The Standard Aircraft Corporation was an American

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

, founded in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

Standard Aircraft anticipated

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, despite an expressed policy of

isolationism Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangle ...

. The same year it was founded, Standard Aircraft became a very early supplier of aircraft to the U.S. Army Signal Corps (perhaps fifth or sixth ever). The corporation supplied the Sloane ''H'' as the

Standard H-2 The Standard H-2 was an early American Army reconnaissance aircraft, ordered in 1916. The H-2 was built by the Standard Aircraft Corporation, and previously known as the Sloane H-2. It was an open-cockpit three-place tractor biplane, powered b ...

and H-3 to the Army, and the

float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...

-equipped H-4H to the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

, after the Sloane company was reorganised as the Standard Aircraft Co. A more significant type was the '' Standard J series'' trainer, similar to the

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

, which began with the SJ prototype, followed by the production J-1 (or SJ-1), of which some 800 were built.Donald, p.854, "Standard aircraft". They were badly hampered by the choice of engine, and attempts to cure the problems with subsequent designs were not successful. Only handfuls of JRs and JR-1Bs were built; some were also purchased by the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. Standard's last type was the E-1. Intended as a fighter, 100 served as advanced trainers, about half with a provision for fitting machineguns, as the M-Defense. In 1918 the corporation had a large factory and airfield at Bayway, near the Elizabeth and Linden boundary. It was here that they assembled and tested 107

Handley Page Handley Page Limited was a British aerospace manufacturer. Founded by Frederick Handley Page (later Sir Frederick) in 1909, it was the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It went into voluntary liquidatio ...

O/400 bombers during 1918, mostly for shipment to Britain. They were powered by

Liberty L-12 The Liberty L-12 is an American water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine displacing and making designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It saw wide use in aero applications, and, once marinized, in marine use both ...

engines. A plan to fly them across the Atlantic was abandoned, and a further contract for 1,000 more O/400s was cancelled with the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Designer Charles Healy Day later teamed with barnstormer/showman Ivan Gates to design and build aircraft specifically for the civilian and military markets. They formed the Gates-Day Aircraft Company (later renamed the New Standard Aircraft Company) in 1927, and built a number of different aircraft—including the Gates-Day D-24 and the New Standard D-25.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David, ed. ''Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', p. 854, "Standard aircraft". Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997.

External links

A 1918 Standard Aircraft Corporation Standard E-1 advanced trainer at Virginia Aviation Museum

New Standard D-25
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Union County, New Jersey Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 Plainfield, New Jersey {{aero-company-stub