Edgar Nathaniel Gott (May 2, 1887 – July 17, 1947) was an early American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

industry executive. A co-founder and first president of The

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

Company, Gott was a senior executive of several aircraft companies, including

Fokker Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...

and

Consolidated Aircraft The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...

Early life

Gott was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in 1887 to Edward Alonzo Gott and Stephanie Ortman. He attended Detroit University School, a predecessor of

University Liggett School University Liggett School, also known as Liggett, is a private, independent, secular school in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, United States. The school teaches grades PreK3 through twelve on one campus, consolidating its two campuses to one i ...

Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan Grosse Pointe Woods is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 16,135 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a northeastern suburb of Metro Detroit and shares a small ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1909. At the University of Michigan, Gott conducted research into rapid-cooling electrically heated combustion tubes. After graduation, Gott worked for the Griffin Wheel Company at its Pullman and

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

plants, before becoming the agent of his cousin

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer. He founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which was renamed to Boeing a year later. The company is now the largest exporter in the United ...

's lumber business in 1915.The Story of the Boeing Company
p.16.

Aviation industry career

In 1917 he was named vice president of Pacific Aero Products Company of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, which became the Boeing Airplane Company a year later. While a manager at Boeing, Gott used his stature to argue against delivering money or other aid to Germans and Austrians after the end of World War I. In correspondence with a fellow Seattleite, Charles Osner, who was chairman of the Committee for the Relief of Destitute Women and Children in Germany and Austria, Gott argued that relief should first go to citizens of countries that had suffered at the hands of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

. Gott was president of Boeing between 1922 and 1925 at a critical juncture in the company's history, leading it out of difficult circumstances in the wake of World War I. Under Gott's leadership, the company obtained several business contracts with the military. Boeing soon became a major producer of military biplanes, including the

Boeing NB __NOTOC__ The Boeing NB (or Model 21) was a primary training aircraft developed for the United States Navy in 1923. It was a two-bay, equal-span biplane of conventional configuration with interchangeable wheeled and float undercarriage. The pilot ...

training aircraft and the

PW-9 The Boeing Model 15 is a United States single-seat open-cockpit biplane fighter aircraft of the 1920s, manufactured by the Boeing company. The Model 15 saw service with the United States Army Air Service (as the PW-9 series) and with the United ...

fighter, and established itself as an important designer and manufacturer of a broad range of military aircraft. Gott left Boeing in 1925 to become vice president of

Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, also known as Fokker-America and Atlantic-Fokker, was a US subsidiary of the Dutch Fokker company, responsible for sales and information about Fokker imports, and eventually constructing various Fokker designs."The ...

. The following year he became president of

Keystone Aircraft Keystone Aircraft Corporation was an early American airplane manufacturer. History Headquartered in Bristol, Pennsylvania, the company was formed as "Ogdensburg Aeroway Corp" in 1920 by Thomas Huff and Elliot Daland, but its name was quickly c ...

, based in

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City in Philadelphia opposite Burlington, New Jersey, on the Delaware River. Bristol was s ...

. At Keystone, Gott oversaw the merger of Keystone with

Loening Aeronautical Engineering Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation was founded 1917 by Grover Loening and produced early aircraft and amphibious aircraft. After it merged with Keystone Aircraft Corporation in 1928, some of its engineers left to form Grumman and Grover ...

. Keystone under Gott introduced several aircraft for civilian use, including the Petrel and the Puffer, used as a

cropduster Aerial application, or crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known a ...

.Trimble, William F.
High Frontier
p.135. At this time, Gott was a member of the Aeronautics Commission of the

Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and rela ...

, charged with developing regulations pertaining to safety and licensing of planes and airports. Gott later served as president of

Consolidated Aircraft Corporation The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the subsidiary was b ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, continuing his lengthy professional relationship with the military aviation industry. At Consolidated, Gott was responsible for the company's contract to design and build the

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

Liberator bomber. During World War II, Gott was chairman of the war transportation and war housing commissions in San Diego. He also testified before Congress on several issues relating to the war effort. He died in San Diego in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gott, Edgar 1887 births 1947 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Boeing people American aerospace businesspeople Businesspeople from Detroit Businesspeople from San Diego Businesspeople from Seattle University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni