W. Wallace Kellett

William Wallace Kellett (also W. Wallace Kellett) (December 20, 1891 – July 22, 1951) was an American aircraft executive and manufacturer, especially associated with rotary-wing aircraft. He was president of Kellett Autogiro Corporation and Republic Aviation Corporation. His company constructed the first successful wingless aircraft in the United States. There was a wide variety of potential users for his unique airplane. The first autogyro airplane used by the United States Post Office Department to carry mail was produced by Kellett. He received congressional approval for funding such a project after he gave senators and representatives demonstration flights of his wingless autogyro aircraft as part of a promotion in Washington D.C.

Early life and education

Kellett was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 20, 1891. His parents were William W. Kellett and Frances Revere (Flagler) Kellett. He attended Chestnut Hill Academy taking college prep courses with the intent of going to Princeton University. He entered the college in 1909 and graduated in 1913 with a bachelor of letters degree from Princeton. Kellett then became associated with the Liquid Carbonic Company that manufactured soda fountains in Kansas City, Missouri. During World War I he enlisted and first drove an ambulance in Europe for the American Field Service. Later he became a pilot in the French Air Force. The flying experiences gave him an interest in aviation that would last the rest of his life. Kellett earned a French Général de corps d'armée citation and an Italian Service Medal during World War I.

Aviation career

Kellett became an aviation enthusiast after his Army service and he entered into the aircraft manufacturing business in 1919. He established an autogyro company under a license from Autogiro Company of America. He made rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps. Kellett was known internationally in the aviation field as a pioneer in the development of autogyros and helicopters. Through his company Kellett constructed the first successful wingless aircraft in the United States. He also built the first fleet of rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps.

Kellett and his brother Rodney began their aviation business as dealers in 1923 operating out of the Pine Valley airport. He was the president of the Aero Club of Pennsylvania 1923–25. In 1929 he founded the Kellett Autogiro Corporation with his brother Rodney and Charles Townsend Ludington and his brother Nicholas. They licensed and further developed the seminal designs of Harold Frederick Pitcairn and Juan de la Cierva for an autogyro. In 1931, Kellett Autogiro licensed from the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company of America, Cierva's and Pitcairn's patents for rotary-wing aircraft. Kellett promoted his autogyro as being useful as that of an automobile. Under the corporate umbrella, Kellett's company made some thirty-eight types of aircraft for military and civilian customers.

Kellett started a campaign in Washington D.C. to get a government contract to carry mail for short distances after his KD-1B autogyro proved its airworthiness in 1935. A demonstration of mail delivery was made in the nation's capital in Washington D.C. in May 1935. It flew the potential route from the capital delivering a mailbag to the postmaster in Philadelphia. In early 1938 Kellett further lobbied at the capital and gave senators and representatives demonstration flights to entice them of the visibility of the airplane being able to carry mail on a regular basis and to get congressional approval for funding such a project. It was then decided to carry mail using an autogyro on an experimental basis and Congress passed laws accordingly.

The first autogyro used by the United States Post Office Department to carry mail was produced by Kellett. It flew between the Camden Central Airport in New Jersey and the main post office at Philadelphia. The roof was and specially designed for autogyro landings. The Kellett vehicle flew same-day delivery of mail, where it took overnight before. A demonstration of mail delivery was made in Chicago on an trip from an airport at the edge of the city to the main downtown post office on May 15, 1938. In June 1938 a newspaper reporter went up in an autogiro demonstrated by Kellett in Washington, D.C. The reporter noted the precision maneuvering the airplane had. He pointed out that the aircraft could hover in the air like a helicopter and move sideways with exactness and accuracy. He wrote that with features like that it would be of interest to a wide variety of users like the government, foresters, farmers, coast guardsmen, city planners, and architects. It was a potential military tool for an observation platform several hundred feet in the air as it could hover to a designated location and could avoid bullets and shells much easier than a dirigible blimp. A group of giro airplanes were ordered from Kellett from the United States Army. They cost $118,000 each in 1938 ().

Later life and death

Kellett also served as president of Republic Aviation Corporation from 1939 and chairman of the board from 1943. He resigned from Republic in 1945 and directed his attention to his Corporation. The Kellett Autogiro Corporation had changed its name in 1943 to Kellett Aircraft Corporation to reflect that they were also a manufacturer of helicopters. His company made several different prototype helicopters for the United States Army Air Corps, however never obtained permanent contracts from the government. Hughes Aircraft Company instead obtained many of these helicopter contracts. Kellett eventually went out of the aircraft business in 1949 and his company became a subcontractor of aircraft assemblies in 1950. Kellett died at the age of 59 at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia on July 22, 1951, after an illness of several months.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellett, W. Wallace
1891 births
1951 deaths
Businesspeople from Boston
Princeton University alumni
Aviators from Massachusetts
20th-century American businesspeople
Articles containing video clips
American Field Service personnel of World War I
French military personnel of World War I