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 Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman (4 January 1895 – 4 October 1982) was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist. In 1929, he co-founded Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co., later renamed Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and now ...

and his business partners, it merged in 1994 with

Northrop Corporation Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...

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 techn ...

History

worked for the

Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation was founded 1917 by Grover Loening and Henry M. Crane produced early aircraft and amphibious aircraft beginning in 1917. When it merged with Keystone Aircraft Corporation in 1928, some of its engineers ...

beginning in 1920. In 1929,

Keystone Aircraft Corporation Keystone Aircraft Corporation was an early American airplane manufacturer. History Headquartered in Bristol, Pennsylvania, the company was formed as "Ogdensburg Aeroway Corp" in 1920 by Thomas Huff and Elliot Daland, but its name was quickly ...

bought Loening Aircraft and moved its operations from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorporat ...

. 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 Edmund Ward Poor (1904–1966) was a co-founder of the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, serving as its treasurer and director. He was a wealthy accountant working as treasurer for the aviation pioneers Grover and Albert Loening who had agr ...

, 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 Freder ...

) started their own company in an old

Cox-Klemin The Cox-Klemin Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Long Island, New York in the 1920s. History It was founded by Charles Cox and Alexander Klemin (a professor at New York University) in College Point, New York. Th ...

Aircraft Co. factory in Baldwin on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, 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 of ...

. 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 The Grumman FF "Fifi" (company designation G-5) was an American biplane fighter aircraft operated by the United States Navy during the 1930s.Eden and Moeng 2002, p. 762. It was the first carrier aircraft with retractable landing gear.Winchester ...

, 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. Martin ...

developed at Curtiss Field 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Grumman became known for its "Cats" (Navy

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

): the

F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlan ...

and

F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

, the

Grumman F7F Tigercat The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While ...

and

Grumman F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other n ...

, 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 av ...

. 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, je ...

was the

F9F Panther The Grumman F9F Panther is one of the United States Navy's first successful carrier-based jet fighters, as well as Grumman’s first jet fighter. A single-engined, straight-winged day fighter, it was armed with four cannons and could carry a ...

; it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar, and the

F-11 Tiger The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger is a supersonic, single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s. Originally designated the F11F Tiger in April 1955 under the pre-1962 Navy designation system, i ...

in the 1950s. The company's big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the

A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was designed in response to a 1957 ...

and

E-2 Hawkeye The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable tactical Airborne early warning and control, airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed duri ...

and in the 1970s with the

Grumman EA-6B Prowler The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United ...

and

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...

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

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'' 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 ...

, 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 aft ...

, 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. R ...

. 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 2,000 ...

. That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer

Flxible The Flxible Co. (pronounced "''flexible''") was an American manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, funeral cars, ambulances, intercity coaches and transit buses, based in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1913 and closed in 1996. The co ...

. The company built the

Grumman LLV The Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) is an American light transport truck model, designed as a mail truck for the United States Postal Service, which is its primary user. It is also used by Canada Post. History The Grumman LLV was specifically ...

(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 agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

. 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 The Gulf Stream is a warm Atlantic Ocean current. Gulf Stream or Gulfstream may also refer to: Places *Gulf Stream, Florida, a town in the United States Art, entertainment, and media *''Gulf Stream Magazine'', a literary magazine at Florida Intern ...

business aircraft, starting with the

Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the comp ...

turboprop (Grumman model G-159) and the

Gulfstream II The Gulfstream II (G-II) is an American twin engine business jet designed and built by Grumman and then in succession, Grumman American and finally Gulfstream American. Its Grumman model number is G-1159 and its US military designation is C-11A. ...

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, succeeding t ...

. In addition, the Gulfstream I was operated by several

regional airlines A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

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 General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Long Island location

For much of the Cold War period, Grumman was the largest corporate employer on

. 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 Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 ...

, then

Farmingdale, New York Farmingdale is an incorporated Political subdivisions of New York#Village, village on Long Island within the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York. The population was ...

, finally to

Bethpage, New York Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...

, with the testing and final assembly at the Naval Weapons Station in

Calverton, New York Calverton is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on eastern Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 6,510 at the 2010 census. Most of Calverton is in the Town of Riverhead, while the area south of the Pe ...

, 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 Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Mari ...

. 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 Grumman Studios is a sound stage complex in Bethpage, New York, United States, that offers 160,000 square feet with seven sound stages and 30 acres of paved outdoor space. Principal owner in the project is Parviz Farahzad whose production company i ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ The Grumman G-118 (sometimes called the XF12F, though this was never officialButtler p. 126) was a design for an all-weather missile-armed interceptor aircraft for use on US Navy aircraft carriers. Originally conceived as an uprated F1 ...

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 flying ...

Grumman XTB2F The Grumman TB2F was a cancelled twin-engined torpedo bomber project, intended as Grumman's successor to the successful TBF Avenger. However, only a mockup was ever constructed. In 1944, during World War II, the ''Midway'' class aircraft carr ...

Grumman XTSF The Grumman XTSF was a proposed twin-engine torpedo scout aircraft, designed by Grumman for the United States Navy towards the end of World War II. Based on the design of the Grumman F7F Tigercat fighter, but enlarged and with the addition of a ...

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 The Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F prior to 1962) was the first purpose-built, single airframe anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed and initially built by Grumman, the Tracker was of conventiona ...

, 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 Marathon is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The population was 1,967 at the 2010 census. The town of Marathon contains a village also named Marathon. The town is on the southern border of the county and is in the Southern tie ...

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 A Grumman Sportboat, (also ''Sport Boat'', ''SportCanoe'', or ''Sportee'') is a 15' 4" long, 43" wide square stern canoe manufactured in the United States. Along with the Coleman Scanoe, Grumman sportboats are patterned after "Grand Lakers", wooden ...

* Grumman-Flxible 870 transit buses (1978–1982) *

Ben Franklin (PX-15) The ''Ben Franklin'' mesoscaphe, also known as the ''Grumman/Piccard PX-15'', is a crewed underwater submersible, built in 1968. It was the brainchild of explorer and inventor Jacques Piccard. The research vessel was designed to house a six-man cre ...

, a science submarine *

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 corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

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

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 nati ...

(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)