Grumman#Aircraft

File:Grumman Historical Marker.jpg

Leroy Grumman worked for the Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation beginning in 1920. In 1929, Keystone Aircraft Corporation bought Loening Aircraft and moved its operations from New York City to Bristol, Pennsylvania. Grumman and three other ex-Loening Aircraft employees,Jordan, Corey C. [http://www.planesandpilotsofww2.webs.com/Grumman1.html "Grumman's Ascendency: Chapter One."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103024723/http://www.planesandpilotsofww2.webs.com/Grumman1.html |date=November 3, 2013 }} Planes and Pilots Of World War 2, 2000. Retrieved: July 22, 2011. (Edmund Ward Poor,[https://books.google.com/books?id=FW_50wm8VnMC&pg=PA270 "Air Warfare".] An International Encyclopedia, Volume Two, M-Z, Volume 1, pp. 270–271. William Schwendler, and Jake Swirbul) started their own company in an old Cox-Klemin Aircraft Co. factory in Baldwin on Long Island, New York.

The company registered as a business on December 6, 1929, and officially opened on January 2, 1930. While maintaining the business by welding aluminum tubing for truck frames, the company eagerly pursued contracts with the US Navy. Grumman designed the first practical floats with a retractable landing gear for the Navy, and this launched Grumman into the aviation market. The first Grumman aircraft was also for the Navy, the Grumman FF-1, a biplane with retractable landing gear developed at Curtiss Field in 1931. This was followed by a number of other successful designs.

File:Grumman 1976 logo.png

During World War II, Grumman became known for its "Cats" (Navy fighter aircraft): the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, the Grumman F7F Tigercat and Grumman F8F Bearcat,{{cite web|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/the-grumman-cats-9289264/|title=The Grumman Cats|publisher=Air Space Magazine|last=Nicklas|first=Brian|date=September 2006|access-date=April 19, 2020}} and also for its torpedo bomber, the Grumman TBF Avenger.{{cite web|url=https://www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/exhibits/tbm-avenger/|title=Grumman TBM Avenger|publisher=Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum|access-date=April 19, 2020}} Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619 Production of the majority of the Wildcats and Avenger was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors : the Eastern Aircraft Division. Grumman's first jet aircraft was the F9F Panther; it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar, and the F-11 Tiger in the 1950s. The company's big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and E-2 Hawkeye and in the 1970s with the Grumman EA-6B Prowler and F-14 Tomcat. Grumman products were prominent in several feature movies including The Final Countdown in 1980,{{cite book |author=Stephen A. Riffin |date=June 1, 2005 |title=Aviation's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Winged Wonders, Lucky Landings, and Other Aerial Oddities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MBKzwAOkrAC&pg=PA294 |page=294 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=9781574886740 |access-date=April 18, 2020}} Top Gun in 1986, and Flight of the Intruder in 1990.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/grumman-studios-secrets-and-fun-facts-1.11490135|title=Grumman Studios: Secrets and fun facts|work=Newsday|date=March 29, 2018|first=Ian J.|last=Stark|access-date=April 17, 2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801085537/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/grumman-studios-secrets-and-fun-facts-1.11490135|archive-date=August 1, 2020}} The U.S. Navy still employs the Hawkeye as part of Carrier Air Wings on board aircraft carriers, while the U.S. Marine Corps, the last branch of service to fly the Prowler, retired it on March 8, 2019.{{cite web |last=Snow |first=Shawn |date=March 8, 2019 |url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/03/08/the-saltiest-warfighter-in-the-marine-corps-the-ea-6b-prowler-retires/ |title=EA-6B Prowler, one of the saltiest warfighters in the Marine Corps, retires |website=MarineTimes}}

File:Lunar Module diagram.jpg

Grumman was the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module, the first spacecraft to land humans on the Moon.{{cite web|url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM_News_Reference_H_Missions.pdf|title=Apollo Spacecraft: News Reference|publisher=NASA|access-date=April 16, 2020}} The firm received the contract on November 7, 1962, and built 13 lunar modules. Six of them successfully landed on the Moon, with one serving as a lifeboat on Apollo 13, after an explosion crippled the main Apollo spacecraft. LM-2, a test article which never flew in space, is displayed permanently in the Smithsonian Institution.{{cite web|url=https://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/history/lunar-module.html|title=Lunar Module|publisher=Cradle of Aviation Museum|access-date=April 16, 2020}} As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle, but lost to Rockwell International.{{cite book |date=1972 |title=Astronautics and Aeronautics: Chronology of Science, Technology, and Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PwwnVheLEwC&pg=RA1-PA339|page=339 |access-date=April 16, 2020}}

In 1969, the company changed its name to Grumman Aerospace Corporation,{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Grumman-Aerospace-Corporation|title=Grumman Aerospace Corporation {{!}} American Company|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=April 16, 2020}} and in 1978 it sold the Grumman-American Division to Gulfstream Aerospace.{{cite web|last1=Thomas|first1=Joel|title=History of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation|url=https://www.stratosjets.com/history-of-gulfstream-aerospace-corporation/|access-date=January 5, 2016|date=May 19, 2014|website=Stratos Jets}} That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer Flxible. The company built the Grumman LLV (Long Life Vehicle), a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the United States Postal Service. The LLV was produced from 1987 until 1994. Its intended service life was 24 years, but some of them were still in service in 2020.{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/auto/special-delivery-new-u-s-postal-service-truck-to-be-picked-this-year|title=$6.3 billion delivery: New U.S. Postal Service truck to be picked this year|publisher=Fox News|last=Gastelu|first=Gary|date=May 7, 2019|access-date=April 16, 2020}} In 1983, Grumman sold Flxible for $40 million to General Automotive Corporation of Ann Arbor.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/29/archives/grumman-is-seeking-1billion-in-subcontracts-in-us-spaceshuttle.html|title=Grumman to Sell Troubled Bus Unit|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1982|access-date=April 16, 2020}}

In the 1950s, Grumman began production of Gulfstream business aircraft, starting with the Gulfstream I turboprop (Grumman model G-159) and the Gulfstream II jet (Grumman model G-1159). Gulfstream aircraft were operated by many companies, private individuals, and government agencies including various military entities and NASA. In addition, the Gulfstream I was operated by several regional airlines in scheduled passenger services. The Gulfstream I-C (Grumman model G-159C) version was "stretched" to carry 37 passengers.

In the early 1970s, Grumman acquired majority interest in the American Aviation line of very light aircraft -- relabeling its planes as "Grumman-American" or "Grumman American" -- eventually joining it with their Gulfstream division before selling off that combined enterprise in 1978.

In 1978, Grumman sold Gulfstream to American Jet Industries, which adopted the Gulfstream name. Since 1999, Gulfstream has been a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.{{cite web |url=https://www.gulfstreamnews.com/history |title=History |publisher=Gulfstream News |access-date=April 16, 2020}}

File:Grumman Park.jpg at Grumman Memorial Park, Calverton, New York]]

File:Cablevision-hq.jpg (formerly Cablevision) headquarters]]

For much of the Cold War period, Grumman was the largest corporate employer on Long Island.{{cite web |title=Facts You Didn't Know About Long Island Businesses |url=https://www.newsday.com/business/facts-you-didn-t-know-about-long-island-businesses-1.9812995 |website=Newsday |access-date=28 January 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128083423/https://www.newsday.com/business/facts-you-didn-t-know-about-long-island-businesses-1.9812995 |archive-date=28 January 2019}} Grumman's products were considered so reliable and ruggedly built that the company was often referred to as the "Grumman Iron Works".Skrula and Gregory 2004

As the company grew, it moved to Valley Stream, New York, then Farmingdale, New York, finally to its facility in Bethpage, New York, with the testing and final assembly at the {{convert|6000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Naval Weapons Station in Calverton, New York, all located on Long Island. At its peak in 1986 it employed 23,000 people on Long Island{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06E7D91F3AF93BA35750C0A962958260 |title=Long Islanders Shocked by Grumman's Merger |work=The New York Times |date=March 8, 1994 |last=McQuiston |first=John T.}} and occupied {{convert|6000000|sqft|m2}} in structures on {{convert|105|acre|km2}} it leased from the U.S. Navy in Bethpage.{{Cite news |last=Shaman |first=Diana |date=1997-12-28 |title=Commercial Property/Selling Off Northrop Grumman's Surplus; Cablevision Takes Last of the Grumman Buildings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/realestate/commercial-property-selling-off-northrop-grumman-s-surplus-cablevision-takes.html |access-date=2024-06-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s reduced defense spending and led to a wave of mergers as aerospace companies shrank in number; in 1994 Northrop bought Grumman for $2.1 billion to form Northrop Grumman, after Northrop topped a $1.9 billion offer from Martin Marietta.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E7DA113FF936A35757C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |title=Northrop Bests Martin Marietta to Buy Grumman |website=The New York Times |date=April 5, 1994 |last=Sims |first=Calvin}}

The new company closed almost all of its facilities on Long Island and converted the Bethpage plant to a residential and office complex, with its headquarters becoming the corporate headquarters for Cablevision and the Calverton plant being turned into a business/industrial complex. Former aircraft hangars have become Grumman Studios, a film and television production center. A portion of the airport property has been used for the Grumman Memorial Park.

File:F-14-vf-84.jpg of VF-84 Jolly Rogers, in the old color scheme from the beginning of its service]]

File:A-6E Intruder over Spain in Operation Matador.jpg during Exercise Matador]]

File:Grumman TBF Avenger.jpg ]]

File:US-2C Tracker VC-3 in flight.jpg

File:E-2C Landing.jpg

File:F4F3 Wildcat.png

File:Grumman F9F-7 Cougar at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on 29 August 2017.png

{{Div col}}

• Grumman 674 Nutcracker tilting fuselage VTOL
• Grumman 698 VTOL
• Grumman G-3 project only
• Grumman G-4 project only
• Grumman G-17 project only
• Grumman G-25 project only
• Grumman G-27 project only
• Grumman G-29 project only
• Grumman G-30 project only
• Grumman G-35 project only
• Grumman G-48 project only
• Grumman G-49 project only
• Grumman G-57 project only
• Grumman G-62 project only
• Grumman G-68 project only
• Grumman G-71 project only
• Grumman G-76 project only
• Grumman G-77 swept-back wing research aircraft project
• Grumman G-78 towed target glider project
• Grumman G-84 project only
• Grumman G-85 project only
• Grumman G-86 project only
• Grumman G-91 project only
• Grumman G-92 project only
• Grumman G-97 project only
• Grumman G-107 project only
• Grumman G-108 project only
• Grumman G-110 project only
• Grumman G-113 project only
• Grumman G-114
• Grumman G-115
• Grumman G-116 project only
• Grumman G-118 project only
• Grumman G-119 project only
• Grumman G-122 project only
• Grumman G-124 jet trainer design
• Grumman G-127
• Grumman G-132
• Grumman XTB2F
• Grumman XTSF

{{Div col end}}

• Space
• Apollo Lunar Module
• Grumman 619 Space Shuttle

• Grumman manufactured fire engines under the name Firecat (not to be confused with the firefighting variant of the Grumman S-2 Tracker, which is sold under the same name) and aerial tower trucks under the Aerialcat name. The company entered the fire apparatus business in 1976 with its purchase of Howe Fire Apparatus.{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldbulletin.com/community/howe-fire-apparatus-had-know-howe/article_f64d25da-eed2-5d10-b1bc-8761a69a7e72.html|title=Howe Fire Apparatus had know-Howe|last=Library|first=Beth OljaceAnderson Public|website=Herald Bulletin|date=May 25, 2013 |language=en|access-date=2019-03-09}}
• Grumman canoes were developed in 1944 as World War II was winding down. Company executive William Hoffman used the company's aircraft aluminum to replace the traditional wood design. The canoes had a reputation for being sturdier, lighter and stronger than their wood counterparts and had a considerable market share. Grumman moved its boat making division to Marathon, New York in 1952.

: Outboard Marine Corp. bought the division in 1990 and produced the last Grumman-brand canoe in 1996. Shortly thereafter former Grumman executives formed the Marathon Boat Group to produce the canoes. In 2000 the Group worked out an agreement with Northrop Grumman to sell the canoes using Grumman name and logo.{{cite web |url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past516,0,5473146.story |title=Paddling a Canoe to Success |website=Newsday |access-date=May 15, 2009 |last=Striegel |first=Lawrence |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215131118/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past516,0,5473146.story |archive-date=December 15, 2007}}[http://www.marathonboat.com/about.asp "Marathon BoatGroup: About Us."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521213313/http://www.marathonboat.com/about.asp |date=May 21, 2009 }} Marathonboat.com. Retrieved: May 15, 2009.

• Grumman sport boat{{cite web|url=https://marathonboat.com/index.php/products/all-boats/eshop-grumman-canoes/sportboat|title=Marathon Boat Group - Sportboat|publisher=Marathon Boat|access-date=April 17, 2020}}
• Grumman-Flxible 870 transit buses (1978–1982){{cite web|url=http://flxibleowners.org/history/|title=History - Flxible Owners International|publisher=Flxible Owners International|access-date=April 17, 2020}}
• Ben Franklin (PX-15), a science submarine{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/px15.html|title=Deep Sea Sub Story|publisher=NASA|access-date=April 17, 2020|date=July 16, 2004}}
• Grumman LLV postal vehicle widely used by the United States Postal Service and Canada Post{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/canada-post-carbon-monoxide-delivery-trucks-1.4194940|title=Aging delivery trucks poisoning us, postal workers claim|work=CBC Canada|author=Stu Mills|date=July 12, 2017|access-date=April 17, 2020}}
• In honor of Grumman's aviation and aerospace inventions, a Grumman Memorial Park was established in Calverton, New York.

{{multiple image |align=center |width=200

|image1=Small USPS Truck.jpg |width1= |caption1=United States Postal Service Grumman LLV

|image2=Grumman Firecat 1988.jpg |width2= |caption2= 1988 Grumman Firecat, Santiago de Chile FD, 2004

|image3=UPS truck -804051.jpg |width3= |caption3= Grumman Olson UPS truck

|image4=Grumman Kabmaster Hostess truck.jpg |width4= |caption4= Grumman Kurbmaster Hostess Delivery truck

}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• Ferguson, Robert G. "One Thousand Planes a Day: Ford, Grumman, General Motors and the Arsenal of Democracy." History and Technology, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2005.
• Fetherston, Drew. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100822015332/http://www.grummanpark.org/runway1.htm "Pioneers on the Runway: Raising Grumman."] LI History.com, Grumman Park. Retrieved: March 18, 2009.
• Kessler, Pamela. "Leroy Grumman, Sky King." The Washington Post (Weekend), October 11, 1985.
• O'Leary, Michael, ed. "Leroy Grumman." Air Classics, Volume 19, no. 2, February 1983, pp. 27–29.
• Skurla, George M. and William H. Gregory. Inside the Iron Works: How Grumman's Glory Days Faded. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-1-55750-329-9}}.
• Tillman, Barrett. Hellcat: The F6F in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-87021-265-6}}.
• Thruelsen, Richard. The Grumman Story. New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976. {{ISBN|0-275-54260-2}}.
• Treadwell, Terry. Ironworks: Grumman's Fighting Aeroplanes. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishers, 1990. {{ISBN|1-85310-070-6}}.

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category|Grumman Aerospace Corporation}}

• [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Grumman-Corporation-Company-History.html International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 11. St. James Press, 1995 (via fundinguniverse.com)]
• [http://www.aerofiles.com/_grum.html Grumman profile on Aerofiles.com]
• [http://www.grummanpark.org/history.htm Grumman Memorial Park History Center]
• [http://ww2db.com/aircraft.php?q=Grumman+Aircraft+Engineering+Corporation&list=m WW2DB: Grumman aircraft of WW2]
• [http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=12&Z=18&X=784&Y=5639&W=3&qs=%7cbethpage+%7cnew+york%7c 1994 Aerial photograph of Bethpage Headquarters], including intact runways
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180812175039/http://www.laprimera.cl/ Grumman Firecat on multimedia gallery]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070417120734/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs9grum%2C0%2C3453260.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation Archived 2007 Newsday article on decline of Grumman]

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{{Grumman aircraft}}

{{American Aviation}}

{{Automotive industry in the United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}

Category:Aerospace companies of the United States

Category:Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States

Category:Manufacturing companies based in New York (state)

Category:Companies based in Nassau County, New York

Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1929

Category:Technology companies established in 1929

Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929

Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1994

Category:Technology companies disestablished in 1994

Category:Airports in Nassau County, New York

Category:Defunct technology companies based in New York (state)