McCauley Propeller Systems is an American

aircraft propeller In aeronautics, an aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew,Beaumont, R.A.; ''Aeronautical Engineering'', Odhams, 1942, Chapter 13, "Airscrews". converts rotary motion from an Aircraft engine, engine or other power source into a swirling slips ...

manufacturer, founded in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

in 1938 by Ernest G. McCauley.Artifact note
"McCauley Industrial Corp. Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, metal,"
NASM inventory number A19580112000, ''

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

'' (NASM), retrieved March 31, 2021 At its peak, it was reportedly the world's largest aircraft propeller manufacturer,Sator, Darwin
"7 Key officials to retire early at McCauley,"
December 10, 1982, ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved March 31, 2021 or at least the largest manufacturer of

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

propellers."Dussault, Deinzer: McCauley Names 2 to Top Posts,"
March 21, 1967, ''

'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved March 31, 2021"Cessna Names Dussault Manager of McCauley,"
March 22, 1967, '' Dayton Journal Herald'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved March 31, 2021 For most of its existence, McCauley was headquartered in or near Dayton."Save McCauley group looks at Kansas pluses,"
April 21, 1976, ''

'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved March 31, 2021 In the 21st century, its headquarters were moved to then-parent-company

Textron Aviation Textron Aviation Inc. is the general aviation business unit of the conglomerate Textron that was formed in March 2014 following the acquisition of Beech Holdings which included the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft businesses. The new business uni ...

's headquarters in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 84. BAI Communications. "Company" page
McCauley corporate website,

website, retrieved March 31, 2021 Originally called the McCauley Aviation Corporation, it was promptly renamed the McCauley Steel Propeller Company when incorporated in 1939. Subsequently, it was renamed the McCauley Industrial Corporation, and, later the McCauley Industrial Division (or the McCauley Industrial Accessory Division) of

Cessna Aircraft Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturin ...

, who acquired McCauley in 1960. In 1992, Cessna was acquired by

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Kautex, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft and Cessna b ...

Corporation, which subsequently absorbed Cessna into

. In September 1996, McCauley was renamed "McCauley Propeller Systems."

History

The company began in 1928 in a small shop on Howell Street, in West Dayton, Ohio, with about 18 workers. During the 1930s and 1940s, McCauley produced wooden propellers. The company is noted for having invented the ground-adjustable, solid-steel propeller in 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, McCauley manufactured 20,000 ground-adjustable solid-steel propellers. In 1946, the company invented the forged aluminum propeller. In 1947, McCauley developed the first all-metal propeller for light aircraft (such as single-engine Cessnas and

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

s) — a fixed-pitch prop using the trade name "MET-L-PROP." By 1967, in addition to propellers, the company was also producing propeller spinners and

propeller governor A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s. It was operating in a Dayton factory, employing 230 workers, with an annual sales volume of about US$5 million. Between 1976 and 1978, Cessna planned replacing the McCauley factory with one twice the size. Initial hopes were to move the factory from West Dayton (citing thefts and staff harassment), to the Dayton International Airport — or, alternatively, to the

area (Cessna's home and prior hometown of McCauley chief Dussault). Dayton city leaders, trying to retain this key employer, struggled to overcome two

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

advantages: its

anti-union Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or weaken the power of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range anywhe ...

right-to-work law In the context of labor law in the United States, the term right-to-work laws refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions. Such agreements can be incorporated into union contracts to requir ...

s", and its legal options for local governments to grant tax breaks to employers. However, McCauley ultimately settled into a new site at Dayton International Airport."Propeller,"
April 19, 1992, ''

'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved March 31, 2021"McCauley Propeller Takes Off,"
''

'' of

, archived at Newspapers.com, retrieved April 2, 2021 By 1982, in addition to propellers, spinners and governors, the company was also producing wheels, brakes, and other accessories for aircraft. In 1986, owing to product-liability lawsuits, Cessna, McCauley's parent company and principal customer, stopped producing propeller-driven aircraft (except for the

Cessna Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

) and McCauley's sales fell."Quality-control issues usher in new managers,"
January 12, 2000, ''

'', retrieved April 1, 2021 In February, 1992, McCauley parent company, Cessna Aircraft, was sold by its parent company,

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

, to Textron, Inc.

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

Company News; Textron to sell a division of its Cessna unit,"
August 27, 1993, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

,'' retrieved April 2, 2021 In August, 1993, Textron, Cessna's new parent company, announced plans to sell the McCauley Accessory division. However, ultimately, the company remained within the Cessna/Textron family. In 1996, after Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the

General Aviation Revitalization Act The General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, also known by its initials GARA, is Public Law 103-298, an Act of Congress on Senate Bill S. 1458 (103rd Congress), amending the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. It was intended to counteract the effe ...

, which limited aircraft manufacturers' product liability, Cessna resumed production of propeller-driven aircraft, using McCauley propellers, boosting McCauley sales. In December 1999, Cessna halted production of the

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.

Key personnel

Founder Ernest G. McCauley, "a foremost pioneer in the aircraft propeller industry," according to the

, held numerous patents on controllable propellers, and was rewarded for the outstanding service which he provided to the United States government from 1918 to 1950. However, by the mid-1940s, a large board of directors, recruited by McCauley, voted him out of power.Williams, Geoff
Chapter 3: "A New Hospital,"
in ''Patients and Patience: Celebrating the History of Grandview Hospital,'' 2006, The Grandview Foundation, Orange Frazer Press,

Wilmington, Ohio Wilmington is a city in Clinton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 12,664 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Micropolitan statistical area, Wilmington micropolitan area ...

, ISBN 1-933197-01-3, retrieved April 2, 2021 McCauley died in 1969. In 1954, shop superintendent Vernon W. Deinzer was promoted to vice president for manufacturing, and three years later became vice president and general manager. When Cessna acquired McCauley in 1960, Deinzer remained as general manager of Cessna's "McCauley Industrial division." In March, 1967, Cessna re-assigned Deinzer, to vice president and general manager of Cessna's Aircraft Radio division at

Boonton, New Jersey Boonton () is a town in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline o ...

, replacing him at McCauley with engineer and executive trainee John C. Dussault, (previously the technical services manager for commercial aircraft engineering at Cessna's

headquarters). In December, 1982, during the

early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1982. Long-term effects of the early 1980s recession contributed to the Latin American debt crisis, long-lastin ...

, Dussault was among seven top McCauley division officials who accepted an early retirement offer from Cessna. He was replaced by McCauley chief engineer Walter Voisard, a mechanical engineer and licensed pilot, who, prior to Cessna's 1960 acquisition of McCauley, had been vice president and chief engineer of McCauley Industrial Corp. for nine years. In January 2000, McCauley vice president and general manager, James W. Simiister, was replaced, along with McCauley's quality manager, when defects were discovered in McCauley propellers received at the Cessna aircraft factory. Cessna's director of operations administration, Keith Kerschen, took control of McCauley, pending a permanent replacement.

References

External links

* {{Textron 1938 establishments in Ohio Aerospace companies of the United States Aircraft propeller manufacturers Companies based in Wichita, Kansas Manufacturing companies established in 1938 American companies established in 1938 Companies based in Dayton, Ohio

History

Key personnel

See also

References

External links