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Bird - Royal Aircraft Corporation, Brunner Winkle Aircraft, Bird Aircraft, and Speed Bird Corporation
The origins of the Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation trace back to another Michael Gregor-related firm. Some sources claim that the Royal Aircraft Corporation had been formed by designer Michael Gregor (and other investors) at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, NY in 1916. [1] Not so, the founder was Charles A. Prohinsie. [2] Royal Aircraft was probably a subsidiary of Charles Prohinsie, Inc. of Garden City, Long Island. When Royal Aircraft Corporation was operating, Charles Prohinsie, Inc. was also New York distributor for WACO airplanes. In 1928, Prohinsie seems to have divested his aviation interests. New York Aircraft Distributors, Inc. superceded Charles Prohinsie, Inc. as WACO representative. Royal Aircraft Corporation was also sold off to new owners.
Aeronautical Engineer Michael Gregor was certainly involved with the Royal Aircraft Corporation. He designed the firm's sole built airframe - the 2-seat Royal Bird (or Royal Bird?) sesquiplane (c/n 100, US civil registration NC4997). Whether he worked on other designs at the time is unknown. Indeed, I haven't been able to find out much about the Royal Bird itself. However, this airplane has been described as a "pre-prototype for the Bird series". [3]
Alas, with a name like Royal Aircraft, this firm is hard to track. It is often mis-listed - eg: Wikipedia's "Royal Aircraft Factory, Garden City, NY" - or otherwise wrongly associated with the production of Farnborough. Suffice it to say that, in 1928, the Royal Aircraft Corporation was sold to other investors.
The bought-out firm was renamed for the new management. The names behind 1928's Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation were Joseph E. Brunner and William E. Winkle. The latter, who would be named President of the company, had been a US Army pilot during WWI. [3] Joseph Brunner was listed as Treasurer. Other company officials were Jacob J. Winkel (a mechanical engineer), Vice President; and August 'Harry' Brunner, secretary. [5] Not mentioned in early press releases was Michael Gregor as chief designer. Operations began in an empty match factory in Glendale, a Queens neighbourhood (which, weirdly has a Brooklyn post code).
By November 1928, Brunner Winkle had relocated to larger premises in Glendale. Newspaper reports of the time say that the firm had 33 employed with Michael Gregor identified as a "consulting engineer". [6] Finishing touches were being put on the prototype Brunner Winkle Model A (c/n 1000 X7878) which was being prepared for entry in the Guggenheim Safety Plane competition. In contrast with the Royal Bird, the Model A was a 3-seater - with a side-by-side forward cockpit in front of the pilot's seat. While photos of X7878 show a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 installed, the prototype is said to have first been fitted with a 80 hp Anzani radial (unless that is further confusion with the mysterious Royal Bird?).
Certified for flight in January 1929, the prototype Bird A proved too slow for the Guggenheim competition. Otherwise the Brunner Winkle sequiplane had excellent handling. Production began of Model A Bird, with components trucked the 12 miles from Glendale to Roosevelt Field. Final assembly and flight-testing took place there on Long Island. When supplies of 'jugged', war-surplus Curtiss OX-5 aero-engines dried up, Brunner Winkle launched its radial-engine Model B Bird. The series got a publicity boost when, in 1930, then-stunt flier Alexander de Seversky bought a Model BK for his demonstrations. Evelyn de Seversky's enthusiasm for her husband's aircraft would result in sales to other members of the Long Island Aviation Country Club. When William Winkle heard of this, he insisted upon paying Evelyn de Seversky a commission on all Brunner Winkle sales to club members. The connection with the de Severskys and the friendship which developed would also have implications for Michael Gregor's future career.
Another celebrity endosement came when Charles Lindbergh bought a Kinner-engined Bird. Sources differ as to whether NC980V was/is a Bird BK or CK model but this aircraft was used by Anne Morrow Lindbergh to learn to fly. This practice took place in May 1931 at the Long Island Aviation Country Club. (Whether or not the Lindbergh purchase earned Evelyn de Seversky her 10% commission goes unrecorded.) However, the Lindbergh connection would have a major effect on corporate organization. On 23 March 1929, the Bird Aircraft Corporation was registered in Delaware, a corporate tax haven. Obviously, the Brunner Winkle operation was being renamed after the firm's best-known product.
By the time the name change was made fully public in September 1930, it was clear that Brunner Winkle had been through a major shake-up. William Winkle was gone, replaced as President by Thomas George Lanphier Sr. who was responsible for re-organizing the firm. Major Lanphier was an active Army Air Corps pilot who had been one of Charles Lindbergh's flying instructors. [7] Obviously, the Lindberghs had been more impressed with the Bird than with the company which had built it. Taking the helm of a small aircraft maker just as the Great Depression was an ineviable position. By the end of Lanphier's first year as President, the Bird Aircraft Corporation was in receivership.
In 1932, the Perth Amboy Title Company of New Jersey took over the assets of the Bird Aircraft Corporation. Operating as Speed Bird Corporation, Perth Amboy continued assembling Bird components at a Key Port, NJ, facility. [8] The Speed Bird Model A (c/n 1000, NC15641) seems to have been the sole attempt to develop the airframe at Key Port. The Bird story comes to an end in 1933 when Perth Amboy closes the Speed Bird Corporation - either because available Bird components had been exhausted or there were simply more sales. Meanwhile, Michael Gregor had moved on to Seversky at Farmingdale ... but that is another story.
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[1] Aerofiles said Royal Aircraft Corporation was established in 1925 and Brunner Winkle in 1926. The latter is certainly incorrect - the Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation having been incorporated in New York in May 1928.
[2] I can find no corporate registration information online for either Charles Prohinsie, Inc. or the Royal Aircraft Corporation.
[3] 'Max Krueger's Bird Biplane Restoration' by Dick Hill, Bird Airplane Club, Vintage Aircraft, EAA, Vol 19, No 4, April 1991, page 27.
[4] William Edwin Winkle had served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force in France. After his career in aviation, Winkle stayed in Queens. He began a real estate business but died of a heart attack on 04 June 1946, at the relatively young age of 52.
[5] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, 13 Jan 1929, page 29.
[6] Daily News, New York, NY, 25 Nov 1928, page 104. Therein, Gregor is identified as "the first man ever to fly in Russia".
[7] Lanphier had also headed Transcontinental Air Transport in 1928 - another firm with Lindbergh connections. Although Lanphier and Lindbergh were both friends and business partners, its not clear whether Lindbergh was invested directly in Bird Aircraft. Lanphier would return to service during WW2. His son, USAAF Capt. TG Lanphier Sr., was at one time assigned the sole credit for shooting down the G4M transporting Admiral Yamamoto over Bougainville.
[8] Speed Bird was set up in the former Aeromarine Airplane and Motor Company facility in Key Port on Lower Bay. This location was 12 miles away from Perth Amboy, NJ.
The origins of the Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation trace back to another Michael Gregor-related firm. Some sources claim that the Royal Aircraft Corporation had been formed by designer Michael Gregor (and other investors) at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, NY in 1916. [1] Not so, the founder was Charles A. Prohinsie. [2] Royal Aircraft was probably a subsidiary of Charles Prohinsie, Inc. of Garden City, Long Island. When Royal Aircraft Corporation was operating, Charles Prohinsie, Inc. was also New York distributor for WACO airplanes. In 1928, Prohinsie seems to have divested his aviation interests. New York Aircraft Distributors, Inc. superceded Charles Prohinsie, Inc. as WACO representative. Royal Aircraft Corporation was also sold off to new owners.
Aeronautical Engineer Michael Gregor was certainly involved with the Royal Aircraft Corporation. He designed the firm's sole built airframe - the 2-seat Royal Bird (or Royal Bird?) sesquiplane (c/n 100, US civil registration NC4997). Whether he worked on other designs at the time is unknown. Indeed, I haven't been able to find out much about the Royal Bird itself. However, this airplane has been described as a "pre-prototype for the Bird series". [3]
Alas, with a name like Royal Aircraft, this firm is hard to track. It is often mis-listed - eg: Wikipedia's "Royal Aircraft Factory, Garden City, NY" - or otherwise wrongly associated with the production of Farnborough. Suffice it to say that, in 1928, the Royal Aircraft Corporation was sold to other investors.
The bought-out firm was renamed for the new management. The names behind 1928's Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation were Joseph E. Brunner and William E. Winkle. The latter, who would be named President of the company, had been a US Army pilot during WWI. [3] Joseph Brunner was listed as Treasurer. Other company officials were Jacob J. Winkel (a mechanical engineer), Vice President; and August 'Harry' Brunner, secretary. [5] Not mentioned in early press releases was Michael Gregor as chief designer. Operations began in an empty match factory in Glendale, a Queens neighbourhood (which, weirdly has a Brooklyn post code).
By November 1928, Brunner Winkle had relocated to larger premises in Glendale. Newspaper reports of the time say that the firm had 33 employed with Michael Gregor identified as a "consulting engineer". [6] Finishing touches were being put on the prototype Brunner Winkle Model A (c/n 1000 X7878) which was being prepared for entry in the Guggenheim Safety Plane competition. In contrast with the Royal Bird, the Model A was a 3-seater - with a side-by-side forward cockpit in front of the pilot's seat. While photos of X7878 show a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 installed, the prototype is said to have first been fitted with a 80 hp Anzani radial (unless that is further confusion with the mysterious Royal Bird?).
Certified for flight in January 1929, the prototype Bird A proved too slow for the Guggenheim competition. Otherwise the Brunner Winkle sequiplane had excellent handling. Production began of Model A Bird, with components trucked the 12 miles from Glendale to Roosevelt Field. Final assembly and flight-testing took place there on Long Island. When supplies of 'jugged', war-surplus Curtiss OX-5 aero-engines dried up, Brunner Winkle launched its radial-engine Model B Bird. The series got a publicity boost when, in 1930, then-stunt flier Alexander de Seversky bought a Model BK for his demonstrations. Evelyn de Seversky's enthusiasm for her husband's aircraft would result in sales to other members of the Long Island Aviation Country Club. When William Winkle heard of this, he insisted upon paying Evelyn de Seversky a commission on all Brunner Winkle sales to club members. The connection with the de Severskys and the friendship which developed would also have implications for Michael Gregor's future career.
Another celebrity endosement came when Charles Lindbergh bought a Kinner-engined Bird. Sources differ as to whether NC980V was/is a Bird BK or CK model but this aircraft was used by Anne Morrow Lindbergh to learn to fly. This practice took place in May 1931 at the Long Island Aviation Country Club. (Whether or not the Lindbergh purchase earned Evelyn de Seversky her 10% commission goes unrecorded.) However, the Lindbergh connection would have a major effect on corporate organization. On 23 March 1929, the Bird Aircraft Corporation was registered in Delaware, a corporate tax haven. Obviously, the Brunner Winkle operation was being renamed after the firm's best-known product.
By the time the name change was made fully public in September 1930, it was clear that Brunner Winkle had been through a major shake-up. William Winkle was gone, replaced as President by Thomas George Lanphier Sr. who was responsible for re-organizing the firm. Major Lanphier was an active Army Air Corps pilot who had been one of Charles Lindbergh's flying instructors. [7] Obviously, the Lindberghs had been more impressed with the Bird than with the company which had built it. Taking the helm of a small aircraft maker just as the Great Depression was an ineviable position. By the end of Lanphier's first year as President, the Bird Aircraft Corporation was in receivership.
In 1932, the Perth Amboy Title Company of New Jersey took over the assets of the Bird Aircraft Corporation. Operating as Speed Bird Corporation, Perth Amboy continued assembling Bird components at a Key Port, NJ, facility. [8] The Speed Bird Model A (c/n 1000, NC15641) seems to have been the sole attempt to develop the airframe at Key Port. The Bird story comes to an end in 1933 when Perth Amboy closes the Speed Bird Corporation - either because available Bird components had been exhausted or there were simply more sales. Meanwhile, Michael Gregor had moved on to Seversky at Farmingdale ... but that is another story.
___________________________________________________
[1] Aerofiles said Royal Aircraft Corporation was established in 1925 and Brunner Winkle in 1926. The latter is certainly incorrect - the Brunner Winkle Aircraft Corporation having been incorporated in New York in May 1928.
[2] I can find no corporate registration information online for either Charles Prohinsie, Inc. or the Royal Aircraft Corporation.
[3] 'Max Krueger's Bird Biplane Restoration' by Dick Hill, Bird Airplane Club, Vintage Aircraft, EAA, Vol 19, No 4, April 1991, page 27.
[4] William Edwin Winkle had served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force in France. After his career in aviation, Winkle stayed in Queens. He began a real estate business but died of a heart attack on 04 June 1946, at the relatively young age of 52.
[5] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY, 13 Jan 1929, page 29.
[6] Daily News, New York, NY, 25 Nov 1928, page 104. Therein, Gregor is identified as "the first man ever to fly in Russia".
[7] Lanphier had also headed Transcontinental Air Transport in 1928 - another firm with Lindbergh connections. Although Lanphier and Lindbergh were both friends and business partners, its not clear whether Lindbergh was invested directly in Bird Aircraft. Lanphier would return to service during WW2. His son, USAAF Capt. TG Lanphier Sr., was at one time assigned the sole credit for shooting down the G4M transporting Admiral Yamamoto over Bougainville.
[8] Speed Bird was set up in the former Aeromarine Airplane and Motor Company facility in Key Port on Lower Bay. This location was 12 miles away from Perth Amboy, NJ.
