Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation was a famous United States aircraft manufacturer. It was named for its cofounder and chairman, Leroy Grumman . From World War II (1939-1945) to the 1990’s, the company produced many of the U.S. Navy’s most important warplanes.
In 1920, Leroy Grumman joined the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation in New York City . He worked as an engineer, manager, and test pilot. Loening was sold in late 1928. In late 1929, Grumman and two other Loening engineers formed the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. In 1930, the company began producing aluminum truck bodies and floats for seaplanes. Soon after, Grumman’s development of retractable landing gear earned the company its first U.S. Navy aircraft contract. The company also invented a folding wing that made it possible for planes to be closely stowed on aircraft carriers .
Early Grumman fighter planes were biplanes—_that is, planes with two wings on each side, one above the other. Those early designs led to the development of Grumman’s F4F Wildcat in 1940. The first _F stood for fighter; the second F served as a naval code for Grumman. A single-engine monoplane fighter, the Wildcat became the standard fighter for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps . Early in World War II, Wildcats battled Japanese warplanes—including the famous Mitsubishi Zero —in the Pacific.
In 1943, Grumman introduced a new fighter, the F6F Hellcat. The plane’s design was modified during development specifically to defeat Japan’s Zero. Hellcats enjoyed great success in combat, destroying 19 Japanese planes for each Hellcat lost. Another Grumman aircraft, the TBF Avenger, served as the Navy’s main torpedo bomber (TB).
During World War II, nearly 20,000 Wildcats and Hellcats were built, along with nearly 10,000 Avengers. Grumman became known as “the Ironworks” for the toughness and durability of its warplanes.
Grumman’s first jet-powered warplane, the F9F Panther, was the Navy’s main carrier fighter in the Korean War (1950-1953). The company’s early warning aircraft, the radar-carrying E-2 Hawkeye (E for electronics), entered Navy service in 1964. The Grumman A-6 Intruder, a ground attack (A) aircraft, began service during the Vietnam War (1957-1975).
Grumman built the lunar module that landed U.S. astronauts on the moon in 1969. In 1974, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat began a 30-year run as the Navy’s main carrier fighter. Grumman also built a number of other civilian and military aircraft.
In the 1980’s, the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) began serving the U.S. Postal Service . Letter carriers used the LLV, a light transport truck, for residential mail delivery. Grumman companies also built other types of truck bodies, as well as canoes, fire engines, sport boats, and transit buses. In 1994, Grumman merged with the Northrop Corporation to form the Northrop Grumman Corporation. Northrop Grumman continues to produce military aircraft, electronics, technical services, and other products.
See also Philippine Sea, Battle of the ; World War II (The war in Asia and the Pacific) .
