The Wittemann-Lewis Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer between 1906 and 1923. It was notable for building two large aircraft, the Sundstedt-Hannevig transatlantic seaplane with a 100-foot wingspan and the NBL-1 Barling Bomber a six-engined triplane with a 120-foot wingspan.

Early years

The company had been formed at Staten Island, New York in 1906 by

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and

Adolph Wittemann Paul W. Wittemann and Adolph (Walter) Wittemann and Charles Rudolph Wittemann (September 15, 1884 – July 8, 1967) were early aviation pioneers. Biography They were the children of Emily Wittemann (née Schirzinger) of Missouri. Their fat ...

as Wittemann Aeronautical Engineers. The first aircraft built was a Wright pusher biplane in 1907, unusual for the time it had a swivelling tail wheel. A series of Wright pusher triplanes were built between 1908 and 1914 for a number of notable aviators. In 1911 they built a number of Hall-Scott pusher biplanes for Thomas Baldwin, known as the

Baldwin Red Devil The Baldwin Red Devil was a series of early pusher configuration aircraft employing steel tube construction. The aircraft were designed by Thomas Scott Baldwin. Development After building several aircraft, Baldwin had C. and A. Wittemann of S ...

for the red-doped covering. Between 1913 and 1914 they built several Curtis-type biplanes. Around 1917 Adolph Wittemann left the company and Charles was joined by Samuel Lewis and they became the Wittemann-Lewis Aircraft Company and moved to a new factory in Teterboro in New Jersey. During 1918 the factory was used to build the twin-engined Sundstedt-Hannevig Seaplane for an attempt by Captain Sundstedt on the Daily Mail £10,000 prize for the first transatlantic crossing. The seaplane crashed during a test flight in February 1919 and was not repaired. Also produced in 1918 was the

Wittemann-Lewis Training Tractor The Wittemann-Lewis Training Tractor (sometimes referred to as the T-T) is an American two-seat military training biplane designed and built by the Wittemann-Lewis Aircraft Company. Design The Training Tractor was designed as a military trainin ...

(sometime known as the Wittemann-Lewis T-T) a two-seat training biplane. In 1921 the company was contracted to build two NBL-1 Barling Bombers for the

Engineering Division The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the United States Department of War. It was formed on 31 August 1918, under the direction of Lt Col Jesse G. Vincent, to study and design American versions of f ...

of the United States Army. The NBL-1 was a large six-engined triplane bomber which was shipped by train and assembled at Wright Field. In 1923 the company modified 25 de Havilland DH.4s for the United States Post Office as mail carriers, they would be the last aircraft produced by the company, with the factory being purchased by

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

later that year. The company then concentrated on engineering research, but in 1924 it was declared bankrupt.

References

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External links

{{commons category-inline, Wittemann-Lewis aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States