The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 with Northrop Corporation to form Northrop Grumman.
History
Leroy Grumman worked for the Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation beginning in 1920. In 1929, Keystone Aircraft Corporation bought Loening Aircraft and moved its operations from New York City to Bristol, Pennsylvania. Grumman and three other ex-Loening Aircraft employees,Jordan, Corey C. "Grumman's Ascendency: Chapter One." Planes and Pilots Of World War 2, 2000. Retrieved: July 22, 2011. (Edmund Ward Poor,"Air Warfare". An International Encyclopedia, Volume Two, M-Z, Volume 1, pp. 270–271. William Schwendler, and Jake Swirbul) started their own company in an old Cox-Klemin Aircraft Co. factory in Baldwin on Long Island, New York.
The company registered as a business on December 6, 1929, and officially opened on January 2, 1930. While maintaining the business by welding aluminum tubing for truck frames, the company eagerly pursued contracts with the US Navy. Grumman designed the first practical floats with a retractable landing gear for the Navy, and this launched Grumman into the aviation market. The first Grumman aircraft was also for the Navy, the Grumman FF-1, a biplane with retractable landing gear developed at Curtiss Field in 1931. This was followed by a number of other successful designs.
During World War II, Grumman became known for its "Cats" (Navy fighter aircraft): the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, the Grumman F7F Tigercat and Grumman F8F Bearcat, and also for its torpedo bomber, the Grumman TBF Avenger. Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619 Production of the majority of the Wildcats and Avenger was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors : the Eastern Aircraft Division. Grumman's first jet aircraft was the F9F Panther; it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar, and the F-11 Tiger in the 1950s. The company's big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and E-2 Hawkeye and in the 1970s with the Grumman EA-6B Prowler and F-14 Tomcat. Grumman products were prominent in several feature movies including The Final Countdown in 1980, Top Gun in 1986, and Flight of the Intruder in 1990. The U.S. Navy still employs the Hawkeye as part of Carrier Air Wings on board aircraft carriers, while the U.S. Marine Corps, the last branch of service to fly the Prowler, retired it on March 8, 2019.
Grumman was the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module, the first spacecraft to land humans on the Moon. The firm received the contract on November 7, 1962, and built 13 lunar modules. Six of them successfully landed on the Moon, with one serving as a lifeboat on Apollo 13, after an explosion crippled the main Apollo spacecraft. LM-2, a test article which never flew in space, is displayed permanently in the Smithsonian Institution. As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle, but lost to Rockwell International.
In 1969, the company changed its name to Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and in 1978 it sold the Grumman-American Division to Gulfstream Aerospace. That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer Flxible. The company built the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV), a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the United States Postal Service. The LLV was produced between 1986 until 1994, intended for a service life of 24 years, later being extended to 30 years. A large portion of LLVs are still in operation with the United States Postal Service.
In 1983, Grumman sold Flxible for $40 million to General Automotive Corporation of Ann Arbor.
In the 1950s, Grumman began production of Gulfstream business aircraft, starting with the Gulfstream I turboprop (Grumman model G-159) and the Gulfstream II jet (Grumman model G-1159). Gulfstream aircraft were operated by many companies, private individuals, and government agencies including various military entities and NASA. In addition, the Gulfstream I was operated by several regional airlines in scheduled passenger services. The Gulfstream I-C (Grumman model G-159C) version was "stretched" to carry 37 passengers.
In the early 1970s, Grumman acquired majority interest in the American Aviation line of very light aircraft -- relabeling its planes as "Grumman-American" or "Grumman American" -- eventually joining it with their Gulfstream division before selling off that combined enterprise in 1978.
In 1978, Grumman sold Gulfstream to American Jet Industries, which adopted the Gulfstream name. Since 1999, Gulfstream has been a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.
Long Island locations
For much of the Cold War period, Grumman was the largest corporate employer on Long Island. Grumman's products were considered so reliable and ruggedly built that the company was often referred to as the "Grumman Iron Works".Skrula and Gregory 2004
As the company grew, it moved to Valley Stream, New York, then Farmingdale, New York, finally to its facility in Bethpage, New York, with the testing and final assembly at the Naval Weapons Station in Calverton, New York, all located on Long Island. At its peak in 1986 it employed 23,000 people on Long Island and occupied in structures on it leased from the U.S. Navy in Bethpage.
The end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s reduced defense spending and led to a wave of mergers as aerospace companies shrank in number; in 1994 Northrop bought Grumman for $2.1 billion to form Northrop Grumman, after Northrop topped a $1.9 billion offer from Martin Marietta.
The new company closed almost all of its facilities on Long Island and converted the Bethpage plant to a residential and office complex, with its headquarters becoming the corporate headquarters for Cablevision and the Calverton plant being turned into a business/industrial complex. Former aircraft hangars have become Grumman Studios, a film and television production center. A portion of the airport property has been used for the Grumman Memorial Park.
Products
Aircraft Model name First flight Number built Type Grumman FF 1931 116 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman JF Duck 1933 48 Single piston engine floatplane observation airplane Grumman F2F 1933 55 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman F3F 1935 147 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman XSBF 1936 1 Prototype single piston engine dive bomber Grumman J2F Duck 1936 254 Single piston engine floatplane observation airplane Grumman G-21 Goose 1937 345 Twin piston engine flying boat Grumman F4F Wildcat 1937 2,605 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman G-44 Widgeon 1940 276 Twin piston engine flying boat Grumman XF5F Skyrocket 1940 1 Prototype twin piston engine naval fighter Grumman XP-50 1941 1 Prototype twin piston engine fighter Grumman TBF Avenger 1941 2,290 Single piston engine torpedo bomber Grumman F6F Hellcat 1942 12,275 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman F7F Tigercat 1943 364 Twin piston engine naval fighter Grumman G-63 Kitten I 1944 1 Prototype single piston engine airplane Grumman G-72 Kitten II 1944 1 Prototype single piston engine airplane Grumman F8F Bearcat 1944 1,265 Single piston engine naval fighter Grumman G-65 Tadpole 1944 1 Prototype single piston engine flying boat Grumman AF Guardian 1945 389 Single piston engine anti-submarine warfare airplane Grumman G-73 Mallard 1946 59 Twin piston engine flying boat Grumman HU-16 Albatross 1947 466 Twin piston engine flying boat Grumman F9F Panther 1947 1,382 Single jet engine naval fighter Grumman F9F-6 Cougar 1951 1,988 Single jet engine naval fighter Grumman XF10F Jaguar 1952 1 Prototype single jet engine naval fighter Grumman S-2 Tracker 1952 1,184 or 1,185 Twin piston engine anti-submarine warfare airplane Grumman F11F Tiger 1954 200 Single jet engine naval fighter Grumman C-1 Trader 1955 87 Twin piston engine cargo airplane Grumman F11F-1F Super Tiger 1956 1 Prototype single jet engine naval fighter Grumman E-1 Tracer 1956 88 Twin piston engine airborne early warning airplane Grumman G-164 Ag Cat 1957 402 Single piston engine agricultural airplane Grumman G-159 Gulfstream I 1958 200 Twin turboprop engine business airplane Grumman OV-1 Mohawk 1959 380 Twin turboprop engine observation airplane Grumman A-6 Intruder 1960 693 Twin jet engine attack airplane Grumman E-2 Hawkeye 1960 122 Twin turboprop engine airborne early warning airplane Grumman American AA-1 1963 680+ Single piston engine civil airplane Grumman C-2 Greyhound 1964 56 Twin turboprop engine cargo airplane General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B 1965 7 Prototype twin jet engine naval fighter Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream II 1966 256 Twin jet engine business airplane Grumman EA-6B Prowler 1968 170 Twin jet engine electronic warfare airplane Grumman American AA-5 1970 >3,057 Single piston engine civil airplane Grumman F-14 Tomcat 1970 712 Twin jet engine naval fighter Grumman American GA-7 Cougar 1974 ~1 Twin piston engine civil airplane General Dynamics–Grumman EF-111A Raven 1977 42 Twin jet engine electronic warfare airplane Grumman X-29 1984 2 Experimental single jet engine airplane Grumman XJL N/A 0 Single piston engine floatplane observation airplane
Projects
Grumman 674 Nutcracker tilting fuselage VTOL Grumman 698 VTOL Grumman G-3 project only Grumman G-4 project only Grumman G-17 project only Grumman G-25 project only Grumman G-27 project only Grumman G-29 project only Grumman G-30 project only Grumman G-35 project only Grumman G-48 project only Grumman G-49 project only Grumman G-57 project only Grumman G-62 project only Grumman G-68 project only Grumman G-71 project only Grumman G-76 project only Grumman G-77 swept-back wing research aircraft project Grumman G-78 towed target glider project Grumman G-84 project only Grumman G-85 project only Grumman G-86 project only Grumman G-91 project only Grumman G-92 project only Grumman G-97 project only Grumman G-107 project only Grumman G-108 project only Grumman G-110 project only Grumman G-113 project only Grumman G-114 Grumman G-115 Grumman G-116 project only Grumman G-118 project only Grumman G-119 project only Grumman G-122 project only Grumman G-124 jet trainer design Grumman G-127 Grumman G-132 Grumman XTB2F Grumman XTSF
Spacecraft Space Apollo Lunar Module Grumman 619 Space Shuttle
Other products Grumman manufactured fire engines under the name Firecat (not to be confused with the firefighting variant of the Grumman S-2 Tracker, which is sold under the same name) and aerial tower trucks under the Aerialcat name. The company entered the fire apparatus business in 1976 with its purchase of Howe Fire Apparatus. Grumman canoes were developed in 1944 as World War II was winding down. Company executive William Hoffman used the company's aircraft aluminum to replace the traditional wood design. The canoes had a reputation for being sturdier, lighter and stronger than their wood counterparts and had a considerable market share. Grumman moved its boat making division to Marathon, New York in 1952. Outboard Marine Corp. bought the division in 1990 and produced the last Grumman-brand canoe in 1996. Shortly thereafter former Grumman executives formed the Marathon Boat Group to produce the canoes. In 2000 the Group worked out an agreement with Northrop Grumman to sell the canoes using Grumman name and logo."Marathon BoatGroup: About Us." Marathonboat.com. Retrieved: May 15, 2009. Grumman sport boat Grumman-Flxible 870 transit buses (1978–1982) Ben Franklin (PX-15), a science submarine