HISTORY
The Chance Vought years 1917–1928
The Lewis and Vought Corporation was
founded in 1917 and was soon
succeeded by the Chance Vought
Corporation in 1922 when Birdseye
Lewis retired. A former chief
engineer of the Wright Company,
Chance M. Vought founded the company
to take advantage of the growing
field of military and civilian
aviation after World War I.
Operations began in Astoria, New
York and in 1919 were moved to Long
Island City, New York.
Vought
died from septicemia in 1930, but in
that short time period succeeded in
producing a variety of fighters,
trainers, flying boats, and
surveillance aircraft for the United
States Navy and the United States
Army Air Service. Vought made
history in 1922 when their Vought
VE-7 trainer made the first takeoff
from the decks of the USS
Langley,
the first American aircraft carrier.
Following this success came the
VE-11 naval fighter and the Vought
O2U Corsair, the first of the
Corsair aircraft.
In 1928, the
company was acquired by United
Aircraft and Transport Corporation,
but stayed its own separate division
among the likes of Pratt & Whitney
and Boeing.
1930s–1960
Despite the Great Depression, Vought
continued to design and manufacture
aircraft at a growing pace. Soon
after Chance Vought's death in 1930,
the company moved its operations to
East Hartford, Connecticut. Under
the Air Mail Act of 1934, United
Aircraft and Transportation Corp.
was forced by law to divide its
businesses, resulting in Boeing
Aircraft, United Airlines, and the
United Aircraft Corp, of which
Vought was a part. In 1939 United
Aircraft moved Vought to Stratford,
Connecticut where their Sikorsky
division was located and renamed the
entire division Vought-Sikorsky
Aircraft.
Chief
Engineer Rex Beisel began in 1938 to
develop the XF4U, recognized by its
distinctly inverted gull wings.
After a maiden flight in 1940,
thousands of F4U Corsairs
were
produced for the Navy and Marines in
World War II. By the end of its
production in 1952, Vought,
Goodyear, and Brewster had all
produced the aircraft at one point
or another. Vought was reestablished
as a separate division in United
Aircraft in 1942.
In postwar
1949, Vought moved operations to
Dallas, Texas where the former North
American "B" plant was located.
Initiated by the Navy, who feared
having their two main aircraft
manufacturers located on the East
Coast posed an unnecessary risk,
Vought moved 27 million pounds of
equipment and 1300 employees in 14
months, a record breaking industrial
move at the time.
In 1954, the
company fully separated from United
Aircraft and became the independent
Chance Vought Aircraft Inc.
Vought began
manufacture of its
F-8 Crusader for
the US Navy in 1957, one of the
first Navy fighters capable of
supersonic flight and the Navy's
last all-gun fighter. The same basic
design was later heavily revised and
shortened to produce Vought's A-7
Corsair II, a carrier-borne close
air support and attack plane in
1965, an aircraft which would become
heavily engaged in a variety of
close support and strike missions
during the Vietnam War, beginning in
1967. The A-7 has also participated
in the US invasion of Grenada in
1983; a punitive raid on Syrian
missile sites, in 1983; reprisal
raids against Libya during Operation
El Dorado Canyon, in 1986; strikes
against Iranian coastal platforms
and naval forces during Operation
Praying Mantis, in 1988; support of
the 1989 invasion of Panama; and
throughout operations during Desert
Storm in 1991. The A-7A and A-7E
served with the US Navy while the
A-7D was purchased by the US Air
Force and Air National Guard.
Two-seat models known as the TA-7C/E
served with the US Navy while the US
Air Force purchased the TA-7K. The
A-7 still serves in limited numbers
with three foreign air forces,
including Greece (A-7H/TA-7H),
Portugal (A-7P/TA-7P) and Thailand
(ex-USN A-7E/TA-7E).
LTV acquisition 1960–1990
Vought was
bought by James Ling in 1962,
forming the new conglomerate
Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). Yet despite
the buyout, Vought Aeronautics and
Vought Missiles and Space continued
to develop and produce for the Air
Force and Navy under the umbrella of
LTV Aerospace. By the early 1980s,
LTV was struggling, and Vought
suffered heavy layoffs. The first of
two decades of reorganizations began
in 1972 with the creation of Vought
Systems by the merging of the Vought
Missiles and Space and Aeronautics
divisions.
All of LTV
Aerospace was renamed the Vought
Corporation in 1976, but by 1983 the
Vought company was again split along
aeronautic and missile lines under
LTV Aerospace and Defense.
1992 proved
the end of Vought's relationship
with LTV. In mid-year the aircraft
division was purchased by Northrop
and the Carlyle Group, each owning
roughly 50% of the company.
Additionally, the entire missile
division was sold to the Loral
Corporation, and is currently a part
of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire
Control.
1990s to today
Northrop
Grumman, the successor to Northrop
and Grumman, respectively, bought
out the Carlyle Group's share of
Vought for $130 million in 1994. The
Carlyle Group then purchased the
entire company from Northrop Grumman
in 2000, establishing Vought
Aircraft Industries, Inc., the
current incarnation. It is now
primarily an aerostructures
subcontractor. Vought is heavily
involved in the Boeing 747, Boeing
787 aircraft as well as supplying
parts for the F-22 Raptor and F-35
Lightning II and the V-22 Osprey. In
July 2003, the Aerostructures Corp.,
owned by the Carlyle Group and based
in Nashville, Tennessee, merged with
Vought. Vought's Nashville
site supplies wing components for
Airbus
A319,
A320, A330, and A340.
Boeing
announced in July 2009 that it had
agreed to acquire the North
Charleston, South Carolina facility
of Vought Aircraft Industries, where
Vought builds sections 47 and 48 of
the aft fuselage for Boeing's 787
Dreamliner. Boeing agreed to pay
$580 million for the facility.
In
June 2010, the Carlyle Group sold
Vought to the Triumph Group, an
aerospace component manufacturer.
The Vought acquisitions now operate
as Triumph Aerostructures - Vought
Aircraft Division.
Source:
Wikipedia
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