The Columbia Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, which was active between 1927 and 1947.

History

Columbia Aircraft was founded in December 1927 by

Charles A. Levine Charles Albert Levine (March 17, 1897 – December 6, 1991) was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed ...

as chairman and the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca as president. The initial name used was Columbia Air Liners, Inc. The aircraft factory was established at

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

. Levine hired pilots

Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Span ...

, Eroll Boyd, John Wycliff Isemann, Burr Leyson, and Roger Q. Williams at $200 a week to perform a series of publicity record attempts for the company. The most ambitious project for the company was the "Uncle Sam". Main participant were John Carisi as motor expert, Edmond Chagniard, French designer and airplane constructor, and Alexander Kartveli as technical engineer from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The $250,000 prototype was brought to market at the height of the depression. It was sold at auction for $3,000 to pay back hangar rent. The "Uncle Sam" and two other Triads were destroyed shortly afterward in a

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

hangar fire where 20 other aircraft were spared. By 1941, the firm's title was Columbia Aircraft Corporation and the factory was located at Columbia Field near Valley Stream,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

.Swanborough, 1990, p. 221 Columbia XJL-1 Pima Tucson AZ 21

From 1941, Columbia worked closely with

Grumman Aircraft The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1 ...

, undertaking the development and production of that company's military amphibian aircraft designs including the J2F Duck and the Columbia JL. The chief test pilot for the amphibians was noted aviator Lieutenant

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

. After the completion of wartime contracts for the United States Navy, the firm's operations reduced in scale and Columbia was acquired by Commonwealth Aircraft in 1946. In 1956, the Green Acres Mall was built at the location of Columbia Field.

Aircraft

Columbia-built J2F-6 Duck USMC Valle AZ 22

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

{{Commons category
American Airplanes: Cl - Cr – Aerofiles
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1927