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St.
Louis Aircraft Corporation in World War Two
St. Louis, MO
1917-1945
This page added 3-12-2022.
The company was formed in 1917 by
two St. Louis businessmen to build the JN-4D Jenny training aircraft for
the U.S. Army. Mr. A.J. Seigel was associated with the Hutting
Sash and Door Company and Mr. E.B. Messner was the president of the St.
Louis Car Company. Both companies had the facilities and
experienced workers that could be used in making the wooden training
aircraft of the era. The new company was contracted to build 450 JN-4D
aircraft with serial numbers 33775 through 34224. Production began
in 1918 at a production rate of 30 per month. St. Louis Aircraft
Corporation was one of six companies that built the JN-4D during World
War One.
How cool is this? This is a St. Louis
Aircraft Corporation-built World War One JN-4D Jenny. This aircraft has
survived over 100 years and is now part of the collection at the
Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, VA. It was restored to
flying condition several years ago using original JN-4 parts. This
is one of 34 St. Louis Aircraft-built Jennies that became civilian
aircraft after the end of World War One. Author's photo.
The company did not built any further aircraft
until it introduced the Cardinal sport monoplane in 1928. However,
with the onset of the Depression in 1929, aircraft production stopped
after 21 aircraft had been produced.
With the approach of another war on the
horizon in the late 1930s, the U.S. military started looking for new
aircraft and suppliers. In 1935 St. Louis Aircraft Corporation
developed the PT-35 biplane trainer, which it entered into the
competition for a new primary trainer. The PT-35 lost the
competition to the Boeing Stearman.
In 1940 the company once again entered an
aircraft, the PT-LM-4, into competition for the Army's competition for a
low-wing primary trainer. This aircraft lost to the Fairchild
PT-19.
The U.S. Army also had competition for an
eight-seat combat glider. St. Louis Aircraft Corporation developed
its XCG-5. However, flight testing found it to be unstable.
The U.S. Army also decided not to pursue an eight-seat combat glider and
instead decided a 15-seat glider was more appropriate for its purpose.
The Waco CG-4 filled this requirement.
Even though it had stability issues, the St.
Louis Aircraft Corporation's XCG-5 was a very sleek design.
St. Louis Aircraft Corporation World War
Two Products: Always the bridesmaid, but never the bride.
That was the story for the St. Louis Aircraft Corporation in its quest to manufacture aircraft of its own design to help
win World War Two. Instead, it was destined to build one of the
aircraft it lost out to in one of its competitions. These were the
Fairchild PT-19 and the PT-23. The PT-23 was a PT-19 modified to
use a radial engine.
Table 1 - St. Louis 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 |
Contract Amount |
Contract Awarded
|
Completion
Date |
|
Aircraft Material |
$146,000 |
6-1941 |
10-1942 |
|
Airplanes |
$4,564,000 |
4-1942 |
9-1944 |
|
Total |
$4,710,000 |
|
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Table 2 - Aircraft built by St.
Louis Aircraft Corporation during World War Two
|
|
Aircraft Type |
Number Built |
USAAF Serial Numbers |
|
PT-23 |
200 |
42-49677 through 42-49876 |
|
PT-23A |
106 |
42-49877 through 42-49982 |
|
PT-23 Subtotal |
306 |
|
|
PT-19A |
44 |
42-50027 through 42-50070 |
|
Total |
350 |
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Cost per aircraft was
$13,040. The production rate was 8.5 aircraft per month based
on a 41 month production run. St. Louis Aircraft Company had
another 44 PT-23A aircraft with serial numbers 42-49983 through
42-50026 cancelled.
When World War Two ended
in 1945, so did the short life of the St. Louis Aircraft
Corporation.
The PT-23 used a Fairchild PT-19 fuselage
that had been modified for a Continental R-670 radial engine.
Author's photo.
St. Louis Aircraft built 306 of the PT-23
aircraft like this one during World War Two. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
St. Louis Aircraft built 44 PT-19A trainers
like this one. Author's photo.
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