The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 with Northrop Corporation to form

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tec ...

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 New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

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, William Schwendler, and

Jake Swirbul Leon Albert "Jake" "The Bullfrog" Swirbul (March 18, 1898 – June 28, 1960), was an aviation pioneer and co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. Biography Swirbul was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. His parents Fred ...

) started their own company in an old Cox-Klemin Aircraft Co. factory in

Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...

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 The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. 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 A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with retractable

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Marti ...

developed at

Curtiss Field Curtiss Airport may refer to: * LaGuardia Airport, known as Glenn H. Curtiss Airport from 1930 to 1939 * Roosevelt Field (airport), a former airport in Garden City, New York, that was once named Curtiss Field * Columbia Field, a former airport in V ...

in 1931. This was followed by a number of other successful designs. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

, the

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval ...

. Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. Grumman's first

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...

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 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after t ...

. Grumman products were prominent in several feature movies including '' The Final Countdown'' in 1980, '' Top Gun'' in 1986, and ''

Flight of the Intruder ''Flight of the Intruder'' is a 1991 war film directed by John Milius, and starring Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, and Brad Johnson. It is based on the novel of the same name by former Grumman A-6 Intruder pilot Stephen Coonts. The film received n ...

'' 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. Lunar Module diagram

Grumman was the chief contractor on the

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed s ...

, 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 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted af ...

, 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 The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

, but lost to

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. Ro ...

. In 1969, the company changed its name to Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and in 1978 it sold the Grumman-American Division to

Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,00 ...

. That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer Flxible. The company built the Grumman LLV (Long Life Vehicle), a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

. The LLV was produced from 1987 until 1994. Its intended service life was 24 years, but some of them were still in service in 2020. 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 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

. 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 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 location

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". As the company grew, it moved to Valley Stream, New York, then Farmingdale, New York, finally to 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."Commercial Property/Selling Off Northrop Grumman's Surplus; Cablevision Takes Last of the Grumman Buildings."
''The New York Times'', December 28, 1997. 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

, 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 Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

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

A-6E Intruder over Spain in Operation Matador

Grumman F9F-7 Cougar at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on 29 August 2017

Aircraft

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 The Grumman G-132 was an unbuilt aircraft designed by Grumman in the 1950s. The design was initiated to meet a requirement of the United States Navy (USN) for an anti-submarine warfare seaplane. Design and development The design was for a fl ...

* Grumman XTB2F * Grumman XTSF

Spacecraft

* Space **

** 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

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

s 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. * Grumman sport boat * Grumman-Flxible 870 transit buses (1978–1982) * Ben Franklin (PX-15), a science submarine * Grumman LLV postal vehicle widely used by the

and

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that functions as the primary Postal administration, postal operator in Canada ...

* In honor of Grumman's aviation and aerospace inventions, a Grumman Memorial Park was established in Calverton, New York.

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

* Ferguson, Robert G. "One Thousand Planes a Day: Ford, Grumman, General Motors and the Arsenal of Democracy." ''History and Technology'', Volume 21, Issue 2, 2005. * Fetherston, Drew
"Pioneers on the Runway: Raising Grumman."
''LI History.com'', Grumman Park. Retrieved: March 18, 2009. * Kessler, Pamela. "Leroy Grumman, Sky King." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

(Weekend)'', October 11, 1985. * O'Leary, Michael, ed. "Leroy Grumman." ''Air Classics'', Volume 19, no. 2, February 1983, pp. 27–29. * Skurla, George M. and William H. Gregory. ''Inside the Iron Works: How Grumman's Glory Days Faded''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2004. . * Tillman, Barrett. ''Hellcat: The F6F in World War II''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001. . * Thruelsen, Richard. ''The Grumman Story''. New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976. . * Treadwell, Terry. ''Ironworks: Grumman's Fighting Aeroplanes''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishers, 1990. .

External links

''International Directory of Company Histories'', Vol. 11. St. James Press, 1995 (via fundinguniverse.com)

WW2DB: Grumman aircraft of WW2

1994 Aerial photograph of Bethpage Headquarters
including intact runways
Grumman Firecat on multimedia gallery

Archived 2007 ''Newsday'' article on decline of Grumman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grumman Aerospace companies of the United States Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New York (state) Companies based in Nassau County, New York Manufacturing companies established in 1929 Technology companies established in 1929 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1994 Technology companies disestablished in 1994 Airports in Nassau County, New York Defunct technology companies based in New York (state)