Thomas-Morse Aircraft
The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, until it was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1929.
History
Founded in 1910 by English expatriates William T. Thomas and his brother Oliver W. Thomas[1] as Thomas Brothers Company in Hammondsport, New York,[2] the company moved to Hornell, New York, and moved again to Bath, New York the same year.[2] During 1912 and 1913, the company operated the affiliated Thomas School of Aviation at Cayuga Lake in New York state[2] (taking a page from Glenn Curtiss, who did much the same). In 1913, the name became Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company and based in Ithaca, New York.[2] In 1915, Thomas Aeromotor Company was added.
In 1915, Thomas Brothers built T-2 tractor biplanes (designed by Benjamin D. Thomas, no relation to the brothers and also an Englishman, formerly of Vickers, Sopwith, and Curtiss,[1] and later the company's chief designer) for the Royal Naval Air Service.[3] and (fitted with floats in place of wheels)[4] to the United States Navy as the SH-4. In 1916, the company won a contract from the United States Army Signal Corps for two aircraft for evaluation, the D-5.[4]
In January 1917, the company merged with Morse Chain Company (headed by Frank L. Morse), and recapitalized, becoming Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation, still based in Ithaca.[2] The company then made an attempt at selling training biplanes to the United States Army and was successful with the S-4 trainer (which included a handful of S-5 floatplanes and a single S-4E) and MB series of fighters. The last company design was the O-19 observation biplane. In 1929 the company was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, becoming the Thomas-Morse Division, and ceased business in 1934.[2]
Aircraft
- Thomas Brothers D-2
- Thomas Brothers D-5
- Thomas Brothers HS
- Thomas Brothers T-2
- Thomas Brothers S-4
- Thomas Brothers SH-4
- Thomas-Morse MB-1
- Thomas-Morse MB-2
- Thomas-Morse MB-3
- Thomas-Morse MB-4
- Thomas-Morse MB-6
- Thomas-Morse MB-7
- Thomas-Morse MB-9
- Thomas-Morse MB-10
- Thomas-Morse R-5
- Thomas-Morse TM-24
- Thomas-Morse O-19
- Thomas-Morse XP-13 Viper
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Thomas-Morse.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Aerofiles:Thomas, retrieved 8/4/2008
- ↑ Donald, David, ed. Encyclopedia of World Aircraft (Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997), p.875, "Thomas Brothers and Thomas-Morse aircraft".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Donald, p.875.
Bibliography
- Donald, David, ed. Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, p. 854, "Standard aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing, 1985, p. 3000.
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
