The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

. It was formed on 31 August 1918, under the direction of Lt Col

Jesse G. Vincent Jesse Gurney Vincent (February 10, 1880 – April 20, 1962) was an American aircraft, marine, and automobile engine designer. Famed initially for his design of the World War I Liberty aircraft engine, he rose to enduring prominence as the longtim ...

, to study and design American versions of foreign aircraft. It was later renamed ''Engineering Division, Air Service'' and then in 1926 ''Material Division Air Corps''. It was based at McCook Field, and in October 1927 moved to

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Lo ...

Background

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

procurement of aircraft began when the Army's 1907 Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, acquired several of the Wright Military Flyer of 1909.

Airplane Engineering Department

The Airplane Engineering Department was established by the Equipment Division, U.S. Signal Corps in 1917 for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

experimental engineering. The department had a 1917 Foreign Data Section, and the Airplane Engineering Department was on McCook Field at Dayton, Ohio (the 1917

Patterson Field Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur W ...

and

Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot The Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot is a former Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps military facility, located adjacent to Wilbur Wright Field in Riverside, Ohio. History The Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot was constructed on 40 a ...

were nearby.) In June 1917 Major Raynal Bolling lead a Bureau of Aircraft Production mission to France, investigating if it was possible to build British and French aircraft in the United States and which aircraft should be bought from the Allies. McCook Field established the Air School of Application in 1919 after the department became the Airplane Engineering Division on 31 August 1918 under Lt Col

(

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Th ...

co-engineer of the 1917 V-12 Liberty engine) to study and design American versions of foreign aircraft. It combined a number of existing divisions of the Air Service, including the Engineering Department and the Airplane Experimental Department.

Engineering

The Engineering Division was set up to evaluate proposals, and the first project it undertook was installing an American

Liberty L-12 The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both ...

engine on the British

Airco DH.9 The Airco DH.9 (from de Havilland 9) – also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 – was a British single-engined biplane bomber developed and deployed during the First World War. The DH.9 was a development of Airco's earlier successful ...

aircraft, designating it USD-9 and USD-9A. Other aircraft modified include the Bristol F.2 Fighter, designated XB-1. In 1920, the Engineering Division's Bureau of Aircraft Production completed the design of the Ground Attack, Experimental, (GAX) aircraft built as the

Boeing GA-1 The Boeing GA-1 (company designation Model 10) was an armored triplane. Designed in 1919, it was powered by a pair of modified Liberty engines driving pusher propellers. The first of the Engineering Division's heavily armored GAX series (ground ...

, and designed the Verville-Clark Pursuit (led by Alfred V. Verville) that after redesign won the initial Pulitzer Race in 1920 at Roosevelt Field. The division also designed the TP-1 and TW-1. In 1925, in order to promote private aircraft developments, the Engineering Division was restricted by General

Mason Patrick Mason Mathews Patrick (December 13, 1863 – January 29, 1942) was a general officer in the United States Army who led the United States Army Air Service during and after World War I and became the first Chief of the Army Air Corps when it was c ...

and could no longer build experimental aircraft. In 1926 the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

was replaced with the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

, and the Engineering Division merged in 1926 with the Air Service's Supply Division (formed by 1919) to form the

Material Division Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). AFMC was created on July 1, 1992, through the amalgamation of the former Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and the former Air Force Systems Comm ...

(Air Corps) at

References

Acquisition Management in the United States Air Force and its Predecessors
Accessed 22 September 2008.
Lineage and Commanders of Aeronautical Systems Center
Accessed 22 September 2008. {{Engineering Division aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States