Frederick Brant Rentschler (November 8, 1887 – April 25, 1956) was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, industrialist, and the founder of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutionary aircraft engines, including those used in the aircraft of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

, Amelia Earhart and James Doolittle. He is also a co-founder of

United Aircraft and Transport Corporation The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, vertically-integrated, amalgamated firm, ...

, the predecessor of

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...

Early life

Rentschler was born on November 8, 1887, in Hamilton, Ohio, to German-Americans George A. Rentschler and Phoebe Schwab, whose family owned the Republic Motor Car Co. that built Republic cars from 1910 until 1916. They were also principals in

Hooven-Owens-Rentschler The firm of Hooven, Owens, Rentschler, and Company manufactured steam and diesel engines in Hamilton, Ohio. Because the firm was frequently known by its initials, H.O.R., the ''Hooven'' is sometimes incorrectly rendered as ''Hoover'', and the '' ...

, and his brother

Gordon S. Rentschler Gordon Sohn Rentschler (November 25, 1885 – March 3, 1948) was a chairman of First National City Bank, a predecessor of Citigroup. Biography Rentschler was born in Hamilton, Ohio, on November 25, 1885. His father was George A. Rentschler, ...

would become Chairman of National City Bank. The family resided in the Rentschler House, which has since been named a historic site. He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1909 and worked in his family's businesses as a molder and machinist. When the U.S. entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1917, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. As a First

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

and later Captain, he was assigned to inspect Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines manufactured under French license at the

Wright-Martin Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation was a short-lived aircraft manufacturing business venture between the Wright Company (after Orville Wright sold the Wright Company and divested himself from it) and Glenn L. Martin. History Company official ...

plant in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The armistice of November 11, 1918, ended the contract and caused the reorganization of Wright-Martin.

Aviator and engineer

Rentschler left the Army convinced that future aircraft would require lighter-weight engines with much greater power and higher reliability. His proposed design of an air-cooled engine flew in the face of conventional wisdom, which held that heavier liquid-cooled engines would power the future of aviation. Rentschler became president of the

Wright Aeronautical Corporation Wright Aeronautical (1919–1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Paterson, New Jersey. It was the successor corporation to Wright-Martin. It built aircraft and was a supplier of aircraft engines to other builders in the ...

and pressed for research into his idea. Unable to convince his board of directors, largely composed of investment bankers with little aviation knowledge, he resigned in 1924, and supported by old friend and Wright chief engineer George J. Mead, he developed a proposal for a high-powered air-cooled aircraft engine for the

U.S. 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 o ...

. Admiral

William A. Moffett William Adger Moffett (October 31, 1869 – April 4, 1933) was an American admiral and Medal of Honor recipient known as the architect of naval aviation in the United States Navy. Biography Born October 31, 1869 in Charleston, South Carolina, ...

promised to approve the purchase of such an engine.

Corporate executive

Rentschler approached the Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company of Hartford, Connecticut, with his idea. On July 23, 1925, they agreed to fund its development, creating the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in which Rentschler and Mead had a controlling position. Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine, completed on Christmas Eve 1925, was named the Wasp by Faye Belden Rentschler, whom Frederick had married July 25, 1921. The Wasp easily passed its official qualification test in March 1926 and the Navy ordered 200 engines. The speed, climb performance, and reliability that the engine offered revolutionized American aviation. Over the next twenty years, from the original Wasp design the

Pratt & Whitney Wasp series The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Gunston 1989, p.114. The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentsc ...

developed, approaching ten times the power of the 1925 engine. In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Company, but was allowed to keep the name Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company. Rentschler,

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought Ai ...

and

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer who founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which a year later was renamed to The Boeing Company, now the largest exporter in the United S ...

The Boeing Company The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

formed the

. United Aircraft completed the first coast-to-coast passenger network in March of that year. In 1934, UATC was broken up, and its manufacturing interests east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

became

United Aircraft Corporation , former_name = OJSC United Aircraft Corporation (2006–2015) , type = Public, PJSC , traded_as = , industry = Aerospace, defense , predecessor = Ilyushin, Irkut, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Tupolev, Yakovlev , founded = , founder = Vladimir P ...

, headquartered in Hartford with Rentschler as president. Rentschler turned to developing jet engines after

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Pratt & Whitney produced the J57 jet engine in 1953. The engine was used to power the first B-52 Stratofortress in 1954. Rentschler remained as president of United Aircraft until his death on April 25, 1956, in Boca Raton, Florida. He is buried at Fairview Cemetery in West Hartford.

Awards

In 1951, Rentschler was made an Officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

“for his contribution to the progress of aeronautical science". In 1958, the United States Air Force posthumously presented him with the Civilian Service Award for Exceptional Service as a pioneer in the development, research and manufacture of aircraft engines. He was inducted into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

in 1982.

Legacy

Pratt & Whitney's former company airfield, located in

East Hartford, Connecticut East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerosp ...

, was named

Rentschler Field Rentschler Field was an airport in East Hartford, Connecticut in use from 1933 to 1999. Originally a military facility, later a private corporate airport, it was decommissioned in 1999, after which the football stadium of the same name was bui ...

in his honor. The airfield was decommissioned in 1995, and the land it was on was donated to the state of Connecticut in 1999. A stadium, also called

, was built on the site and opened in 2003 as the home field for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

References

External links

''Time''
May 28, 1951
"Photo Galleries / Celebrities / Frederick Rentschler in front of his Vought 02U Corsair"

''University of Texas, Dallas'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Rentschler, Frederick Brant American aerospace engineers American aviation businesspeople American company founders 1887 births 1956 deaths Businesspeople from Hartford, Connecticut United Technologies people Wright brothers People from Hamilton, Ohio Princeton University alumni