Tom Towle (1887–1983) was an American aircraft designer in charge of developing the

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It w ...

Early life

Towle was raised in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1920. Towle become an aeronautical engineer for many starting aviation companies. *1921-1922 Dayton-Wright Company *1922-1923

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

*1923-1924 Aeromarine *1924-1925 Stout Metal Airplane Co *1925-1927

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced th ...

After disappointing results from the

Stout 3-AT The Stout 3-AT trimotor was the first all-metal trimotor built in America. The poorly performing tri-motor led to an updated design which became the popular Ford Tri-Motor. Development As a friend of the Ford family, Richard Evelyn Byrd visited ...

, Ford places Towle in charge of the Ford Tri-motor development. *1927 Towle Marine Aircraft - Formed company to build the

Towle WC The Towle WC, aka Towle TA-1, was a custom built aircraft for a 1929 round-the world flight. Design and development Thomas Towle was an engineer who had been involved with many early aircraft designs. Having just co-designed the Eastman-E2 Sea ...

. *1928 Eastman Aircraft Corporation of Detroit - Designed the

Eastman E-2 Sea Rover The Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, also called the Beasley-Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, was a light seaplane built in the late 1920s for business and shuttle use. Development The E-2 was designed by former Ford engineer Thomas Towle for industrialist Jim ...

. *1928-1932 Towle Aircraft Company - Reorganized to produce the

Towle TA-2 The Towle TA-2 was an amphibious aircraft based on the T owle WC built for a 1929 round-the world flight. Development Thomas Towle was an engineer that had been involved with many early aircraft designs. Having just co-designed the Eastman E- ...

and Towle TA-3 amphibians. *1933 Monocoupe Aircraft Corporation *1933-1935 Lambert Aircraft Towle replaced

Clayton Folkerts Clayton Folkerts (1897–1964) was an American aircraft designer. Early life Self-taught in aircraft design, Clayton built five aircraft at his family farm between 1916 and 1926, including a Henderson powered high-wing. Folkerts worked ...

as chief engineer. Designer of Charles Lindbergh's plane, 1934 Model D-127 Monocoupe, which hangs in Terminal 1 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. *1939 Grumman *1941 Hudson Car Company aircraft division - Hired as chief engineer. *1951 Worked for the Church & Dwight company, known for baking soda products.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Towle, Tom American aerospace engineers 1887 births 1983 deaths People from Dayton, Ohio Yale University alumni Engineers from Ohio