HISTORY
Consolidated's first design was one
of those purchased by Fleet from
Dayton-Wright, the TW-3 primary
trainer, sold to the U.S. Army and
designated the PT-1 Trusty. In
September 1924 the company moved
from the Gallaudet plant in
Connecticut to new facilities in
Buffalo, New York, and within a year
won a contract from the U.S. Navy
for a naval version of the PT-1
designated the NY-1.
In
September 1935 Consolidated moved
across the country to its new
"Building 1", a 247,000-square-foot
(22,900 m2) continuous
flow factory in San Diego,
California. The first production PBY
Catalina was launched in San Diego
Bay in 1936,
and the first XPB2Y-1 Coronado test
aircraft made its first flight in
1937. The XB-24 Liberator
prototype made its first flight in
December 1939, and the first
production order was from the French
in 1940 just days before their
surrender to Germany, six of these
YB-24 Liberators were designated
LB-30A and ferried to Britain.
In
November 1941 Fleet sold his 34.26%
interest in Consolidated for $10.9
million to Victor Emanuel the
president of AVCO with the idea that
Consolidated would be merged with
AVCO's Vultee subsidiary.
In 1943,
Consolidated merged with Vultee
Aircraft to form Consolidated-Vultee
Aircraft or
Convair. General
Dynamics purchased a majority
interest in Convair in March 1953,
where it continued to produce
aircraft or aircraft components
until being sold to McDonnell
Douglas in 1994. McDonnell Douglas
shut down the division after just
two years of operations in 1996.
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