B-200-CV
Jan. 15, 1959
CONVAIR HISTORY
For the slightly more than 11 years prior to its being merged into General Dynamics Corporation in April, 1954, Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, or Convair for short, had operated as the result of the merger on march 17, 1943, of the properties of Consolidated Aircraft Corporation and Vultee Aircraft, Inc. Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was incorporated by Major Reuben H. Fleet and a group of associates on May 29, 1923. The firm began operations in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, having acquired certain aviation assets of two companies – the Dayton Wright Company and Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation.
After having outgrown its Rhode Island facilities, Consolidated moved in 1924 to Buffalo, New York, where it leased a portion of the old war-time Curtiss Company plant. In the fall of 1935, Consolidated moved from Buffalo to San Diego, California, to take advantage of an ice-free harbor and year-around good flying weather. Before the merger with Vultee, Consolidated had acquired the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation and the Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation.
Just before Pearl Harbor, controlling interest in Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was sold to Vultee Aircraft, Inc., of Downey, California, a subsidiary of the Aviation Corporation. The name Vultee came from a young engineer and pilot named Gerald (Jerry) Vultee, in 1932. In 1934, this company was acquired by Aviation Manufacturing Corporation. In 1936, the firm was liquidated and became Vultee Aircraft Division of Aviation Manufacturing Corporation. Vultee Aircraft, Inc. was formed in 1939 to acquire assets of Aviation manufacturing Corporation, a subsidiary of The Aviation Corporation.
The oldest company in the Vultee group dated back to 1925, when Eddie Stinson, pioneer aviation, and several Detroit businessmen formed the Stinson Airplane Syndicate. Later known as Stinson Aircraft Company, located at Wayne, Michigan, it was purchased by Aviation Manufacturing Corporation in 1934.
In addition to the acquisition of Stinson, Aviation Manufacturing Corporation took over Barkley-Grow Aircraft of Detroit. Both of these divisions were put into Vultee Aircraft, Inc., in August 1940. The final acquisition by Vultee prior to the merger with Consolidated was the purchase in July 1942 of Intercontinent Aircraft Corporation, Miami, which was organized in 1940.
During the war period, Convair operated 13 divisions throughout the country. Manufacturing plants were located in San Diego and Downey, California; Fort Worth, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Wayne, Michigan; Allentown, Pennsylvania; New Orleans Louisiana, and Miami, Florida.
Modification plants were located on Tucson, Arizona; Louisville, Kentucky; and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The Stout Research Division was located in Dearborn, Michigan. The
thirteenth division was a trans-pacific airline known as Consairway, operated under contract for the Air Transport Command.
Between December 7, 1941, and August 15, 1945, Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation delivered more than 350,000,000 pounds of airframes, or nearly 13 percent of the total output of the nation’s industry. This poundage comprised more than 28,000 completed aircraft and approximately 5,000 equivalent planes delivered as spares, or a total of more than 33,000 military aircraft. Included were thousands of B-24 bombers, PBY and PB2Y flying boars, BT-13 trainers, and L-5 liaison planes.
On November 20, 1947, controlling interest in Convair passed from Avco Manufacturing Corporation to the Atlas Corporation, and on May 15, 1953, from Atlas Corporation to the General Dynamics Corporation. Convair was merged into General Dynamics Corporation on April 29, 1954, and became a division of General Dynamics Corporation with operating divisions at San Diego and Pomona, California, and at Fort Worth and Daingerfield, Texas.
Convair General Offices and Convair-San Diego are located at San Diego. Home of the Air Force F-106A supersonic interceptor and Model 880 and 600 jet transports, Convair-San Diego’s Plants 1 and 2 (the latter being leased from the Air Force) comprise 4,595,000 square feet of factory space. Convair-Fort Worth, an Air Force-owned facility in which B-58 supersonic bomber production is centered, has factory space totaling 4,367,000 square feet. Convair-Pomona operates the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant for the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, a plant with 1,466,000 square feet of factory space devoted to Terrier and Tartar guided missile development and production. Convair-Daingerfield, in Texas, operates the Navy Bureau of Ordnance Aerophysics Laboratory for research and development of ramjet-powered missiles for the armed services. Convair-Astronautics at San Diego occupied its new $40 million facility in 1958. This 1,100,000-square-foot plant is devoted to research, development, manufacturing and preliminary testing of the Air Force Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, as well as other projects looking toward development of space travel.