Howard Aircraft Corporation was a small United States aircraft manufacturer in the 1930s and 1940s. The factory was initially on the south side of

Chicago Municipal Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

at 5301 W. 65th Street; 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 ...

a second plant was opened at

DuPage Airport DuPage Airport is a general aviation airport located west of downtown Chicago in West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the DuPage Airport Authority, which is an independent government body establishe ...

west of Chicago.

Early history

Designer Ben "Benny" Howard, after his success with smaller aircraft, designed and built the ''Mister Mulligan'', a successful 4-seat cross-country racer that also proved a worthy closed-course mount. While Beechcraft had designed and produced their Staggerwing for the private market, that aircraft was mechanically and structurally complex; Howard instead chose to emulate (on a larger scale) the simpler

Monocoupe Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They i ...

design. After winning both the Bendix and Thompson trophies in 1935, Howard turned to the formation of the Howard Aircraft Company - later Howard Aircraft Corporation on January 1, 1937, to produce commercial versions of the now-famous DGA cabin monoplanes, each custom-built by

Ben Howard Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...

and

Gordon Israel Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

. One of the airplanes produced by the company was the DGA-11, powered by a nine-cylinder

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a displacement of ; initial versions produced , ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

, was purportedly the fastest four-seat civil aircraft of the late 1930s, able to achieve a top speed of about per hour. A favorite of the high society and Hollywood circles, the DGA-11 cost about $16,500 in 1938 — a princely sum for the time. A slower and less costly version, the DGA-12, used a Jacobs engine. Production of the Howard Aircraft Corporation from 1936 to 1939 totaled about 30 aircraft. In 1939, Howard developed the 5-place DGA-15, building about 40 of the four/five-place aircraft, powered by one of three different engines. The founder,

, left the company at this time to join Douglas Aircraft Company as test pilot.

Wartime production

The onset of

signaled the end of the civil Howard aircraft line. The

U.S. 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 o ...

procured about 525 modified DGA-15s for use as the GH-2 Nightingale air ambulance, the GH-1 and GH-3 utility transport, and the NH-1 instrument trainer aircraft. Exceptionally roomy and high-powered, the modified DGA-15 was also difficult to land and quite unforgiving—earning the unwanted nickname of “Ensign Eliminator.” The

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

also acquired a variety of prewar Howard aircraft as utility aircraft. Howard also produced a two-seat open-cockpit DGA-18 trainer (also referred to as DGA-125), and later a license-built version of the

Fairchild PT-23 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, RAF and RCAF during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it was a contempora ...

. Many of the U.S. Navy Howard-built aircraft were sold to civil pilot owners postwar and a number were still airworthy in 2012. After producing several of the most famous racing and private aircraft of the Golden Age of Aviation, the Howard Aircraft Corporation ceased production in 1944. Stockholders elected not to produce civilian aircraft after the war, sold the aviation assets, and used the proceeds to buy an electric-motor manufacturing company in Racine, Wisconsin, and named it Howard Industries.

Aircraft

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

{{Howard aircraft Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1937 Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Chicago Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1944 1937 establishments in Illinois 1944 disestablishments in Illinois