The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is an American manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States.[2] Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and various supplier companies, the company was immediately the country's largest aviation firm and built more than 142,000 aircraft engines for the U.S. military during World War II.
It no longer makes aircraft but still makes many related components, particularly actuators, aircraft controls, valves, and it provides surface-treatment services. It supplies equipment to the commercial, industrial, defense, and energy markets. It makes parts for commercial and naval nuclear power systems, industrial vehicles, and oil- and gas-related machinery.
History
Merger and expansion
Curtiss-Wright formed on July 5, 1929, the result of a merger of 12 companies associated with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company of Buffalo, New York, and Wright Aeronautical of Dayton, Ohio.[3] It was headquartered in Buffalo, New York. With $75 million in capital (equivalent to $ billion in ), it became the largest aviation company in the United States.
By September 1929, Curtiss-Wright had acquired the Moth Aircraft Corporation (which primarily built de Havilland Moth aircraft under licence) and the Travel Air Manufacturing Company.[5][6]
Divisions
There were three main divisions: the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division, which manufactured airframes; the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, which produced aircraft engines; and the Curtiss-Wright Propeller Division, which manufactured propellers. After 1929, most engines produced by the new company were known as Wrights. Existing aircraft continued to use the Curtiss name, while new designs used either the Curtiss or Curtiss-Wright name, depending on the location where they were designed, with a few exceptions.
Pre-World War II
Throughout the 1930s, Curtiss-Wright designed and built aircraft for military, commercial, and private markets, but it was the Wright engine division and the longstanding relationship with the U.S. military that helped the company through the difficult years of the Great Depression. Guy Vaughan was appointed president in 1935.[7] In 1937, the company developed the P-36 fighter aircraft, resulting in the largest peacetime aircraft order ever given by the Army Air Corps. Curtiss-Wright also sold the P-36 abroad, where they were used in the early days of World War II.
War production
During World War II, Curtiss-Wright produced 142,840 aircraft engines, 146,468 electric propellers, and 29,269 airplanes.
Divisions
There were three main divisions: the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division, which manufactured airframes; the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, which produced aircraft engines; and the Curtiss-Wright Propeller Division, which manufactured propellers. After 1929, most engines produced by the new company were known as Wrights. Existing aircraft continued to use the Curtiss name, while new designs used either the Curtiss or Curtiss-Wright name, depending on the location where they were designed, with a few exceptions.
Pre-World War II
Throughout the 1930s, Curtiss-Wright designed and built aircraft for military, commercial, and private markets, but it was the Wright engine division and the longstanding relationship with the U.S. military that helped the company through the difficult years of the Great Depression. Guy Vaughan was appointed president in 1935.[7] In 1937, the company developed the P-36 fighter aircraft, resulting in the largest peacetime aircraft order ever given by the Army Air Corps. Curtiss-Wright also sold the P-36 abroad, where they were used in the early days of World War II.
War production
During World War II, Curtiss-Wright produced 142,840 aircraft engines, 146,468 electric propellers, and 29,269 airplanes.[3] Curtiss-Wright employed 180,000 workers, and ranked second among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts, behind only General Motors.[8][9]
Aircraft production included almost 14,000 P-40 fighters, made famous by their use by Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers in China, over 3,000 C-46 Commando transport aircraft, and later in the war, over 7,000 SB2C Helldivers. Its most visible success came with the P-40, variously known as the Tomahawk, Kittyhawk, and Warhawk, which were built between 1940 and 1944 at the main production facilities in Buffalo, New York. During the war, a second large plant was added at Buffalo, followed by new plants at Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and Louisville, Kentucky. Engine and propeller production was at plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
In May 1942, the U.S. government assigned Curtiss-Wright a defense production factory for wartime aircraft construction at
Defective engines sold to the U.S. military in World War II
From 1941 to 1943, the Curtiss Aeronautical plant in Lockland, Ohio, produced aircraft engines under wartime contract, destined for installation in U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft.[12][13] Wright officials at Lockland insisted on high engine production levels, resulting in a significant percentage of engines that did not meet Army Air Forces (AAF) inspection standards. Inspectors nevertheless approved these defective engines for shipment and installation in U.S. military aircraft. After investigation, it was later revealed that Wright company officials at Lockland had conspired with civilian technical advisers and Army inspection officers to approve substandard or defective aircraft engines for military use.[12][13]
Post–World War II
Demise of aircraft production
Curtiss-Wright failed to make the transition to design and production of jet aircraft, despite several attempts. During the war, the company expended only small amounts on aircraft research and development, instead concentrating on incremental improvements in conventional aircraft already in wartime production. This was especially true in the first two years of the war. Curtiss' failure to research and develop more advanced wing and airframe designs provided an opening for North American, Bell, Lockheed, Northrop, and other U.S. aircraft manufacturers to win contracts from the Army and Navy for more advanced aircraft designs.
The P-60, the firm's last prop-driven fighter design, was merely an extrapolation of its 1930s P-36 Hawk, offering no advantage over other designs already in service. With the rapid development of jet engine technology and the advent of near-supersonic flight, this technological lag resulted in Curtiss losing several critical postwar military aircraft orders. The final nail in the coffin was the choice of the Northrop F-89 Scorpion over the XF-87 Blackhawk. After the F-87 was cancelled in October 1948, Curtiss-Wright shut down its entire Aeroplane Division and sold the assets to North American Aviation
Demise of aircraft production
Curtiss-Wright failed to make the transition to design and production of jet aircraft, despite several attempts. During the war, the company expended only small amounts on aircraft research and development, instead concentrating on incremental improvements in conventional aircraft already in wartime production. This was especially true in the first two years of the war. Curtiss' failure to research and develop more advanced wing and airframe designs provided an opening for North American, Bell, Lockheed, Northrop, and other U.S. aircraft manufacturers to win contracts from the Army and Navy for more advanced aircraft designs.
The P-60, the firm's last prop-driven fighter design, was merely an extrapolation of its 1930s P-36 Hawk, offering no advantage over other designs already in service. With the rapid development of jet engine technology and the advent of near-supersonic flight, this technological lag resulted in Curtiss losing several critical postwar military aircraft orders. The final nail in the coffin was the choice of the Northrop F-89 Scorpion over the XF-87 Blackhawk. After the F-87 was cancelled in October 1948, Curtiss-Wright shut down its entire Aeroplane Division and sold the assets to North American Aviation. Curtiss-Wright occasionally ventured back into the realm of aircraft design, as seen in the TDU-12/B Skydart target drone and the X-19 tiltrotor.
Flight research
While this marked Curtiss-Wright's departure from preeminence in the aviation industry, one notable spin-off involved Curtiss-Wright's flight research laboratory, which was founded in 1943 near the main plant at Buffalo Airport. During the divestiture of the airframe division, the lab was transferred to Cornell University along with a cash gift to complete the construction of a transonic wind tunnel. Cornell Aeronautical Labs, or CAL as it was known, was eventually spun off from the university as a private company, Calspan Corporation, which has been responsible for numerous innovations in flight and safety research.
Engine development
After the government gave the development of the Whittle jet engine to GE, the company concentrated on reciprocating engines and propeller production for military transport and civilian airliners. With the twilight of the big piston aircraft engine, Curtiss-Wright needed a new design direction. In 1950, Curtiss-Wright licensed the Sapphire jet engine from Armstrong Siddeley in the U.K. and manufactured it as the Wright J65. It powered models of the Martin B-57, and several U.S. fighter aircraft. Subsequent derivative engines were late and did not find substantial markets.
Curtiss-Wright briefly licensed rights to the Wankel rotary engine from NSU in 1958 as a possible aircraft power plant. For this project, Curtiss-Wright relied on the design leadership of NSU-Wankel engineer Max Bentele.
Flight simulators
In 1954, United Airlines bought four Curtiss-Wright flight simulators for $3 million. These simulators were unlike earlier ones produced in the late 1940s for airliners but now included visuals, sound, and movement. They were the first of today's modern flight simulators for commercial aircraft.[14]
Business diversification and acquisition strategy
In 1956, financially strapped automaker Studebaker-Packard Corporation entered into a management agreement with Curtiss-Wright to allow the nation's fifth-largest automobile manufacturer to avoid insolvency. The relationship lasted until 1959, when Curtiss-Wright withdrew from the agreement. The shift of civilian aircraft to jets left the company with little of its old business, and during the 1960s it shifted to components for aircraft and other types of equipment, such as nuclear submarines, a business that continues today.
In 2002, Curtiss-Wright acquired Penny & Giles, a supplier of black boxes and sensing devices (Hybrid linear, hybrid rotary, and VRVT sensors).[15]
In 2003, Curtiss-Wright acquired Systran Corporation, a supplier of specialized data communications products for real-time systems, primarily serving the aerospace and defense, industrial automation, and medical imaging markets.[16] The acquisition also reintroduced Curtiss-Wright to Dayton, Ohio.
In 2010, Curtiss-Wright acquired Hybricon Corporation for $19 million in cash. Hybricon is a supplier of electronic packaging for the aerospace, defense, and commercial markets, providing electronic subsystem integration.[17]
Products
Aircraft
Curtiss Electric propellers
As well as manufacturing engines, a range of electrically actuated constant speed three- and four-bladed propellers were manufactured under the name Curtiss Electric.[28]
Albert Kahn
Albert Kahn Associates designed several industrial buildings for the Curtiss Wright Corporation,[29] including plants in Beaver, PA; Buffalo, NY; Caldwell, NJ; Columbus, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Kenmore, NY; Louisville, KY and St. Louis, MO. Albert Kahn's personal working library, the Albert Kahn Library Collection, is housed at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.
See also
- United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., a 1936 U.S. Supreme Court case about the role of the President in foreign relations.
- George Conrad Westervelt
- Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, California
External links
- Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions website
- Curtiss-Wright Flow Control website
- Curtiss-Wright Industrial website
- Curtiss-Wright Sensors & Controls website
- Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies website
- The Glenn Curtiss Companies: U.S. Centennial of Flight Commemoration
- History of the Aerospace Industry in Buffalo, NY
References
- Curtiss-Wright Corporation 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 13, 2025, retrieved February 14, 2025^
- EDGAR Filing Documents for 0000930413-13-000998^
- History Curtiss-Wright, retrieved 16 April 2020