The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the subsidiary was being closed by its parent corporation, General Motors.Yenne 2009, p. 15. Consolidated became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for its line of flying boats. The most successful of the Consolidated patrol boats was the PBY Catalina, which was produced throughout World War II and used extensively by the Allies. Equally famous was the B-24 Liberator, a heavy bomber which, like the Catalina, saw action in both the Pacific and European theaters.

In 1943, Consolidated merged with Vultee Aircraft to form Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft, later known as Convair. The Los Angeles-based Consolidated Steel Corporation is not related.

The name was often abbreviated to Consair, including within the company. For example, the March 1942 issue of the employee publication, The Consolidator, used "Consair" nine times, compared to 46 times for "Consolidated."

History

Consolidated Aircraft (and later Convair) had their headquarters in San Diego, California, on the border of Lindbergh Field (KSAN).

Consolidated's first design was one of those purchased by Fleet from Dayton-Wright, the TW-3 primary trainer, sold to the U.S. Army as the PT-1 Trusty. In September 1924 the company moved from the Gallaudet plant in Rhode Island to new facilities in Buffalo, New York, and in the same year won a U.S. Navy contract for a naval version of the PT-1 designated the NY-1.

Lawrence D. Bell served as the Operating Head at Consolidated from 1929 to 1934. When the company made plans to relocate to San Diego, Bell decided to stay behind to start up his own company, the Bell Aircraft Corporation, in the former Consolidated plant.

In September 1935 Consolidated moved across the country to its new "Building 1", a continuous flow factory in San Diego, California. The first production PBY Catalina was launched in San Diego Bay in 1936,Yenne 2009, p. 16. and the first XPB2Y-1 Coronado test aircraft made its first flight in 1937.Yenne 2009, p. 17. Consolidated vice president Edgar Gott was responsible for securing the company's contract to design and build the B-24 Liberator bomber.Boone, Andrew R., "The Liberator", Popular Science. May 1943. p. 90. The XB-24 Liberator prototype made its first flight in December 1939, and the first production order was from the French in 1940, just days before their surrender to Germany; six of these YB-24 Liberators were designated LB-30A and ferried to Britain.Yenne 2009, p. 18.

In 1940, Consolidated bought Hall-Aluminum Aircraft Corporation and dissolved the company. Archibald M. Hall was President of the company at the time and later became an executive of Consolidated. Several other Hall-Aluminum engineers and technical people were added to the Consolidated staff to meet defense production needs. By the fall of 1941, Consolidated was San Diego's largest employer with 25,000 employees, which eventually expanded to 45,000 by the following year.Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, pp. 219–34, 242–3, Random House, New York, NY. .

In November 1941, Fleet sold his 34.26% interest in Consolidated for $10.9 million to Victor Emanuel, the president of the Aviation Corporation (the future AVCO), with the idea that Consolidated would be merged with Aviation’s Vultee subsidiary.

During World War II, Consolidated found itself unable to return its delivery pilots to San Diego fast enough due to lack of transport, the flying boat services of Pan American Airways being overwhelmed. In response, in 1942 Army Air Corps chief General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold ordered creation of a dedicated service to return pilots to the US, initially with two LB-30s, a version of the B-24 that was built for the UK. This became a new Consolidated (and then Convair) division, the military contract airline Consairway, which pioneered the use of land-based aircraft across the Pacific, dramatically reducing prior travel times. By war's end, Consairway was flying from California to Manila up to four times a day before being shuttered at the end of 1945, having carried 100,000,000 ton-miles and 300,000,000 passenger miles. Consolidated was the only manufacturer to sponsor such an operation.

In 1943, Consolidated merged with Vultee Aircraft to form Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft or Convair.

In March 1953, General Dynamics purchased a majority interest in Convair, where it continued to produce aircraft or aircraft components until being sold to McDonnell Douglas in 1994. McDonnell Douglas shut down the division after just two years of operations in 1996.

Aircraft Model name First flight Number built Type Consolidated PT-1 Trusty 1923 221 Single engine biplane trainer Consolidated NY 1925 302 Single engine biplane trainer Consolidated PT-3 1927 250 Single engine biplane trainer Consolidated O-17 Courier 1927 35 Single engine biplane observation airplane Consolidated Commodore 1928 14 Twin engine monoplane flying boat airliner Consolidated P2Y 1929 78 Twin engine monoplane flying boat patrol airplane Consolidated Fleetster 1929 26 Single engine monoplane transport Consolidated PT-11 1931 41 Single engine biplane trainer Consolidated XB2Y 1933 1 Single engine biplane dive bomber Consolidated P-30 1934 60 Single engine monoplane fighter Consolidated PBY Catalina 1936 1,871 Twin engine monoplane flying boat patrol bomber Consolidated PB2Y Coronado 1937 217 Four engine monoplane flying boat patrol bomber Consolidated XP4Y Corregidor 1939 1 Prototype twin engine monoplane flying boat patrol airplane Consolidated B-24 Liberator 1939 ~9,251 Four engine monoplane heavy bomber Consolidated TBY Sea Wolf 1941 180 Single engine monoplane torpedo bomber Consolidated B-32 Dominator 1942 118 Four engine monoplane heavy bomber Consolidated XB-41 Liberator 1 Prototype four engine monoplane bomber escort Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator 977 Four engine monoplane patrol bomber Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express 287 Four engine monoplane cargo airplane Consolidated C-109 218 Four engine monoplane cargo airplane Consolidated Liberator I 20 Four engine monoplane heavy bomber Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer 1944 739 Four engine monoplane patrol bomber Consolidated R2Y 1944 1 Prototype four engine monoplane cargo airplane Consolidated XPB3Y N/A 0 Unbuilt four engine monoplane flying boat patrol bomber

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

Yenne, Bill. Convair Deltas from SeaDart to Hustler. Specialty Press: North Branch, MN, 2009. .