receiving a Mechanic Engineering degree he joined the U.S. Navy and learned how to fly and became a test pilot. He left the Navy in1920 and joined the Loening aircraft company as a design engineer. In 1929, he left that company to form the Grumman aircraft company which was located in Long Island, New York. The Grumman Corporation under the leadership of Leroy Grumman, 25,000 people working for them during World Was II. They maintained the same amount of people all the way to the late 1980s. Leroy Grumman died in 1982 but not before this company delivered 33,000 aircraft to the Department of Defense. The Grumman company was purchased by Northrop and is still located on Long Island.
The Lockheed Company was founded by Allan Loughead. The pronunciation of Mr. Loughead sounds like Lockheed, which is how he named his company. As a small boy in 1904 he took great interest in cars that had engines in them. He learned to be a mechanic. After hearing about the Wright brothers historic flight, Mr. Loughead decided to build his own plane. In 1913 he built a airplane called the model G which was the first plane that had a propeller mounted ahead of the engine and flew with passengers . The first 50 days the plane flew, they made $6,000 and that was the start of the Lockheed Company. Shortly after the company was formed they hired a young engineer named Jack Northrop to develop the hull of the F-1 flying boat. In 1918 the F-1 made its first flight and carried 12 passengers. The company become more and more famous building commercial aircraft which to this day has resulted in many of the latest commercial aircraft designs . Today, the Lockheed Company is now known as Lockheed Martin, the largest military equipment manufacturer.
Footnotes
The Lockheed Story
Douglas J. Ingells
Aero Publishing, Inc.
69.13334 I
ISBN-0-8108-6650-3
copyright 1973
Grumman Aircraft since 1929
Author: Reno J Francillon
Navy Institute Press
629.133 F
ISBN 0-87021-246-X
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/wrbr/wrights.html