General Aeroplane Company

General Aeroplane Company
Private
Fate Dissolved
Founded Detroit, U.S. (February 10, 1915)
Founder Corwin Van Husen
Fred and Russell Alger
Defunct August 28, 1918
Headquarters Detroit, Michigan, United States
Key people
 Alfred V. Verville, Herbert B. and Frank P. Book, Wm. Hendrie, Jerome H. Remick

The General Aeroplane Company was Detroit's first commercial airplane builder..[1] GAC built three types of aircraft during the First World War and operated a flying school. The aircraft were the Verville Flying Boat, the Gamma S biplane with floats (floatplane), and the Gamma L biplane with wheels. All had engine installations driving pusher propellers.[2]

Founding

The key player in the company was 18-year-old Corwin Van Husen, who was supported by his guardian W. Howie Muir and other key players of Detroit and Grosse Pointe society. Other major investors included Fred and Russell Alger (who were also investors in the Wright Company and had demonstrated the Wright craft at the Grosse Pointe Country Club four years earlier), Herbert B. and Frank P. Book, Wm. Hendrie, and Jerome H. Remick.[3]

In November 1915, the GAC hired 24-year-old Alfred V. Verville, an experienced airplane designer who would be a part of Detroit's aviation activities for years to come. Design of the company's first airplane, a two-passenger biplane flying boat, was completed in December and construction of the hull was begun by the Mayea Boat & Aeroplane Works.

The flying boat was flight tested during early 1916 and was advertised nationally for sale beginning in September. The U.S. Navy purchased the plane as a trainer, the first built-in-Detroit airplane sold for profit.[4][5]

With U.S. involvement in World War One imminent, Verville began designing a military airplane, the Gamma. By November 1916, the prototype, a "pusher" type plane with the engine and propeller behind the crew, was fitted with seaplane floats and test flown from its base on the Detroit River. In the meantime, the leading industry magazine Aviation gave the GAC plane a boost by running a two-page story about the as yet unproved craft.[6] For the winter the Gamma was fitted with wheels to replace the floats. On its maiden flight from frozen Lake St. Clair, a wind blew the Gamma into a snow bank, and it crashed. The pilot, William Bonney was unhurt, but the Gamma was destroyed.[5]


Dissolution

On August 28, 1918, GAC ceased operations.[1]

Aircraft

Gallery

GAC Airplanes
Verville Flying Boat 
Illustration from a 1916 Flight magazine of the Verville Flying Boat (beta) 
Verville Pusher Seaplane - Plan, front and side elevations to scale. c.1916 
Gamma S (top), Gamma L (bottom) 
Gamma L 
Gamma S Seaplane by Alfred Verville and General Aeroplane Company - 1917 in Flight Magazine 

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bluth, John A., Detroit's first commercial airplane builder, May 1, 2001, Special to The Detroit News Online, Michigan History Section, Detroit News
  2. ↑ The Havre Daily News, August 26th, 1928, Page 3
  3. ↑ "Aerial Age Weekly" 3 (18). The Aerial Age Company. July 17, 1916. p. 545.
  4. ↑ Mondey, David (2000) The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Quantum. p.265
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michigan Aircraft Manufacturers. Arcadia Publishing. 2009. p. 16. ISBN 9780738552187.
  6. ↑ Company History, 2009 Mayea Boat & Aeroplane Works - Division of D&L Marine Consulting, Book with Verville included

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Verville Gamma.