Alfred V. Verville

Alfred V. Verville
Born 16 November 1890(1890-11-16)
Atlantic Mine, Michigan
Died 1970 (aged 79–80)
La Jolla, California
Other names Fred
Occupation aviation design and development
Known for innovative contributions to civil and military aviation design

Alfred Victor Verville (born November 16, 1890 in Atlantic Mine, Michigan, died 1970[1]) was an aviation pioneer and designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his 47 years in the aviation industry, he led the design and development of nearly a dozen commercial and military airplanes. He is known for his design of flying boats, a cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear: the Verville-Sperry R-3, military racing airplanes, and a series of commercial cabin airplanes. His wife was Bertha M. Kamrath[2], married 1917, with whom he had two daughters, Betty and Janet and a son Bud.[3] Verville worked for General William "Billy" Mitchell while working at the United States Army Air Service.[4]

Contents

Early career

Early in life, Verville took a correspondence course in Electrical Engineering.[5][6] His aviation career began in 1914, at the age of 24, after leaving the Hudson Motor Company.[7] With Glenn Curtiss he helped design the Curtiss Jenny and Curtiss twin engine seaplane. Verville also worked for Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Thomas-Morse Airplane Company, General Aeroplane Company (1915–1917),[8] and Fisher Body Corporation (as executive engineer, 1917-1918) before joining the Engineering Division of the U.S. Army Air Service as a civilian in 1918. In 1925, he left government service to co-found the Buhl-Verville Aircraft Company.[9] In 1928, he left Buhl-Verville to establish Verville Aircraft Company, which failed in 1931 in part due to the difficult economic environment of the times.

Consulting and retirement

For the next two decades, he served as a consultant at the Bureau of Air Commerce (1932, 1939-41) and Department of Commerce (1933-36), at Douglas Aircraft (1937-38), at Curtiss-Wright (1941-42), at Snead Aircraft (1942), and at Drexel Aviation Co (1942-45). In 1945 he served as a member of the Naval Technical Mission to Europe and later joined the US Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (1946-61). His retirement was in 1961, but he continued to support the field of aviation until his death in 1970.[10]

Honors

Verville was selected as a fellow of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum in 1962.[11] He was honored with ten Certificates or Letters of Commendations from the U.S. Armed Forces. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and was named an Elder Statesman of Aviation in 1956. He held eight aeronautical patents. A fellowship was established in his name at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which is a competitive nine- to twelve-month in-residence fellowship for researching the history of aviation. Verville has over 20 boxes of material at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - Garber Facility from his estate.

In Verville's honor, a 33 cent United States Postal Service airmail stamp was issued on February 13, 1985 bearing his name, picture, the text "Aviation Pioneer", and an image of his Verville-Packard R-1 low-wing monoplane.[12]

Planes designed by Verville

Most famous

General Aeroplane Company

Main article: General Aeroplane Company

Verville Flying Boat (1916)

Gamma S[15]

Gamma L

U.S. Military

Main articles: Verville VCP Fighter & Verville Racer Aircraft

Verville-Clark-Pursuit 1 & 2 (aka VCP-1 & VCP-2)

Verville R-1 Racer (1920) (aka Verville-Packard R-1 or VCP-R)

Verville-Sperry R-3 Racer (1922)

YPT-10 (1925-48), Primary Trainer

Buhl-Verville

Main article: Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster

Buhl-Verville CA-3/CW-3 Airster (also known as the J4/J5 Airster or B-V Airster)

Verville Aircraft Company

Verville Air Coach (1929)

Verville Smithsonian Fellowship

A fellowship was established in his name at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which is a competitive nine- to twelve-month in-residence fellowship for researching the history of aviation. The fellowship includes a $50,000 stipend with limited additional funds for travel and miscellaneous expenses.

Candidates for the fellowship should pursue programs of research and writing that support publication of works that are scholarly in tone and substance. These materials should appeal to an audience with broad interests. Outstanding manuscripts resulting from this program may be offered to the Smithsonian Institution Press for publication.

Fellowship selections

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "Michigan Aviation". vol36_no4. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Aviation_vol36_no4_157590_7.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-22. 
  2. ^ http://www.grandmastree.com/society/marriage/jo-ki.htm - note the name on this page is misspelled Kanmath
  3. ^ Genealogy.com - Verville Family Genealogy Forum
  4. ^ "Wings of Valor - The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell". Homeofheroes.com. 2007. http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part1/6_survival.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. .
  5. ^ Air Warfare: An International Encyclopedia, By Walter J. Boyne, Michael Fopp, Published by ABC-CLIO, 2002, ISBN 1-57607-345-9, 9781576073452
  6. ^ Robert F. Pauley, Michigan Aircraft Manufacturers (Images of Aviation), Page 16, Arcadia Publishing (August 3, 2009)
  7. ^ Tom McNeely: Alfred Verville Painting Commentary, 1985, Unicover Corporation
  8. ^ Bluth, John A., Detroit's first commercial airplane builder, May 1, 2001, Special to The Detroit News Online, Michigan History Section, Detroit News
  9. ^ Smithsonian Institution Research and Information System
  10. ^ "Biographies - Letter V". Aerofiles.com. http://www.aerofiles.com/bio_v.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  11. ^ A. Verville Fellowship Information Page, NASM Research Fellowships, National Air and Space Museum
  12. ^ Cooper, Ralph, Alfred Verville, The Early Birds of Aviation, Inc.
  13. ^ Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger, Object: A19580040000, National Air and Space Museum - Collection Database, Smithsonian Institution
  14. ^ Order of Battle - United States of America, MilAvia Press
  15. ^ Verville, Verville-Packard, Verville-Sperry, Aerofiles, 4/17/09
  16. ^ "Famous record breaking aircraft, Verville-Packard R-1 air racer". Air-racing-history.com. 2008. http://www.air-racing-history.com/aircraft/Verville-Packard%20R-1.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  17. ^ Pulitzer Trophy Air Races
  18. ^ THE LORE OF FLIGHT, Crescent Books, 1970
  19. ^ "24th Annual Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition, Confirmed Speakers". Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition. 2008-09-15. http://www.afa.org/events/conference/2008/Conference2008_speakers.asp. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  20. ^ Christine Yano (2009-04-24). "Christine Yano - UH Anthropology". UH Anthropology. http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/People/Faculty/Yano/index.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  21. ^ I-39277-NandN_Nov. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2009-08-29.
  22. ^ Neil M. Maher (2007-01-26). "Neil M. Maher Personal Resume". Rutgers American Studies Department. http://americanstudies.newark.rutgers.edu/cvs/nmahercv.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  23. ^ Adnan Morshed (2009-05-01). "Adnan Morshed's Curriculum Vitae". The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning. http://architecture.cua.edu/People/morshed-cv.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-29. 
  24. ^ Asif Siddiqi. "History Department". http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/history_department/documents/siddiqi.cv.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-29. . Fordham.edu (2003-10-28). Retrieved on 2009-08-29. Sidiqqi webpage
  25. ^ http://www.loyola.edu/academics/history/faculty/cvs.html/Breihan.CV.pdf
  26. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/smithsonianyeara8890smit/smithsonianyeara8890smit_djvu.txt
  27. ^ Michael Neufeld. ""Von Braun, Collier's and Disney: Selling Space in the 1950s", Goddard Engineering Colloquium Announcement". http://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/2004-Fall/announce.neufeld.html. Retrieved 2009-08-29. . Ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov (2004-11-08). Retrieved on 2009-08-29.
  28. ^ This research led to this book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307262928
Alfred V. Verville (1890-1970) ♣ Aviation Pioneer
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