Curtiss-Wright
| Curtiss-Wright Corporation
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | US2315611010 |
| founding | July 5, 1929 |
| Seat |
Charlotte , United States
|
| management | David C. Adams, CEO |
| Number of employees | 8,600 |
| sales | 2,271,000,000 USD |
| Branch | Aircraft construction |
| Website | www.curtisswright.com |
| As of December 31, 2017 | |
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is today an American manufacturer of actuators , drive, valve and fluid systems with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina . He also offers an extensive range of metal processing such as shot peening , coating or heat treatment . The customers come mainly from the fields of defense, aerospace and nuclear technology. The company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
history
The company goes straight back to aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers . On July 5, 1929, the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and The Curtiss Airplane and Motor Company merged and ten other subsidiaries. Glenn Curtiss himself was already working as an aircraft designer on behalf of the government from 1907/08. He made a name for himself with several successful aircraft and especially flying boat developments. He became internationally known in 1919 when three of his Curtiss NC flying boats tried to get from Newfoundland via the Azores and Portugal to Plymouth in England. Only one of them made the flight. His training aircraft Curtiss JN-4 Jenny also became famous .
Curtiss had also started building aircraft engines early on. After the First World War he created a new type of engine, the D-12 , which was further developed into the V-1550 Conqueror . Twelve of these engines, the second motor equipment made of the then largest aircraft in the world, the Dornier Do X . In the 1930s, the development of advanced radial engines such as the Wright R-1820 , the Wright R-2600 , the Wright R-3350 and the Wright R-4090 and the matching propellers began . The sail position of the propellers of failed engines can also be traced back to Curtiss-Wright. In 1933 Curtiss-Wright acquired the Keystone Aircraft and with it the know-how for amphibious aircraft.
Finally, we should remember the two Curtiss Hawk II aircraft , with which Ernst Udet demonstrated his breathtaking dives on many flying days.
In 1937 the H 75 A Curtiss P-36 was presented, which was also exported to France, among other places. A number of them fell into German hands when the country was occupied. During the Second World War, the company supplied mass-produced engines as well as transport and combat aircraft, such as the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the SB2C Helldiver or the Curtiss C-46 Commando.
After the war, the company failed to deal with the development of jet propulsion and also withdrew as a manufacturer of aircraft. The Wright R-3350, the final point in piston engine development, was still used in the 1950s on the Douglas DC-7 and the Lockheed Super Constellation , the last long-haul passenger aircraft with piston engines.
A license was acquired for the replica of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire jet engine , which formed the basis for the development of the Wright J65 . However, it was not a great success, so this branch was also given up. Instead, flight simulators were built and business activities were relocated to areas such as electronics, control engineering and the manufacture of plastic parts.
In June 1956 Curtiss-Wright went into a joint venture with the Studebaker-Packard Corporation . This saved Studebaker (for the time being) from bankruptcy, but all advantages were with Curtiss-Wright because Studebaker-Packard was not in a position to negotiate better terms.
Packard's important armaments department (piston engines for speedboats and airplanes, components for the J-47 jet engine) was dissolved, the Detroit site, including Packard automobiles and engine construction, was abandoned and vehicle production was concentrated at Studebaker in South Bend (Indiana) . Packards were built there for two years before the brand was discontinued. At times, Curtiss-Wright was also active as an importer of Mercedes-Benz automobiles, trucks and buses to the USA via Studebaker-Packard , and sales were carried out via the Studebaker dealer network. Curtiss Wright benefited twice from the break-up: A competitor in engine construction was eliminated and the group was able to save massive taxes.
In 1961, Curtiss-Wright took over the Target Rock Corporation and, with its know-how, served military interests, among other things, for control systems on nuclear reactors . In 1967 Curtiss-Wright was able to secure the first civilian order in this area. Shot peening was added as a service in 1968 .
In 1958, Curtiss-Wright acquired a rotary engine license. It was hoped for military applications such as tank drives and wanted to catch up, especially in the field of jet engines. Wankel engines with one to six disks, large and small chamber volumes and with air and water cooling were systematically tested. But contrary to expectations, Curtiss-Wright ultimately limited himself to the sale of sub-licenses in the USA. In 1970 Curtiss-Wright sold the development of large rotary engines to Ingersoll-Rand . Curtiss-Wright was unable to achieve knock-free combustion in their large rotary engines, whereas Ingersoll-Rand did so successfully in 1972 with their 25-liter and 50-liter natural gas rotary engines. In 1978 Curtiss-Wright sold the entire Wankel development to John Deere .
With the end of the Cold War, armament expenditure decreased and new business areas had to be opened up again. Curtiss-Wright was now involved as a supplier for Boeing , McDonnell-Douglas and Airbus .
In spite of everything, the company got into a crisis in the early 1990s when the growth rates of air traffic also decreased. It therefore strengthened its position as a maintenance company for aircraft and aircraft engines. In addition, companies were bought in order to be able to survive even better in the valve market.
In 2014, the company's headquarters were relocated from Roseland , New Jersey, to Charlotte, North Carolina.
See also
literature
- James H. Moloney: Studebaker Cars. Crestline Publishing Co., Sarasota FL 1994, ISBN 0-87938-884-6 . (English)
- George H. Dammann, James A. Wren: Packard. (= Crestline series ). Motorbooks International, Osceola WI, ISBN 0-7603-0104-2 . (English)
- Beverly Rae Kimes (Ed.): Packard, a history of the motor car and the company. General edition, Automobile Quarterly, 1978, ISBN 0-915038-11-0 . (English)
- James A. Ward: The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company. University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-8047-2457-1 . (English)
- Nathaniel D. Dawes: The Packard: 1942–1962. AS Barnes & Co., Cranbury NJ 1975, ISBN 0-498-01353-7 . (English)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Curtiss-Wright 2017 Form 10K Report , accessed March 3, 2018
- ^ Dawes: Packard: The postwar Years (1975), p. 157
- ^ Curtiss-Wright shifts corporate headquarters to Charlotte , at www.charlotteobserver.com , accessed March 3, 2018