George Conrad Westervelt (December 30, 1879 – March 15, 1956) was a U.S. Navy engineer who created the company "Pacific Aero Products Co." together with William Boeing. Westervelt left the company in 1916 and Boeing changed the name of the company to the Boeing Airplane Company the following year.

Early life

George Conrad Westervelt was born in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

to GW Westervelt and Ida Florence DeRyee (DuRy) Westervelt. He attended Corpus Christi Grammar School and Texas Military Institute, San Antonio, Texas.

Naval career

Westervelt was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in naval engineering.HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
/ref> Until 1916 Westervelt was stationed on the west coast of the United States. In 1916 he was transferred to the east coast and headed the

Naval Aircraft Factory The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I. ...

in Philadelphia from 1921 to 1927.Wings for an Embattled China - W. Langhorne Bond, James E. Ellis - Google Books
/ref> Westervelt retired from the USN with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Aviation career

During his naval career, Westervelt was also involved in naval aviation. Westervelt became friends with Boeing and worked with him on seaplanes, co-designing the

Boeing Model 1 The Boeing Model 1, also known as the B & W Seaplane, was a United States single-engine biplane seaplane aircraft. It was the first Boeing product and carried the initials of its designers, William Boeing and Lt. Conrad Westervelt USN. Design ...

, and co-founded what would become The Boeing Company. He left Pacific Aero Products after 1916 after being transferred to the east coast by the USN. Westervelt was assigned by the Navy Bureau of Construction and Repair to work with

Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

on the Curtiss NC float plane and later became vice-president with Curtiss-Wright following his retirement from the USN. From 1930 to 1931 Westervelt went to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to help out with the China National Aviation Corporation.

Personal life

Westervelt was married to Rieta Brabham Langhorne of

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, on December 20, 1927, and had two daughters, Sally Cary and Effie Eda. He retired from Curtiss-Wright and died in Florida in 1956. Westervelt is buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.Together We Served
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westervelt, George Conrad 1879 births 1956 deaths Businesspeople in aviation Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Boeing people Aircraft designers MIT School of Engineering alumni People from Corpus Christi, Texas TMI Episcopal alumni United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I Military personnel from Texas