Thomas-Morse Aircraft

The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation was a American aircraft manufacturer, until it was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1929.

Founded William T. and Oliver W. Thomas in 1910 as "Thomas Brothers Company" in Hammondsport, New York, New York, [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] the company moved to Hornell, New York, New York and later Bath, New York, New York, the same year, [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] remaining in Bath until 1915, [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] During 1912 and 1913, the company operated the affiliated "Thomas School of Aviation" in Cayuga Lake, New York, New York [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] (taking a page from Glenn Curtiss, who did much the same). In 1913, the name became "Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company", the home Ithaca, New York, New York, [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] and in 1915, "Thomas Aeromotor Company" was added. The firm merged with the "Morse Chain Company" (headed by Frank L. Morse), and recapitalized, in 1917, becoming "Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation", still based in Ithaca. [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] It became the "Thomas-Morse Division" of "Consolidated Aircraft Corporation" in 1929, [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008] and ceased business in 1934. [ [http://aerofiles.com/_thomas.html Aerofiles:Thomas] , retrieved 8/4/2008]

In 1915, Thomas Brothers built "T-2" tractor biplanes (designed by Benjamin D. Thomas, no relation to the brothers, formerly of Curtiss, and later the company's chief designer) for the Royal Naval Air Service. [Donald, David, ed. "Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" (Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997), p.875, "Thomas Brothers and Thomas-Morse aircraft".] and (fitted with floats in place of wheels) [Donald, p.875.] to the United States Navy as the "SH-4". In 1916, the company won a contract from the United States Army Signal Corps for two aircraft for evaluation, the "D-5". [Donald, p.875.]

In January 1917, the company merged with the Morse-Chain Company and was renamed the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation. The company then made an attempt at selling training biplanes to the United States Army and was successful with the "S-4" trainer (which included a handful of "S-5" floatplanes and a single "S-4E") and MB series of fighters. The last company design was the O-19 observation biplane. In 1929 the company was taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.

Aircraft

*Thomas Brothers D-5
*Thomas Brothers T-2
*Thomas Brothers S-4
*Thomas Brothers SH-4
*Thomas-Morse MB-1
*Thomas-Morse MB-2
*Thomas-Morse MB-3
*Thomas-Morse MB-6
*Thomas-Morse MB-7
*Thomas-Morse MB-9
*Thomas-Morse MB-10
*Thomas-Morse O-19
*Thomas-Morse XP-13

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David, ed. "Encyclopedia of World Aircraft", p.854, "Standard aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997.
* "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft" (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing, 1985, p.3000.