The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

 Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles   Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   General Electric Kokomo Plant   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   International Machine Tool Company   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox   Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Kokomo Plant   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Washington Plant   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar   Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company  Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation    Frankfort Sailplane Company   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers:  Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard   Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Burke Electric Company   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gerstenslager Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Traile    Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Pressed Steel Tank Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   Richardson Boat Company   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   York-Shipley, Inc.   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation During World War Two
Big Flats, NY
1930-2012
1930-1939 - Schweizer Metal Aircraft Company
1939-2004 - Schweizer Aircraft Corporation
2004-2012 - As part of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of United Technologies

This page updated 3-7-2023.


Gliders and Soaring.  This is what I think of when I see the name Schweizer.  This SGU-2-22EK on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA is precisely what I think of as a Schweizer glider.  The 257 examples of the SGU-2-22EK training glider built between 1946 and 1967 trained a significant number of soaring students to fly gliders.  However, building gliders did not provide the revenue stream to keep the doors open at the Schweizer Aircraft Corporation.  Starting in World War Two, the company subcontracted to other companies to produce aviation parts which continued after the end of the war.  The company also purchased the rights to the Hughes TH-55 helicopter and the Grumman Ag-Cat.  In the end, even these products  could not keep the company from being sold to Sikorsky in 2004 and then being shut down in 2012.

The story of the Schweizer Aircraft Corporation is really the story of three brothers, Ernst, Paul, and William Schweizer, who had a passion for aviation and soaring and turned this into a family business.  It is also the story of the elder Schweizers turning over the business to their sons in the early 1970s. 

Ernst, Paul, and William Schweizer built their first glider in 1930.  This was their model SPG 1-1.  The brothers started building gliders under the name Schweizer Metal Aircraft Company in a barn in Horseheads, NY.  In 1939 the brothers incorporated their company to become the Schweizer Aircraft Company and moved to Elmira, NY.  The company is known for its metal sailplanes built up through the 1980s at which time fiberglass-built gliders began to dominate the market. 

Schweizer Aircraft Corporation built the Grumman Ag-Cat under license from 1957 through 1980.  During this period Schweizer manufactured 2,455 Ag-Cats.  Grumman held the design rights and did the sales and marketing of the aircraft while Schweizer was responsible for the manufacturing.  In May1980, Grumman sold the rights of the Ag-Cat to the Gulfstream Corporation, which moved all of the production tooling out of Big Flats, NY to Savannah, GA.  It took 32 tractor-trailers to move all of the equipment to Georgia.  However, Gulfstream did not put the Ag-Cat back into production.  In November 1980, Schweizer purchased both the design and manufacturing rights of the Ag-Cat business from Gulfstream for $3,300,000.  Once again, 32 semi-truck loads of tooling and equipment had to make the return trip to Big Flat, NY.  Schweitzer produced the aircraft under its name until at least 1994, when it sold the rights to Ag-Cat Corporation in Malden, TX.

In 1982 the Schweizer company began manufacturing the Hughes Model 300 helicopter under license.  In 1986 Schweizer was able to purchase the design rights for the helicopter from McDonnell-Douglas, which had purchased Hughes in 1984.  Schweizer built 1,300 of these helicopters during its production run.  Once I read this in my research, I realized my son and I took a ride in one of these type of helicopters at an airshow many years ago.  With over 3,000 built, the Schweizer-Hughes Model 300 has trained many new helicopter pilots how to fly.  Sikorsky purchased the helicopter business in 2004 and then closed the operation in 2012, putting 570 persons out of work. 

Schweizer Aircraft Corporation in World War Two:  Table 1 indicates the company had $492,000 in major contracts, while Tables 2 and 3 show that it was contracted for 150 gliders and built 149 for the war effort.  In 1941 the three brothers had 20 employees at the company.  In early 1943 the company moved into a larger government-built factory, which had been built to speed up production.  The company also did considerable sub-contracting during the war.

The first XTG-2, built at Elmira NY, was delivered July 15, 1941.  It was based on the company's SGS-2-8 two-seat glider.  The company delivered the last gliders to the Army Air Force in July 1943.

Table 1 - Schweizer 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 Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Gliders Trailers  - Army $53,000 10-1941 5-1942
Gliders - Army $439,000 3-1942 6-1943
Total $492,000    

 

Table 2 - Schweizer Aircraft Corporation's World War Two Glider Military Serial Numbers
 Serial Numbers Type Quantity Comments
42-52924 / 42-52998 TG-3A 75 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-12 two-seat training glider.  Ordered by the USAAF 3-24-1942.
42-53014 / 42-53020 TG-2A 7 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-8 two-seat training glider. 
42-53097 / 42-53131 TG-3A 35 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-12 two-seat training glider.  Ordered by the USAAF 3-24-1942.
42-8708 / 42-8725 TG-2A 18 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-8 two-seat training glider.  Ordered by the USAAF 10-24-1941.
42-14702 / 42-14704 XTG-3 3 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-12 two-seat training glider.  Purchased by the USAAF 8-13-1941.
2979 / 2980 LNS-1 2 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-8 two-seat training glider.  Ordered by the USMC. 
04380 / 04389 LNS-1 11 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-8 two-seat training glider.  Ordered by the USMC. 
26426 LNS-1 1 Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Model SGS 2-8 two-seat training glider. Contract cancelled.
Total Contracted   152  

 

Table 3 - Schweizer Aircraft Corporation's World War Two Gliders built by type from Table 2
Type Quantity
TG-2A 25
TG-3A 110
XTG-3 3
LNS-1 11
Total 149

The following information comes from "American Military Gliders of World War Two" by Bill Norton and gives differing amounts than the information found in Tables 1-3.  This is not unusual in dealing with information from World War Two.  The book does provide contract and delivery dates along with the fact that the production gliders all came with a trailer.  Also, at the end of July 1943, the Schweizer Aircraft Corporation no longer had any government contracts.  From the Schweizer brothers' prospective, this may have been considered good, as they lost money on every contract they had with the Army Air Force. 

Table 4 - Schweizer Aircraft Corporation World War Two Contracts and Quantity
The information below comes from "American Military Gliders of World War Two" by bill Norton published by Schiffer in 2012.
Type Quantity Contract Amount Contract Date Delivery Date
XTG-2 with trailer 3 $6,500.00 June 18, 1941 July and September 1941
TG-2 with trailer 26 $74,451.81 October 24, 1941 Between February and July 1942
XTG-3 3 $13,209.00 October 13, 1941 Between March and July 1942
TG-3 with trailer 111 $440,416.11 March 24, 1942 Between August 1942 and July 1943
Total 143 $534,576.92    

 The eleven LNS-1 gliders built for the United States Marine Corps were not included in the information in Table 4.  Interestingly enough, it is the LNS-1 that can be currently found on display in museums.


When one walks into the World War Two section of the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, MI and turns to the right, this Schweizer LNS-1 can be seen hanging over several naval training aircraft.  This is one of three surviving LNS-1s of the eleven that were built during World War Two.  This one is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Marine Corps.  Two more are on display in other museums.  Author's photo.


The LNS-1 is similar to the TG-2A.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


What is this?  This is what I asked myself on a January 2023 visit to the Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, OH.  Sitting in the corner and located behind several pieces equipment was this disassembled glider.  I wondered if this was new to the collection, or I had not noticed it on previous trips to the museum.  Most likely, I had not noticed it before.  This is why I do repeat visits.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


The markings on the glider told me that this is a Schweizer TG-3.  Table 2 shows that serial number 42- 52948 was the 24th TG-3 built in 1942.  This is quite a historic aircraft.  Further investigation found that this was sold surplus after World War Two and was registered as N4808.  The registration expired in February 2006 and the FAA cancelled the registration in December 2012.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Normally, gliders are hung from the rafters of museums, which does not allow for closer inspection.  This TG-3, being disassembled and at ground level, allowed for a closer look at the aircraft.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


The wing spar appears to be constructed of a 2" by 6." Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


The wing spars apparently attach to this steel tubing.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.

Schweizer Aircraft Corporation World War Two Subcontracts:  When the TG-3A glider contract was completed in July 1943, the company was able to acquire sub-contracts to keep the company operating.

The TDR-1 Drone Project:  The TDR-1 assault drone was developed and built by the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation of El Segundo, CA.  The American Aviation Corporation of Jamestown, NY was awarded U.S. Navy contract to build the TDR-1 under license.   American Aviation Corporation subcontracted Schweizer to fabricate fifty wing center sections which included the engine mounts and canopies.


Image added 3-7-2023.


While the TDR was a drone, it had provisions to be flown by a pilot.  Image added 3-7-2023.

Curtiss C-46:  Sixty percent of the subcontracting work that Schweizer did during World War Two was for the Curtiss C-46.  The company was contracted to build 700 fuselage under wing sections.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.

Sikorsky R-6 Helicopter:


The Franklin engine in this Sikorsky R-6 was built by Aircooled Motors of Syracuse, NY.  Schweizer was contracted by Aircooled to build the engine housing and external cooling system.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.

Republic P-47:


Schweizer also built weld assemblies for the Republic P-47s built in Farmingdale, NY.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


The Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Plant:


This Google Maps photo shows the former Schweizer factory at the Elmira-Corning Airport in Big Flats, NY.  I flew in and out of this airport in early 1973 for a job interview with Corning Glass.  Image added 8-10-2022.


This enlargement shows that the factory has been repurposed with new occupants as there are vehicles in the parking lot. Image added 8-10-2022.


This Google Maps street view shows the factory from Schweizer Road.  Image added 8-10-2022.

Schweizer Aircraft Corporation Post World War Two-Era Products:  While the Schweizer brothers formed the Schweizer Aircraft Corporation to build gliders, they soon learned that manufacturing gliders was not going to keep the company in business.  There was just not enough demand for this type of product.  After World War Two, two different aviation products, designed by other companies, were instrumental in keeping Schweizer in business.  These were the Grumman Ag-Cat and the Hughes TH-55 helicopter.


In 1967 the company began building the Grumman Ag-Cat under license.  This example is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Gene Soucy converted this 1972 Schweizer-built Ag-Cat serial number 1004 into a "Show-Cat."  It is seen here at the 2012 Gratiot Community Airshow.  Author's photo added 8-10-2022.


This image shows the "Show-Cat" performing at the 2019 Wings over Wayne Airshow at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC.  Author's photo added 8-10-2022.


  This TH-55 may have been built by Schweizer after 1983.  It is the military version of the Schweizer-Hughes Model 300.  The orange paint scheme indicates it was a military trainer.  Author's photo added 8-10-2022.


This TH-55 is on display at the Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, VA.  Author's photo added 3-7-2023.


Author's photo added 3-7-2023.

 

 

 

Email us at:  Webmaster