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W. Wallace Kellett

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W. Wallace Kellett
W Wallace Kellett.jpg
1941
Born
William Wallace Kellett

December 20, 1891
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
DiedJuly 22, 1951(1951-07-22) (aged 59)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessman
Known forautogyro

William Wallace Kellett (also W. Wallace Kellett) (December 20, 1891 – July 22, 1951) was an American aircraft executive and manufacturer, especially associated with rotary-wing aircraft. He was president of Kellett Autogiro Corporation and Republic Aviation Corporation. His company constructed the first successful wingless aircraft in the United States. There was a wide variety of potential users for his unique airplane. The first autogyro airplane used by the United States Post Office Department to carry mail was produced by Kellett. He received congressional approval for funding such a project after he gave senators and representatives demonstration flights of his wingless autogyro aircraft as part of a promotion in Washington D.C.

Early life and education[]

Kellett was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 20, 1891. His parents were William W. Kellett and Frances Revere (Flagler) Kellett.[1] He attended Chestnut Hill Academy taking college prep courses with the intent of going to Princeton University. He entered the college in 1909 and graduated in 1913 with a bachelor of letters degree from Princeton. Kellett then became associated with the Liquid Carbonic Company that manufactured soda fountains in Kansas City, Missouri. During World War I he enlisted and first drove an ambulance in Europe for the American Field Service. Later he became a pilot in the French Air Force.[2] The flying experiences gave him an interest in aviation that would last the rest of his life. Kellett earned a French Général de corps d'armée citation and an Italian Service Medal during World War I.[3][4]

1938 mail delivery demonstration by an autogyro at Washington D.C. capital lawn

Aviation career[]

Kellett became an aviation enthusiast after his Army service and he entered into the aircraft manufacturing business in 1919. He established an autogyro company under a license from Autogiro Company of America.[5] He made rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps.[6][7] Kellett was known internationally in the aviation field as a pioneer in the development of autogyros and helicopters.[8] Through his company Kellett constructed the first successful wingless aircraft in the United States.[9][10] He also built the first fleet of rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps.[10]

Kellett and his brother Rodney began their aviation business as dealers in 1923 operating out of the Pine Valley airport.[11] He was the president of the Aero Club of Pennsylvania 1923–25.[12] In 1929 he founded the Kellett Autogiro Corporation with his brother Rodney and Charles Townsend Ludington and his brother Nicholas.[13] They licensed and further developed the seminal designs of Harold Frederick Pitcairn and Juan de la Cierva for an autogyro.[14][15][16] In 1931, Kellett Autogiro licensed from the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company of America,[17] Cierva's and Pitcairn's patents for rotary-wing aircraft.[18][19][20] Kellett promoted his autogyro as being useful as that of an automobile.[21] Under the corporate umbrella, Kellett's company made some thirty-eight types of aircraft for military and civilian customers.[22]

Kellett started a campaign in Washington D.C. to get a government contract to carry mail for short distances after his KD-1B autogyro proved its airworthiness in 1935. A demonstration of mail delivery was made in the nation's capital in Washington D.C. in May 1935. It flew the potential route from the capital delivering a mailbag to the postmaster in Philadelphia. In early 1938 Kellett further lobbied at the capital and gave senators and representatives demonstration flights to entice them of the visibility of the airplane being able to carry mail on a regular basis and to get congressional approval for funding such a project. It was then decided to carry mail using an autogyro on an experimental basis and Congress passed laws accordingly.[23]

Kellett autogyro 1941 Newsreel video

The first autogyro used by the United States Post Office Department to carry mail was produced by Kellett.[24][25][26] It flew between the Camden Central Airport in New Jersey and the main post office at Philadelphia.[27] The roof was 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) and specially designed for autogyro landings. The Kellett vehicle flew same-day delivery of mail, where it took overnight before.[24] A demonstration of mail delivery was made in Chicago on an 8-mile (13 km) trip from an airport at the edge of the city to the main downtown post office on May 15, 1938.[28] In June 1938 a newspaper reporter went up in an autogiro demonstrated by Kellett in Washington, D.C. The reporter noted the precision maneuvering the airplane had. He pointed out that the aircraft could hover in the air like a helicopter and move sideways with exactness and accuracy. He wrote that with features like that it would be of interest to a wide variety of users like the government, foresters, farmers, coast guardsmen, city planners, and architects.[29] It was a potential military tool for an observation platform several hundred feet in the air as it could hover to a designated location and could avoid bullets and shells much easier than a dirigible blimp.[30] A group of giro airplanes were ordered from Kellett from the United States Army.[31] They cost $118,000 each in 1938 (equivalent to $2,169,000 in 2020).[32]

Later life and death[]

Main article: Kellett Autogiro Corporation

Kellett also served as president of Republic Aviation Corporation from 1939 and chairman of the board from 1943.[33][34][35] He resigned from Republic in 1945 and directed his attention to his Corporation. The Kellett Autogiro Corporation had changed its name in 1943 to Kellett Aircraft Corporation to reflect that they were also a manufacturer of helicopters. His company made several different prototype helicopters for the United States Army Air Corps, however never obtained permanent contracts from the government. Hughes Aircraft Company instead obtained many of these helicopter contracts. Kellett eventually went out of the aircraft business in 1949 and his company became a subcontractor of aircraft assemblies in 1950.[36] Kellett died at the age of 59 at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia on July 22, 1951, after an illness of several months.[37][38]

References[]

  1. ^ American Aeronautics 1922, p. 63.
  2. ^ "Plant President Dies". Fitchburg Sintenel. Fitchburg, Massachusetts. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  3. ^ "Class of 1913 Bids Old Nassau Farwell". New York Tribune. New York City. June 11, 1913 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  4. ^ Bob, Petite (1951). "William Wallace Kellett'13". Princeton Alumni Weekly. LII (2): 26. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  5. ^ Townson 1985, p. 88.
  6. ^ "Allies May Use Autogiro Planes to combat Mines". Reading Times. Reading, Pennsylvania. December 1, 1939 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  7. ^ Francis, Devon (April 10, 1938). "Sidewise Flying is Latest Stunt". The Zanesville Signal. Zanesville, Ohio – via Newspapers.com open access.
  8. ^ "Autogiro Pioneer Dies". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  9. ^ "W.W. Kellett, 60, Autogiro Pioneer, Founder and Head of Company that Built First Wingless Aircraft in U.S. Dies". New York Times. July 23, 1951. p. 17. Retrieved August 8, 2016. (subscription required)
  10. ^ a b "Helicopter Pioneer Dies in Philadelphia". The Eugene Guard. Eugene, Oregon. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access. Ten years later he established the Kellett company of Philadelphia and proceeded to build the country's first wingless aircraft and the first fleet of rotary-wing military aircraft for the army air corp.
  11. ^ Charnov 2003, p. 11.
  12. ^ "Past Presidents". Aero Club of Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  13. ^ Charnov 2003, p. 67.
  14. ^ Charnov 2003, pp. 59–69.
  15. ^ Crouch 2004, p. 465.
  16. ^ "Autogiro". Verti-flite. 50–51: 58. 2004. The Autogiro, as built by Juan de la Cierva and his American licensees, Harold Pitcairn and Wallace Kellett, served as the laboratory that spawned much of the technology required for the practical helicopter.
  17. ^ Charnov 2003, p. 91.
  18. ^ Smith 1981, p. 179,219.
  19. ^ Brooks 1988, p. 134.
  20. ^ Porter 2014, p. 102.
  21. ^ "Park Your Plane in my Garage / Invitation to Autogiro Owners". The Ottawa Journal. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. December 29, 1934 – via newspapers.com open access.
  22. ^ "Kellett Autogiro Corporation". Aircraft in Focus. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  23. ^ NASA 2005, p. 79.
  24. ^ a b Pope, Nancy (2016). "HISTORIC AIRPLANES: Autogiros and Helicopters". National Postal Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved August 9, 2016. In the U.S., W. Wallace Kellett, founder and president of the Kellett Aircraft Corporation (1929), built the first autogyro used by the U.S. Postal Service.
  25. ^ "Autogiro pioneer dies". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access. Kellett's firm built the first autogyro to be used for daily mail delivery, which started on July 5, 1939.
  26. ^ "Kellett KD-1B 1939". Aviastar. G.Townson "Autogiro. The Story of the Windmill Plane", 1985. 2016. Kellett was selected as the builder of the autogiro which was basically the same as the KD-1A except that a mail pit replaced the front cockpit. An enclosure covered the rear cockpit. All details of construction were the same as the KD-1A. A very high percentage of scheduled flights were completed. The pilot was Kellett's test pilot, John M. Miller. By act of Congress, all civil air regulations were waived and the operation left to Miller's discretion. The first scheduled flight was July 5, 1939 and the last flight, July 4, 1940. Three hundred pounds of mail could be carried per flight.
  27. ^ "W. Wallace Kellett / Autogiro Pioneer". The Herald-News. Passaic, New Jersey. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  28. ^ Wayne Thomis (May 15, 1938). "Giro to fly mail from airport to Loop Today". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois – via Newspapers.com open access.
  29. ^ Leonard H. Engel (June 24, 1938). "Wide Uses Predicted for 'Windmill' Plane that has no Wings". The Uintah Basin Standard. Duchesne, Utah – via Newspapers.com open access.
  30. ^ Devon Francis (April 10, 1938). "Crabwise Flying Possible with new plane developed for use in Army strategy". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia – via Newspapers.com open access.
  31. ^ Devon Francis (April 11, 1938). "Philadelphia man's autogiro flies up, down and sidewise". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia – via Newspapers.com open access.
  32. ^ "Giro Development Lags". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. May 15, 1938 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  33. ^ Smith-Daugherty 2012, p. 168.
  34. ^ "Republic Corp. Reports Better Results for '39 / Kellett, President, States Export Work is going ahead Satisfactorily". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. May 10, 1940 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  35. ^ "Kellett Aircraft Moving". Delaware County Daily Times. Chester, Pennsylvania. September 12, 1945 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  36. ^ Bob, Petite (August–September 2012). "Stirring up innovation: although possibly best known for the 'egg-beater' designs it created in the 1940s, the Kellett Aircraft Corp. actually had a much larger influence on and history in Aviation than many people probably realize". Vertical Magazine: 92+. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  37. ^ "Aviation Pioneer Claimed by Death". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Shamokin, Pennsylvania. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  38. ^ "W. Wallace Kellett / Autogiro Leader, Dies". The Tampa Times. Tampa, Florida. July 23, 1951 – via Newspapers.com open access.

Sources[]

  • American Aeronautics (1922). Who's who in American Aeronautics. Aviation Publishing Corporation.
  • Brooks, Peter W. (1988). Cierva Autogiros / The Development of Rotary-wing Flight. Smithsonian. ISBN 978-1-85310-040-6. Kellett had obtained an Autogiro license from the PitcairnCierva Autogiro Company of America and the company turned to a more conventional Autogiro development.
  • Crouch, Tom D. (2004). Wings / A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age. Smithsonian. ISBN 978-0-39332-620-8.
  • Charnov, Bruce H. (2003). Autogiro to Gyroplane. Praeger. ISBN 978-1-56720-503-9.
  • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (December 31, 2005). Realizing the Dream of Flight. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-083151-5.
  • Smith, Frank (1981). Legacy of Wings; The Harold F. Pitcairn Story. New York: Jason Aronson, Inc. ISBN 0876684851.
  • Porter, Donald J.a (2014). Howard's Whirlybirds / Howard Hughes' Amazing Pioneering Helicopter Exploits. Fonthill Media. ISBN 978-1-7815-5419-7. Founded by Wallace Kellett, the company had been licensed by the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company,a pioneering designer of autogyros.
  • Smith-Daugherty, Rhonda (March 27, 2012). Jacqueline Cochran. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6275-9.
  • Townson, George (1985). Autogiro: The Story of "the Windmill Plane". Aero Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8168-2900-2.

External links[]

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