Charles Joseph Fletcher (December 21, 1922 – April 20, 2011) was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and the owner and chief executive of an aeronautical equipment manufacturing and engineering company, Technology General Corporation, in

Franklin, New Jersey Franklin is a borough in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,045 hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, ...

, Fletcher holds over seventy

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

Biography

He was born on December 21, 1922, to Horace Fletcher and Florence Romyns. He served as a

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

with the

United States 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 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. Fletcher earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

Aeronautical Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1950. He was the president of Technology General Corporation, a small ($2 million annual revenue) manufacturer of drawn metal products, spray coating systems, power mixers, and commercial ice crushing equipment. Fletcher penned his autobiography, ''Quest for Survival'', in 2002. A contributor to the

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set spee ...

rocket, Fletcher also worked on the test version of the Lunar Landing Module, and holds seventeen aeronautical patents on vertical lift and rocket engines. Fletcher was inducted into the

Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey The Aviation Hall Of Fame & Museum of New Jersey was founded in 1972 and preserves New Jersey's aviation and space heritage. The museum displays historic aircraft, space equipment, artifacts, photographs, art and an aircraft model collection. The ...

in 1992 and the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993. A resident of

Fredon Township, New Jersey Fredon Township ( ) is a township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,235, a decrease of 202 over the previous decade.Saint Clare's Hospital at Boonton Township Saint Clare's Hospital - Boonton, located at 130 Powervile Road Boonton Township, New Jersey, is a 100-bed psychiatric facility. Description The hospital has children crisis intervention services (CCIS), adult crisis intervention services (ACIS), ...

Boonton, New Jersey Boonton is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline of 149 (� ...

, at 88.

Publication

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Charles Joseph 1922 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American inventors American aerospace engineers American manufacturing businesspeople American chief executives of manufacturing companies American autobiographers People from Franklin, New Jersey People from Sussex County, New Jersey People from Sparta, New Jersey Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Engineers from New Jersey