Leroy Grumman

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Leroy Grumman

Leroy Randle Grumman (born January 4, 1895 in Huntington , Long Island , New York , † October 4, 1982 in Manhasset ) was an American designer and aircraft manufacturer.

After graduating from high school in 1911, Grumman studied engineering at Cornell University until 1916 .

During the First World War , Grumman trained as a pilot in the US Navy . He became a flight instructor in Pensacola and a test pilot at the state naval aircraft works.

After the war, Grumman worked at Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation as general manager from 1920 to 1929.

In 1929 he founded the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation with Ed Poor , William Schwendler , Jake Swirbul and Clint Towl . The jointly raised share capital was US $ 32,000. Grumman became the first President of the Grumman Works and led them successfully through the founding years. First of all, defective aircraft were repaired and truck bodies made of aluminum. The first order for the US Navy, the manufacture of airplane floats, was secured by Grumman in 1930 for his company. This contract enabled the company to grow and move to a hangar in Valley Stream in 1931. The first Grumman F3F biplane , already with retractable landing gear and a closed pilot's cabin, was also manufactured there for the Navy. As early as 1932, the production facility was too small and so Grumman and his company moved to Farmingdale to manufacture fighters and multi-purpose aircraft for the Navy. Increasing orders caused the Grumman to move again in 1936, this time to Bethpage , where, in addition to a completely new workshop, there was also a dedicated airfield.

Finally, the Second World War meant the breakthrough with orders for the US Navy. The Grumman F4F Wildcat, with the revolutionary possibility of minimizing the footprint on aircraft carriers through folding wings , and the Grumman F6F Hellcat were the outstanding fighters of the Pacific theater of war, accounting for two thirds of all Japanese aircraft losses.

Grumman was extremely popular with his employees, he actively advocated the thesis that only satisfied employees are really good employees. This actually had a positive effect, as the so-called e-price was achieved for a phase of five years of maximum production efficiency.

A total of 31,376 aircraft were manufactured by Grumman's company during World War II.

Despite his great economic success, Grumman was described by his employees as shy, reserved and sociable. In spite of everything, as an excellent analyst and designer he enjoyed the greatest respect from his employees. He always had a relatively small office and didn't really want his company to grow too big in order not to lose the familiar atmosphere.

Grumman was president of his company until 1946, but served on the board until 1966 and ultimately remained a director until 1972 . In 1973, after completing his active career, he was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

Grumman was married and had four children.