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Timm
Aircraft Corporation During World War Two
Van Nuys, CA
1922-1957
1922-1934 as the O.W. Timm Aircraft Company
1934-1939 as Timm
Airplane Company
1939-1957 as Timm Aircraft Corporation
This page added 6-14-2023.
The Timm Aircraft Corporation is an unknown
and overlooked aircraft company that produced one of the best looking
Naval training aircraft during World War Two. While its story and
memory has been lost among the several large southern California
aircraft companies that dominated the industry, the Timm Aircraft
Corporation did its share to help win World War Two. Many of the
GC-4A gliders it built trained future pilots, and many Timm-built CG-4As
were used at Normandy. Naval Aviators who learned the
basics of flight on Timm N2T-1 Tutors later swept Japanese air and
surface forces from the Pacific Ocean.
The Timm N2T-1 Tutor was the company's
signature aircraft that was designed and built by the company. It built 262
of these elegant looking trainers for the U.S. Navy during World War
Two. This is one of two that are on public display as part of
the collection of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.
Author's photo.
I was actually introduced to the Timm N2T in
1982 at an airshow in central Indiana. A local pilot who still
currently owns two N2Ts brought one to the event. Because of the
rarity of this aircraft in museums and in private ownership, most
persons are unaware of the Timm N2T. Currently, another owner in
Minnesota owns six Timm N2Ts. Therefore, there are only ten known
of the original 262 still in existence. The N2T is one of many
rare Navy aircraft on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum.
Author's photo.
In the late 1930s, several aviation
companies developed their own versions of a combination of wood and
resin that could be molded into aircraft structural components.
The Timm Aircraft Corporation's patented product was known as Aeromold.
With an anticipated shortage of aircraft aluminum expected during World
War Two, the U.S. Navy ordered 262 N2T-1 Tutors for its training
command. The Aeromold construction of the aircraft resulted in a
robust aircraft. The shortage of aluminum never really happened,
and the production of this aircraft was limited to 262 units.
Author's photo.
Many naval aviators who would later go on to
fly such aircraft as the Grumman F6F fighter, the Vought F4U fighter,
and the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver took their first flights and learned to
fly in the Timm N2T-1. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
The only other Timm N2T-1 on display is
located at the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, MI.
Author's photo.
In 1922, Otto Wallace Timm started the O.W. Timm
Aircraft Company which produced a very small number of civilian
aircraft. The largest production run was eight of its Collegiate
in 1928. In 1934, Otto's brother, Wally, joined the company and it
was renamed the Timm Airplane Company. In 1939, the company once
again renamed itself and it became the Timm Aircraft Corporation until
it merged with the International Glass Corporation in 1957.
During World War Two, the company had
$26,896,000 in major contracts. While the Timm N2T-1 was the
company's signature designed and built product, its largest contract and
number of aircraft built was for 434 license-built Waco CG-4A assault
gliders. The $20,135,000 contract for the CG-4A was 75% of the
total major contracts the company had during World War Two. The
$6,121,000 Navy contract for the N2T-1 contributed another 23% of the
total.
Table 1 - Timm Aircraft
Corporation's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below
comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply
Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945." This was
published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial
Statistics Division. |
|
Product - Customer |
Contract Number |
Contract Amount |
Contract Awarded
Date |
Completion
Date |
| Gliders CG4A -
USAAF |
535-AC-26232 |
$20,135,000 |
4-1942 |
11-1943 |
| Airplanes -
Navy Bureau of Aeronautics |
NXS-10901 |
$6,121,000 |
8-1942 |
11-1943 |
| Airplane
Equipment - USAAF |
535-AC-40068 |
$535,000 |
6-1943 |
11-1943 |
| Plywood - USAAF |
2337-AC-82 |
$105,000 |
6-1943 |
7-1943 |
| Total |
|
$26,896,000 |
|
|
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Table 2 - Aircraft built by Timm Aircraft Corporation
During World War Two |
|
Aircraft Type |
Number Built |
USAAF / USN Serial Numbers |
| N2T-1 |
2 |
USN 5875 through
5876 |
| N2T-1 |
250 |
USN 32387
through 32636 |
| N2T-1 |
10 |
USN 39182
through 39191 |
| Total N2T-1 |
262 |
|
| CG-4A |
230 |
USAAF 42-46322
through 42-46551 |
| CG-4A |
204 |
USAAF
42-62609 through 42-62812 |
| Total CG-4A |
434 |
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The USAAF had also set aside serial numbers
42-62813 through 42-63349 for another 537 Timm-built CG-4A gliders.
The contract for these was cancelled.
The AG-2 Assault Glider: There
are always those World War Two projects that one wonders how they got as
far as they did. The AG-2 is one of them. The AG-2 was
conceived by the USAAF as an armed glider manned by six glider men and
two crew members that would land and secure the landing zone before the
transport gliders landed. The AG-2 was armed with two .50 caliber
and two .30 caliber machine guns, and two rocket launchers.
Prototypes were ordered on May 22, 1943, with work suspended on
September 2, 1943. The project was cancelled on October 25, 1943.
The Timm AG-2 assault glider was armed with a turret for two machine
guns. This wooden model shows that either rocket launchers or
machine guns were in the main landing gear structure.
Many concepts during World War Two fit into
the classification of "it sounded like a good idea at the time."
This idea was so absurd that it didn't fit into that group. A
general in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff took one look
at this concept and said it was "a damned fool idea" and
cancelled the project.
USAAF serial numbers 44-90991 and
44-90992 were assigned to Timm for the two XAG-2 assault gliders.
The Waco CG-4A was the product that
represented 75% of Timm's major war business. The company produced
434 gliders just like this. Author's photo.
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