Standard Aircraft Corporation
The Standard Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, founded in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1916
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![]() Standard E-1 advanced training biplane of 1919 displayed at the Virginia Aviation Museum in USAAS markings | |
Industry | Aerospace |
---|---|
Founded | 1916 |
Successor | New Standard Aircraft Company (Gates-Day Aircraft Company) |
Headquarters | , United States |
Standard Aircraft anticipated American entry into World War I, despite an expressed policy of isolationism. The same year it was founded, Standard Aircraft became a very early supplier of aircraft to the U.S. Army Signal Corps (perhaps fifth or sixth ever).[1]
The corporation supplied the Sloane H as the Standard H-2 and H-3 to the Army, and the float-equipped H-4H to the Navy, after the Sloane company was reorganised as the Standard Aircraft Co.
A more significant type was the Standard J series trainer, similar to the Curtiss JN-4, which began with the SJ prototype, followed by the production J-1 (or SJ-1), of which some 800 were built.[2] They were badly hampered by the choice of engine, and attempts to cure the problems with subsequent designs were not successful. Only handfuls of JRs and JR-1Bs were built; some were also purchased by the Post Office.[2]
Standard's last type was the E-1. Intended as a fighter, 100 served as advanced trainers,[2] about half with a provision for fitting machineguns, as the M-Defense.[2]
In 1918 the corporation had a large factory and airfield at Bayway,[3] near the Elizabeth and Linden boundary.[4] It was here that they assembled and tested 107 Handley Page O/400 bombers during 1918, mostly for shipment to Britain. They were powered by Liberty L-12 engines. A plan to fly them across the Atlantic was abandoned, and a further contract for 1,000 more O/400s was cancelled with the end of World War I.[5]
Designer Charles Healy Day later teamed with barnstormer/showman Ivan Gates to design and build aircraft specifically for the civilian and military markets. They formed the Gates-Day Aircraft Company (later renamed the New Standard Aircraft Company[6]) in 1927, and built a number of different aircraft—including the Gates-Day D-24 and the New Standard D-25.
References
Notes
- Donald, David, ed. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero, 1997), p.854, "Standard aircraft".
- Donald, p.854, "Standard aircraft".
- "Northeastern New Jersey". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- "Home Guards rushed to airplane works". New York Times. 1918-02-02. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- Barnes, CH (1995). Handley Page Aircraft since 1907 (2nd ed.). London, UK: Putnam. pp. 112–115. ISBN 0 85177 803 8.
- "New Jersey Air News". Aero Digest. Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corporation. February 1929. p. 180. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
Bibliography
- Donald, David, ed. Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, p. 854, "Standard aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997.
External links
![](../I/Commons-logo.svg.png.webp)
- A 1918 Standard Aircraft Corporation Standard E-1 advanced trainer at Virginia Aviation Museum
- New Standard D-25