Sherman Mills Fairchild

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Sherman Mills Fairchild (* 1896 in Oneonta , New York State , † March 1971 ) was an American aircraft designer and industrialist . Over the course of his life, he has founded over 70 companies including Fairchild Aircraft , Fairchild Industries , Fairchild Aviation Corporation, and Fairchild Camera and Instrument . Fairchild Semiconductor , to which he contributed the required seed capital, played an important role in the development of microelectronics in the 1960s.

Life

He studied at Harvard University , the University of Arizona and Columbia University , especially subjects in the field of aerial photography.

Growing up as an only child, with the support of his wealthy father, a manufacturer of clocks and calculating machines , he was able to turn his ideas into reality at an early age.

Fairchild was too early in the development of cameras for aerial photography for military deals purposes. However, as a result of the end of the First World War, the military lost interest in his work. He continued this, however, and in 1920 presented the first camera that enabled precise aerial photographs to be used to create maps .

He made aerial photographs of New York and Canada until the mid-1920s . The latter were of great use in mapping the Canadian forest areas suitable for logging .

During his further work he found that the biplanes used at the time were not particularly suitable for precise aerial photography. This prompted him to set up an aircraft construction company to develop aircraft that were more usable for his purposes.

Fairchild's list of development is very extensive. In total, he received over 30 patents for his inventions. From the mid-1920s, his company was one of the leading US aircraft manufacturers. In 1927, he launched the Fairchild FC-2, the first monoplane aircraft, the

  • had a heated cabin and also
  • was the first passenger aircraft specifically designed for the needs of airlines.

Of the Fairchild FC-2 and the Fairchild 71 derived from it, more than 250 copies were delivered between 1927 and 1930.

Fairchild aircraft

Incomplete list of the manufacturer's aircraft types (in brackets: designation of the military versions)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fairchild, Sherman Mills
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American aircraft designer and industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Oneonta , New York State
DATE OF DEATH March 1971