Goodyear Aerospace

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Goodyear Aerospace Corporation
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

Goodyear Aerospace Corporation (GAC) was the aerospace and defense subsidiary of the

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
.

In the post-war era, the division began to diversify and made major contributions to the development of

hostile takeover attempt of the parent company by James Goldsmith led to a massive restructuring to build capital to buy Goldsmith out. Goodyear Aerospace was sold to Loral in 1987, which in turn sold their non-satellite operations with the defense products purchased by Lockheed Martin
in 1993.

History

Early years

Postcard showing a "Rail Zeppelin" Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, Akron Ohio

Goodyear's aerospace operations began with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Aeronautics Department. As part of the settling of war reparations with Germany after World War I, the German airship industry was reduced and Zeppelin operations forbidden. In 1924, Goodyear formed a joint interest company with the German

USS Akron and USS Macon were constructed.[3]

Wartime aircraft manufacturing

Also due to the lack of business during the depression, the company used its advanced aeronautical knowledge to design and build the high speed

B-26 Marauder. The army had placed a large order and Goodyear had available manufacturing space at its huge Airship Dock, in Springfield Township, Ohio near Akron
. Due to escalating problems in Europe and eventual war with Germany, Goodyear created Goodyear Aircraft Corporation to handle US military contracts in 1939. The German-US joint venture was dissolved in 1941, and Goodyear's military and commercial airship operations were transferred to the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation.

By 1941, manufacturing facilities were running at full capacity and ground was broken on July 15, 1941 at an additional location just west of Phoenix, Arizona. Goodyear was familiar with the area, and had been operating a large cotton ranch there for decades. Arizona produced more than three million pounds of airframes during World War II.

The Akron plant where FG-1s were built was handed over to the U.S. Navy, which used it as the basis of

Naval Air Station Akron in January 1948.[5]

Goodyear Aircraft Company employee

Carl Wiley invented Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in 1951. His invention resulted in the creation of the first SAR patent, first digital SAR processor, and development of several different high performance SAR systems used for applications such as surveillance, aerial warfare, and cartography.[6]

Diversification

The Arizona plant produced a range of defense products in later years, including jet aircraft canopies, bulletproof glass and vehicular armor products, military shelters and missile transporters.

Darrell C. Romick, former Chief Engineer of

Taylorcraft Airplane Company was a close associate of Wernher von Braun. Romick's worked for Goodyear Aircraft in the 1950s produced a rocket and spacecraft design called the Goodyear Meteor Junior concept. The 3-stage rocket had similarities to the much later Space Shuttle in that it was crewed, had reusable stages, and its topmost stage was designed to ferry personnel and cargo to a large space station orbiting the Earth.[7] The concept was designed in 1954 to 1958, with a launch date of 1962.[8]

The company became Goodyear Aerospace Corporation in 1963 to reflect the diverse range of products. In 1987 it was sold to

Hanson Trust
. The Goodyear name disappeared and became the defense systems unit of Loral.

Demise

The defense systems unit of Loral was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 1993, including intellectual property surrounding the now-retired Goodyear Blimp designs (GZ-20 and GZ-22). While owning the designs, Lockheed Martin does not manufacture airships.[9]

Aircraft

Airships

Model name First flight Number built Type
C-class blimp 1918 10 Patrol airship
D-class blimp 1920 6 Patrol airship
E-class blimp 1 Training airship
F-class blimp 1919 1 Testbed airship
G-class blimp 10 Training airship
H-class blimp 2 Observation airship
J-class blimp 1922 3-4 Patrol airship
K-class blimp 1938 134 Patrol airship
K-1 (airship) 1 Experimental blimp
L-class blimp 22 Training airship
M-class blimp 1944 4 Patrol airship
N-class blimp 18 Patrol airship
Goodyear RS-1 1926 1 Military airship
Goodyear GZ-19 1959 3 Commercial airship
Goodyear GZ-20 1969 3-5 Commercial airship
Loral GZ-22 1989 1 Commercial airship
Goodyear ZWG N/A 0 Unbuilt airborne early warning airship
Goodyear Type AD 1925 Sporting airship
Akron-class airship 1931 2 Patrol rigid airship

Fixed-wing aircraft

Model name First flight Number built Type
Goodyear FG Corsair
 1943 4,017 Single engine carrier based fighter
Goodyear Duck 1944 19 Single engine light flying boat
Goodyear F2G Corsair 1945 10 Single engine carried based fighter
Goodyear Inflatoplane 1956 12 Single engine inflatable aircraft

Helicopters

Missiles

  • UUM-44 Subroc

See also

References

External videos
video icon The Story of Goodyear Aircraft

Notes

  1. ^ Goodyear Aerospace Corp (August 1975), Feasibility Study Of Modern Airships Vol. III Historical Overview (PDF), US Dept of Commerce, p. 3
  2. ISBN 0870210653
    .
  3. ^ "Latest Diesel-Engine Train Built Like Airships", Popular Mechanics, July 1935
  4. ^ "Goodyear Aerospace Corporation". Ohio History Central. Ohio History Connection. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Naval Air Reserve Commissions NAS Akron". Naval Aviation News. February 1948. p. 24. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  6. doi:10.1117/12.603927
    .
  7. ^ Model, Space Shuttle, Goodyear Meteor Jr. 3-Stage Fully Reusable Concept, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
  8. LCCN 58-9014
  9. ^ Escher, Roland. "Goodyear Aerospace Corp". Airship and Blimp Resources. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

Bibliography

  • Allen, Hugh (1947). Goodyear Aircraft: A Story of Man and Industry.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Goodyear Aerospace.
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