International Aircraft Corporation was an American 1920s aircraft manufacturer located in Ancor near

Newtown, Ohio Newtown is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in southeastern Hamilton County, Ohio, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, near Cincinnati. The population was 2,702 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Newtown was settled in 1792 and ...

History

Foundation in California

The Catron and Fisk Company was founded in California in 1909 by Edwin M. Fisk and J.W. Catron. In February 1927, the company was reorganized as the International Aircraft Corporation. However, the corporation was forced to move after its factory in Long Beach was unable to keep up with demand. At the time of its move, the company had 80 airplanes on order, but could only build six a week. The vacated factory building would later be leased by the Courier Aircraft Company.

Move to Ohio

In 1927, the company was purchased by a group of Cincinnatians, and moved to a former federal government nitrate plant near

. Production commenced even before the factory was formally dedicated on 12 May 1928, with the first airplane rolling out on April 7. Later in May, construction was started on a new steel hangar at the site. In August, the company delivered newly completed aircraft by train for the first time. The company entered two airplanes in the 1928

National Air Tour The Ford Reliability Tour, properly called "The National Air Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy", was a series of aerial tours sponsored in part by Ford from 1925 to 1931 and re-created in 2003. Top prize was the Edsel Ford Reliability ...

. By October, it had contracted with the newly created Dawson Aircraft Corporation in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

for the latter to act as a distributor. However, the company rejected a follow up offer by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce to move the factory there. By that point aircraft production had ended. A plan proposed in December called for the company to be reorganized as a Delaware corporation owned by a group of investors led by C. B. Morganthaler.

Move to Michigan

The company was purchased by interests in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

in May 1929. Land was purchased at Reynolds Field and plans were announced for a new 22-passenger trimotor airliner in addition to the company's existing aircraft. However, operations in Cincinnati were resumed in June and planned to continue until the new plant in Michigan was completed. Following the sale, president Clarence E. Ogden carried out a series of lawsuits concerning the naming of a company receiver and disposition of various company airplanes. To promote their new company, a women's air endurance record attempt was suggested. To this end, participation from famous aviatrixes

Louise Thaden Iris Louise McPhetridge Thaden (born Louise McPhetridge; November 12, 1905 – November 9, 1979) was an American aviation pioneer, holder of numerous aviation records, and the first woman to win the Bendix trophy, alongside Blanche Noyes. She was ...

and

Blanche Noyes Blanche Noyes (June 23, 1900 – October 6, 1981) was an American pioneering female aviator who was among the first ten women to receive a transport pilot's license. In 1929, she became Ohio's first licensed female pilot. Biography She was bo ...

was solicited.

Aircraft

International F-17 Sportsman Aero Digest April 1928

References

Notes

Bibliography

* The

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft The ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' was a weekly partwork magazine by Aerospace Publishing (an imprint of Orbis Publishing) which was published in the United Kingdom (and sold in other countries too) during the early 1980s. The magazine ...

(Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2213 * {{Refend Aviation in Ohio Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States