Harlow Aircraft Designations

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I started compiling what I thought would be a simple list of designs by Max Harlow ... instead, things got unexpectedly complicated. But first the designation-related stuff, then the blather ...

Background on Max B. Harlow

Max B. Harlow joined Pasadena Junior College's Aerotech program as an instructor in 1935. [1] He convinced the College board that students in the program would benefit most from designing and building fully-modern aircraft of all-metal construction. In 1938, Harlow formed his own company, which became Harlow Aircraft Company in 1939. [2] The listed designations all relate - more or less directly - to the College or to the Harlow Aircraft Company.

Harlow Aircraft Designation Style

The first four Harlow Aircraft designs received sequential PJC-x designations. Obviously, that 'PJC' stood for those designs' place of origin - the Pasadena Junior College.

The fifth and sixth designs received PC-x designations. The change in style may have been the result of the junior college having become Pasedena City College in 1938. [3] If so, 'PC' would have stood for Pasadena City. But the known PC-x series were all military trainers. Perhaps, for business reasons, the management of Harlow Aircraft thought it better to distance their firm from the college?

When the unfinished PJC-4 trainer airframe was finally completed by students in 1945, it received the designation PCC-10. If the 'PC-x' series was intended to distance Harlow Aircraft from the school, the PCC-10 designation may have been chosen to re-establish the Pasadena City College connection. Or, perhaps, the designation change was simply meant to distance the students' work from Harlow's commercial enterprise.

'Missing' Designations

If the PCC-10 designation continues the sequence begun with the PJC-1, then there are three designation numbers missing between the PC-6 and the PCC-10. Assuming that the 'missing' designs 7-through-9 did exist, the question becomes: Did they represent now-forgotten student projects or were these designations which were to be applied to Max Harlow's 'outside interests'?

In 1940, Harlow Aircraft had bought a one-third share of Porterfield Aircraft Corp. Was that a simple investment opportunity? Porterfield had just built a new plant in Kansas City, MO, and the firm looked likely to gain wartime military orders - for aircraft or as a parts supplier. Neither ever happened.

Perhaps Max Harlow hoped to develop a USAAF 'Grasshopper'-style liaison version of Porterfield's 65-series Collegiate design. After all, such orders were given for similar aircraft from Aeronca, Interstate, Piper, Stinson, and Taylorcraft. [4] At the time, it must have seemed reasonable that USAAF orders might be given to Porterfield. The question is: Did Max Harlow intend to build such aircraft under his own name? Might a 'missing' PC-x designation have been reserved for a militarized Collegiate?

Backing up this otherwise unsubstantiated 'Grasshopper' speculation, is Max Harlow's later purchase of the rights to the Interstate S-1B1 design. But wait! There's even more unsubstantiated speculation ... ;)

In 1941, Harlow Aircraft was taken over by Intercontinent Corporation which later, in turn, sold Harlow to Vultee Aircraft. There is online speculation that the Vultee purchase was the reason behind the PC-6 not proceeding (never mind that it shed its under-engineered wings in flight!). Did Vultee also nix the 'missing' Harlow designs? Or were those designs applied to components made by Harlow for other firms - such as tailplanes for Lockheed-Vega, Waco CG-4A fuselage frames for O.W. Timm Aircraft Corp., etc.

Or did Pasadena City College students pick the designation PCC-10 at random in 1945 and all this business of 'missing' Harlow designation is just me chasing unicorns?

A sequential listing of Harlow aircraft designations will follow.

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[1] Harlow took part in a number of private aviation ventures in the 1940s but he remained an instructor at Pasadena until his death in 1967.

[2] The original company was called the (Max) Harlow Engineering Corporation. In mid-1938, the more accurately-named Harlow Aircraft Corp. was formed and acquired the assets of (Max) Harlow Engineering Corp. In 1939, the corporate name was changed again to Harlow Aircraft Company.

[3] Wikipedia erroneously lists PJC as becoming Pasadena City College after a 1954 merger with John Muir College (sic). Actually, the John Muir Technical High School merged with Pasadena Junior College in 1938.

[4] These were the Taylorcraft Model D (O-57/L-2); Aeronca 65 (O-58/L-3); Piper J-3 Cub (O-59/L-4); Stinson 105 (O-62/L-5 Sentinel); Interstate S-1B/'B1 (O-63/L-6A); Monocoupe 90AF (Universal L-7); and Interstate S-1A (L-8A Cadet) ... along with a range of similar impressments.
 
Sequential Max Harlow Aircraft Designations

Harlow PJC-1 - 1937 low-wing 1 + 3 cabin monoplane, x 1
- PJC-1: 1 x 145 hp Warner SS-50 radial, span 10.87 m
- PJC-1: As X18136, flew 14 Sept 1937, small tail/rudder
-- http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/law1/pjc/pjc-3.jpg
- PJC-1: As NC18978, revised with enlarged tail & rudder
-- http://www.stinsonflyer.com/prop/harlow-01.jpg

Harlow PJC-2 - 1938 low-wing cabin monoplane, x 11 [1]
- PJC-2: Prod. vers., aileron travel limited for spin
- PJC-2: 1 x Warner Super Scarab,* span 10.87 m
-- * 145 hp SS-50, 165 hp SS-165, or 185 hp SS-185
- UC-80: USAAF desig. for 4 x impressed PJC-2s
-- USAAF 42-97054, PJC-2 c/n 1, ex-NC18978
-- USAAF 42-68692, PJC-2 c/n 5, ex-NC19981
-- USAAF 42-53513, PJC-2 c/n 10 ex-NC19996
-- USAAF 42-97040, PJC-2 c/n 11 ex-NC19997

Harlow PJC-3 - (no details) [2]

Harlow PJC-4 - (Project) 1940 2-seat tandem military trainer
- PJC-4 : Harlow PJC-2 deriv. trainer, 1 x Lycoming HO6
- PJC-4 : Incomplete in Dec 1941, abandoned due to metal constr.
-- Students compl'd Oct 1945 as Pasadena City College Model 10
- PCC-10: 1 x 220 hp Lycoming, later produced as Atlas H-10 (qv)
-- https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Visschedijk/Additions/995L-1.jpg

Harlow PC-5 - 1939 primary/advanced USAAC trainer, x 4 (?)
- PC-5 : Harlow PJC-2 deriv. trainer, 1 x Warner radial
- PC-5 : 165 hp Warner SS 165-D Super Scarab, span 10.92 m
-- Prototype PC-5 - c/n 501, NX21737, assembled late 1939
-- Production PC-5s - c/n 502 and c/n 503, NX19978/NX19979
-- Production PC-5A - c/n 504, NX19980, see below for India
-- All four PC-5s to Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA)
-- All four PC-5s dereg. 1941/1942, then exported to India
-- 5 x RAF serials assigned to Harlow 'PJC-5', DR423-DR427
-- PC-5A: 50 x ordered for Indian AF (or flying schools?)
-- Hindustan Aviation Limited (HAL) assembled 4 x 'PC-5A'
-- PC-5A (c/n 4?) Indian AF DR424 later became VT-ATN
-- http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/law1/pjc/pjc-2.jpg
-- http://www.russellw.com/planes/harlow/Harlow PJC-5 right profile.jpg

Harlow PC-6 - 1941 reduced-cost PC-5 trainer variant, x 1
- PC-6 : PC-5 redesign by Intercontinent engineering team*
- PC-6 : (no details) specifications likely as per PC-5
-- * Often incorrectly listed as 'Intercontinental' (sic)
-- Wing failure caused fatal accident on early test flight
-- Speculation that new owner, Vultee, ended PC-6 project

Harlow Px-7 - (??) no details

Harlow Px-8 - (??) no details

Harlow PC-9 - (Project) 1943 jet-propelled helicopter
-- see reply #7

Harlow PCC-10 - 1945 prototype based on PJC-4 airframe
- PCC-10: Completed by students at Pasadena City College
- PCC-10: 1 x 220 hp Lycoming O-435 HO6, span 10.90 m
-- PCC-10 later productionized as the Atlas H-10 (qv)

Atlas H-10 - 1946 single-engined 1+3 cabin monoplane, x 1 [4]
- H-10: PCC-10 airframe revised into 1+3 cabin monoplane
- H-10: Various engine types/config's tested,* span 10.90 m
- H-10: Prototype c/n 1, N37463, converted from PCC-10
- H-10: (Project) Production version, none completed
-- * Originally 1 x 220 hp Lycoming O-435 as per PCC-10
-- * Re-engined with 2 x 140 hp Continental GO-300 HO6s **
-- ** Flat-6 engines mounted one on top of the other
-- ** Driving contra-props through a common gearbox
- H-10 Mono-Twin: Branding name for re-eng Atlas H-10
-- * Re-engined with 1 x 215 hp Franklin 6AB HO6
-- * Re-engined with 1 x 400 hp Lycoming IO-720 HO8***
-- *** Init. driving 2-bladed c/s prop, later 3-bladed
-- https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Visschedijk/Additions/995L-2.jpg
-- http://1000aircraftphotos.com/LowWingMono/995.htm
-- http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac3/Classics/Atlas H-10 Robert Henry.jpg

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Out of Sequence Harlow Designation

Harlow S-1 - 1945 2-seat tandem high-winged monoplane light a/c*
- S-1: Harlow version of 1942 Interstate L-6 Grasshopper
-- Desig. from orig. Interstate desig. S-1B1, aka Cadet
- S-1: 1 x 113 hp Franklin 4ACG-199-H3 HO4 engine, span 35'6"
-- * Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corp sold rights in 1945
-- * Max Harlow sold rights to Ruell Call (Call-Air) in July 1950

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[1] Some sources say that only ten of the eleven Harlow PJC-2s built were ever fitted with powerplants. That 'engineless' PJC-2 may have been c/n 9. The construction numbers/registrations for the eleven Harlow PJC-2s were/are:
- c/n 1, NC18978, USAAF 42-97054, N18978
- c/n 2, NC31, wartime CAA use, N31PJ
- c/n 3, NC54, wartime CAA use, N54KC
- c/n 4, NC102, wartime CAA use, N102E, w/o 1951
- c/n 5, NC19981, USAAF 42-68692, CAA 13 Nov 1943, N19981
- c/n 6, NC15, wartime CAA use, N3947B
- c/n 7, NC67 (1940-41), wartime CAA use, N65296.
- c/n 8, NC82, wartime CAA use, w/o in Vermont in 1943
- c/n 9, NC19983, N1998J
- c/n 10, NC19996, USAAF 42-53513, N46430
- c/n 11, NC19997, USAAF 42-97040, N49836

[2] In his autobiography JPL: Behind The Scenes: My Forty-two Years In Space Engineering, Eugene Noller mentions that, as a boy in the '30s, he would go to Pasadena City College "after school to watch the men at the Harlow hanger assemble the PJC-3". That 'PJC-3' could be a typo, a designation mis-remembered from memory, or perhaps a reference to the third production PJC-2.

[3] Harlow PC-5/PC-5As were:
- PC-5 : c/n 501, N21737, deregistered 31 March 1942, FAA reason "Export To INDIA".
-- c/n 501 appeared in films 'Flying Cadets' (1941) and 'Flight Lieutenant' (1942).
- PC-5 : c/n 502, N19978, owned by Intercontinent Corp, dereg. 21 Sept 1941, FAA reason "Export To INDIA".
- PC-5 : c/n 503, N19979, owned by Intercontinent Corp, dereg. 21 Sept 1941, FAA reason "Export To INDIA".
- PC-5A: c/n 504, N19980, owned by Intercontinent Corp, dereg. 05 Aug 1942, FAA reason "Export To INDIA".

[4] The original scheme was for Atlas to build production H-10s at "regional plants" - located at Los Angeles, Seattle, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York.
 
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Confusion Surrounding Max Harlow Aircraft Designs

The deeper background history for Max B. Harlow and his company I'll get into later. Here, I want to discuss some of the confusions and misinformation surrounding Harlow Aircraft - especially online.

PJC-1: Perhaps because it originated as a 'student project', the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) insisted upon overly stringent spinning trials for the PJC-1 prototype, X18136. Carrying a load of 400 lbs of lead shot, the PJC-1 entered a flat spin and the pilot was forced to abandon the aircraft. Reports vary as to the outcome of the resulting crash.

The most probable outcome of that flat spin was the complete destruction of the PJC-1 prototype. However, some sources claim that the prototype was only lightly damaged. In this version of the story, the damaged airframe was then rebuilt with an enlarged tailplane, effectively becoming the first PJC-2. And photos do exist of Harlow NC18978 with that larger tail clearly marked 'PJC-1'.

-- http://www.1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions//Shumaker/11525L.jpg

But most sources say that NC18978 was a Harlow PJC-2. This makes sense if the registration number were simply transferred from the destroyed PJC-1 to a newly-completed PJC-2. But it still doesn't explain why the aircraft with the enlarged tailplane was still marked'PJC-1'. Which story is true? I cannot say for certain, but I have listed both X18136 and NC18978 registrations under PJC-1. So, caveat emptor!

PJC-2: Some sources (print and online) suggest that the UC-80 was a military design 'similar' to the PJC-2. The reality is simpler - four civilian-registered PJC-2s were impressed in 1942-43 by the US Army Air Force. These four impressed aircraft were then assigned the USAAF designation UC-80 and given USAAF serials.

PJC-3: Did such a designation ever exist? Who can say? It seems probable that 'PJC-3' may have been another student project overtaken by the PJC-4 and PC-5 military trainers as war clouds darkened.

PJC-4: Some sources claim that the PJC-4 was eventually built. That is true ... but not under its original designation. In 1945 Pasadena City College students completed the revised airframe as the PCC-10. The PCC-10 was later rebranded as the Atlas H-10 (Atlas Aircraft Company being another luckless Max B. Harlow enterprise) but no actual built-from-scratch Atlas H-10 airframe was ever completed either.

As the Atlas H-10, the PCC-10 prototype went through a bewildering series of engine changes. Perhaps that contributed to the muddling of the PCC-10 story and the assumption that the PJC-4 was completed as such?

PC-5/PC-5A: Plenty of confused information out there about the Harlow PC-5s! Three PC-5s and one improved PC-5A were built 'on spec' but no US Army Air Corps order ever materialized. Instead, those four aircraft were taken on by the CAA. At least three of these aircraft ended up owned by Intercontinent Corporation and all four, with US registrations cancelled, would be exported to India by Intercontinent in 1941-1942.

See (left background): https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/attachments/v-12-jpg.680811/

The usual story is that 50 x PC-5A models (sometimes listed as 'PJC-5's) were ordered for the Indian Air Force or perhaps Indian flying schools. Not so. The 'Indian' Harlows were to be assembled by Hindustan Aircraft, Ltd (HAL) in Bangalore for China. This was part of a larger order [1] arranged by W.D. Pawley, the head of Intercontinent and of its part-subsidiary, the Chinese aircraft assembly plant - CAMCO. [2] But Bill Pawly was also a Harlow Aircraft Company director.

When Burma was attacked by the Japanese, the CAMCO plant near Rangoon had to be abandoned. Bill Pawly was invited to get the newly-established Hindustan Aircraft up and running at Bangalore. [3] HAL's first aircraft was a PC-5A assembled from parts shipped from the US and "first flown" on 29 July 1941. Or was it?

Photos show an 'Indian' PC-5A in British markings with the RAF serial DR424. Most interestingly, some sources list DR424 as "c/n 4". The RAF assigned serials assigned DR423-DR427 to the Harlow trainers. That suggests that DR424 should have been 'c/n 2'. Which brings us to actual Harlow construction numbers ...

The PC-5A built by Harlow was c/n 504. To me, that strongly suggests that 'c/n 4' and c/n 504 are one and the same - the sole PC-5A. In other words, Hindustan Aircraft's four known 'PC-5As' - DR423-DR426 - were in fact the four exported Harlow PC-5s and PC-5A re-assembled in India. There is no sign that serial DR427 was ever applied and, in all likelihood, no Harlows but those original four airframes were ever assembled in India.

PC-6: There are scant references to this 'economy model' development of the PC-5/PC-5A. Most state that the PC-6 was a redesign by an "engineering team" from Intercontinent - usually mis-listed as 'Intercontinental' (sic). That is something of a puzzle. Intercontinent Corporation was essentially an aircraft export firm focused exclusively on the Chinese government market. Why would Intercontinent employ an "engineering team" more capable of a redesign than Max B. Harlow himself?

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[1] This order included 30 - not 50 - Harlow PC-5A trainers, Curtiss 75A-5P fighters, and 74 Vultee V-12D attack aircraft. Sources vary but it seem likely that HAL only assembled four Harlows, one Curtiss H75A-5 'Mohawk', and perhaps three Vultee V-12Ds. Why this larger order fizzled is unclear. Mostly likely, Chiang Kai-shek et al began to loose interest after the April 1941 extension of US Lend-Lease policies to the Republic of China. Hindustan Aircraft may have been anticipating approved Lend-Lease supplier status being extended to India (as it had been for Canada). If so, that never happened.

[2] Pawley had been the Curtiss rep in China as well as President of Intercontinent - originally a Curtiss-Wright subsidiary. In partnership with the Chinese government, Bill Pawley helped set up CAMCO. CAMCO was forced to relocate several times in the face of Japanese advances. The final plant was near Rangoon in Burma but CAMCO did not 'become' Hindustan Aircraft as is oft repeated. More on that in another post.

[3] Back in 1939, Pawley had made a personal connection with Hindustan's founder, Walchand Hirachand, convincing him to pursue aircraft production in India. Hindustan Aircraft formed in late December 1941. By that point, Japanese troops were already advancing into Burma and Pawley's CAMCO plant near Rangoon became untenable. Tooling and components enroute to Rangoon was simply redirected to Bangalore when Pawley was invited to get HAL up and running.
 
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(Not sure this part belongs in Designation Systems but. here goes anyway ...)

Max B. Harlow - Background and Connections

Once you start digging into Max B. Harlow and the Harlow Aircraft Company, an improbable series of connections begin to reveal themselves. I'll get into that but, first, a rough listing of Max Harlow's earlier aircraft designs and experience.

Max B. Harlow Aircraft Designs and Aviation Personality Connections

Max Harlow's designs have primarily been cabin monoplanes and mainly low-winged aircraft. An early Harlow design was an exception - the high-winged 1928 Thaden T-1 Argonaut (designed with Herbert von Thaden). When Thaden took over his own design work, Harlow moved on. In 1932, Harlow helped draft the tailless Waterman Whatsit experimental aircraft for his friend, Waldo Waterman. Then Harlow was hired as chief engineer by WB 'Bert' Kinner of Kinner Airplane & Motor Corp.

Bert Kinner had got into aviation when, as a boy, he repaired a Curtiss pusher which was force to put down on his family farm. That biplane was owned by pioneer pilot Otto Timm who would go on to form the O.W. Timm Aircraft Company. The Kinner Airplane & Motor Corp. was a subsidiary of Security National Aircraft Corp., formed by Bert Kinner and his son Win in 1930.

Harlow's designs for Kinner were all low-winged cabin planes - the 1932 Sportster, the 1933 Playboy sports plane, and the 1934 C-7 Envoy cabin monoplane (which Max designed with Harold Webb). But Bert Kinner didn't get along with the board of Security National Aircraft Corp. and would turn his attention to aero-engine design instead.

Later on, Bert Kinner transferred all rights to products using his name to the O.W. Timm Aircraft Company ... which comes up again later. Harlow's Kinner Sportwing was built (powered by the Kinner R-5) as the Timm 160 Trainer (an erstwhile rival to the winning Ryan PT-22 Recruit).

It's not clear if Harlow was involved with the Security National Aircraft Corp's folding-wing Airster design. But another connection pops up - Security National was based at Downey, CA. Across the field was Vultee Aircraft which had just moved there from its original location at Glendale, CA. And there is one of those slightly odd Harlow connections. Harlow worked for Kinner; Kinner's Security National Aircraft was a neighbour of Vultee; Vultee Aircraft, as we will see, ends up owning Harlow Aircraft Company.

After his work with Kinner was done, Max Harlow went to work for Douglas as a stress engineer on the DC-2 wing. This was Harlow's first real exposure to modern, stressed-skin, aluminum aircraft construction. Many sources claim that Harlow had also worked with Howard Hughes on the Hughes H-1 racer at Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale. In light of Harlow's new experience with aluminum construction at Douglas, being contracted to work on the H-1 makes perfect sense.

Harlow Aircraft Company Aviation Personality Connections

The Hughes connection continued after the H-1 was completed. It was reputedly Howard Hughes who backed Max Harlow's commercial venture financially. The Harlow Aircraft Corporation was reorganized under the auspices of a former Howard Hughes aid, J.B. Alexander, who became the first President of the renamed Harlow Aircraft Company. Most histories of Harlow Aircraft depict J.B. Alexander is a faceless functionary sitting in the corner office. In fact, Jesse Alexander represents just one of a series of those aviation industry personality connections running through the Harlow story. [1]

In January 1941, Alexander was replaced as President of the Harlow Aircraft Company by E.M. Allison. Like J.B. Alexander, once lumped in with the VP, Treasurer, etc, E.M. Allison comes off as just another 'suit'. Not so. 'Allie' Allison had won fleeting fame for completing the final Cleveland-New York leg of a 1921 trancontinental flight in a US Mail Service DH-4. [2] Previously, Captain Allison was a military pilot who, in 1919, had taught a young Claire Chennault to fly. Allison took over the reigns of Harlow Aircraft Company when control of that firm passed to Intercontinent Corporation of New York City. [3]

'Allie' Allison had been the head the China National Aviation Corporation Corporation (CNAC) which had been set up by the head of Curtiss-Wright, Clement Melville Keys in 1928. [4] From here, the connections with Harlow Aircraft get a bit convoluted. Intercontinent Corporation, which ended up controlled Harlow Aircraft, had been formed by Clement Keys in 1933 to oversee Curtiss-Wright operations in China. In the same year, Keys was 'retired' when financial irregularities came to light. Keys' shares in CNAC were sold by the new President of Curtiss-Wright to Intercontinent. The head of Intercontinent Corporation was a Keys appointee, William Douglas Pawley.

Harlow Aircraft, WD 'Bill' Pawley, and China

Prior to his enforced 'retirement', Clement Keys had created the Compañía Nacional Cubana de Aviación Curtiss through Intercontinent Aviation, Keys named WD Pawley to head this Cuban enterprise in September 1929. [5] Pawley had been the Curtiss representative for the Republic of China. And a lucrative business it was. In 1938, Bill Pawley bought Intercontinent outright, naming his brother Edward vice-president (Intercontinent almost becoming a family holding company). Through Intercontinent, Pawley helped create the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) in cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek's KMT government. CAMCO was set up to assemble aircraft in China and to provide M&O services for the RoCAF. [6]

At some point in the midst all this, Bill Pawley found time to become a Director of the Harlow Aircraft Company (as early as 1939, some sources claim). Meanwhile, the Chinese conflict with Japan had forced CAMCO to relocate its assembly facilities four times with a fifth in the offing. [7]

As has been well-covered elsewhere, Pawley began recruiting pilots for the American Volunteer Group in late 1940. Then, in April 1941, the recruitment of American active duty service pilots was authorized by the US government. In the same year, Intercontinent bought a controlling interest in Harlow Aircraft Company. The US mustering station for AVG members recruited by Pawley's Intercontinent Corporation was the Harlow Aircraft's flight operations centre at Alhambra Airport in California. To give both Harlow Aircraft and the Intercontinent Corporation a bit of legal protection - and to avoid violating neutrality laws - AVG personnel were regarded civilian employees of CAMCO.

Harlow Aircraft Connections with Vultee

When CAMCO relocated its facilities to Hengchow in 1938, the assembly of Vultee V-11 attack aircraft was added to its list of activities. Back in the US, AVCO's Vultee Aircraft Division was reorganized as an independent firm in November 1939. Pawley and CAMCO represented Vultee in China where there was interested in an improved V-11 development - the improved V-12 attack bomber. Ultimately, China would order 26 Vultee V-12Cs (Wright GR-1820-G105A Cyclone) and 74 V-12Ds (Wright GR-2600-A5B Double Cyclone). None of the former type were ever delivered. But, as we'll see later, plans eventually emerged to assemble the Vultee V-12D in India.

In the meantime, the Japanese had attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor and America was at war. The days of the AVG were numbered as 'on loan' US reserve officers were called up. [8] With recruiting for the AVG at an end, Harlow Aircraft's usefulness to the Intercontinent Corporation diminished. Pawley organized to sell Intercontinent's majority interest in the Harlow Aircraft Company to Vultee Aircraft in 1942. As a result of this sale, the firm's attempts to market Harlow's original designs came to an end. The Harlow Aircraft facilities at Alhambra were used to construct aircraft assemblies and components for other airframe producers throughout the rest of WW2. In 1943, Vultee merged with Consolidated Aircraft to form Convair. Within such a leviathan, Harlow Aircraft could have disappeared from aviation history without a further trace. But Bill Pawley activities in Asia would extend the Harlow Aircraft legacy a little ...

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[1] Jesse Bennett Alexander had been western manager for American Airlines. Later, his Van Nuys-based JB Alexander Company was the western distributor for Fairchild aircraft. Alexander's connection with Howard Hughes began in 1927-1929 during the filming of 'Hell's Angels' at Oakland, CA.

[2] See: http://www.airmailpioneers.org/content/history/misc1.html

[3] Intercontinent Corporation is sometimes erroneously listed as 'Intercontinent Aviation' or 'Intercontinent Aircraft Corp.' (sic).

[4] Keys held a 45% share in CNAC, the Chinese government held the controlling 55% share.

[5] 'Bill' Pawley's other nickname was 'Cuba', having spent his childhood at Guantanamo Bay. In his youth, Pawley attended schools in Havana and Santiago de Cuba before entering Gordon Military Academy in Georgia.

[6] More attention should probably be paid to the efforts of Intercontinent's VP, Bruce Leighton, who organized the first CAMCO factory at Shien Chiao (Hangchow) before returning to Washington to lobby the USN to release pilots for volunteer duty in China. Capt Leighton was a former USN pilot, aircraft carrier CO, and BuAer Plans Division chief, before leaving the Navy to become a Vice President of Wright Aeronautical and, later, of Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. In 1937, Leighton joined Intercontinental and went to China where he also became VP of CAMCO. -- http://earlyaviators.com/eleight1.htm

[7] CAMCO had set up at Hangchow in 1933 to assemble Curtiss Hawk biplanes. In 1937-38, CAMCO pulled back to Hangkow (assembling Curtiss H75 Hawks). When Hangkow came under seige, the factory was relocated at Hengchow (assembling Hawks and Vultee V-11s). In 1939, CAMCO opened a plant across the Burmese border at Loi-wing. Later, another Burmese plant was established further south at Mingaladon Airport near Rangoon (across the field from RAF Mingaladon).

[8] CAMCO would continue providing management services for the AVG until its disbandment in July 1942.
 
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Harlow, Hindustan, and Intercontinent Aircraft Corporation

On 23 Dec 1940, Hindustan Aircraft, Ltd. (HAL) was founded in Bangalore with funding from the government of Mysore with "the construction and organization ... entrusted to Mr. W. D. Pawley." [1] As noted earlier, Bill Pawley was a Director of Harlow Aircraft. More to the point, Pawley was the President of Intercontinent Corporation and was instrumental in the establishment of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO) in China with the cooperation of the Chiang Kai-shek government.

Bill Pawley's connections with the establishment of the American Volunteer Group and his personal battles with Claire Chennault are well covered online. An oft-repeated statements is that CAMCO "was reorganized as Hindustan Aircraft Ltd." Not really. HAL was started by Seth Walchand Hirachand. In 1939, Hirachand travelled to the US to meet with US automotive officials in 1939 to discuss establishing a car plant in India. [2] It didn't go well. Returning to India via the PanAm China Clipper service in late October 1939, Walchand read a magazine article about W.D. Pawley. It turned out that Bill Pawley was aboard that Clipper heading back to China. [3] The two were introduced and, by the time the flying boat reached Hong Kong, Walchand was convinced to turn his attention to establishing an aircraft plant. [4]

At the time of their meeting, Pawley was planning a CAMCO facility across the relative security of the China-Burmese border at Loi-Wing. Another assembly location was then established at Mingaladon near Rangoon. When that last redoubt for CAMCO also came under Japanese attack, Bill Pawley relocated to India. At the invitation of Walchand Hirachand, Pawley took over the reigns at Hindustan Aircraft. Factory buildings were erected and tooling intended for Mingaladon was redirected to Bangalore.

Harlow, the PC-5 Trainers, China, and Hindustan Aircraft

It is widely reported that Bill Pawley convinced the Indian Air Force to procure the Harlow PC-5A trainer for its own use (or, in some reports, for Indian flying clubs). As usual, it's not quite that simple. The Harlow trainers were actually part of a procurement deal that Pawley had arranged with the Republic of China. This Chinese order included 30 Harlow PC-5As, [5] 48 Curtiss 75A-5P fighters, [4] and 74 Vultee V-12D attack aircraft along with ground support equipment and spare parts. [5] With the Japanese invading Burma, CAMCO was in no position to fill this order. Pawley simply redirected tools and aircraft components for this order to HAL's new Bangalore facilities.

This entire Chinese order for 152 airframes was an ambitious undertaking for a new company like HAL. And the contract stipulated that all of those aircraft were to be delivered by the end of 1942. [6] At first, things seemed to be going well. According to Indian sources, the first Hindustan-assembled Harlow flew on 29 July 1941. A HAL-assembled Curtiss fighter was flown on 31 July 1942. It sounds impressive ... but all was not as it appeared.

The PC-5 trainers assembled by HAL were actually the first four Harlow-built aircraft. Intercontinent had owned all but the first of these aircraft - two PC-5s and the sole PC-5A. All four Harlow trainers were collected, de-registered (between 21 Sept 1941 and 05 Aug 1942), and crated for shipment to India. HAL simply opened the crate, re-assembled the major components, and had its first aircraft in the air a full year-and-a-half before its contract deadline.

Some of the confusion over the planned destination of these aircraft springs from the assigning of serials by the British Air Ministry. Five RAF serials were assigned to Harlow 'PJC-5' trainers - DR423 to DR427. The latter serial never seems to have been used. The first four serials account for the four Harlow-built aircraft shipped to India in 1941-42. RAF serials DR761 to DR807 were assigned for Bangalore-built Mohawks - the British name for Curtiss H75A-5 fighters. Some sources claim that HAL also completed three V-12Ds although no RAF serials ever seem to have been assigned to that Vultee attack aircraft. [7]

Most British sources say that HAL received orders on behalf of the Indian Air Force. With the Japanese on India's eastern border, it would have made sense to redirect meant for China to more immediate, domestic security requirements. [8] However, the British story is that, at some point in 1942, a policy change was made to focus on local aircraft maintenance and repair rather than the production of complete airframes in India. What we do know is that the Harlow-built aircraft would be seen in Indian Air Force markings complete with RAF serials but no PC-5As were built from the ground up at Bangalore.

Bill Pawley and the Sale of Harlow to Vultee Aircraft

During 1941, a controlling interest in Harlow Aircraft was taken by Intercontinent Corporation. That alone gave Bill Pawley an incentive to sell the PC-5A to China ... or to the Indian colonial government once the Chinese contract fell apart. But Pawley may have had other motivations. Pawley was re-establishing and earlier connection with Vultee Aircraft.

Pawley was responsible for Vultee V-11 attack bombers being assembled for the Republic of China at CAMCO's Loi-wing facility in Burma. As we've seen, Pawley's intention for new Vultee V-12D to be assembled by CAMCO at Mingaladon was disrupted by the Japanese attack on Burma. The planned relocation of V-12D assembly by HAL at Bangalore alongside Harlow PC-5As and Curtiss H75A-5s didn't pan out. But, in early 1942, Pawley would still have been in Vultee's good books.

By then the American Volunteer Group was winding down and Harlow Aircraft's usefulness to Intercontinent Corporation was diminishing. It could be that the shift of PC-5A production to India had little to do with sales opportunities and more to do with clearing the decks at Alhambra. There were no US military orders coming for Harlow designs ... but there were plenty of military aircraft sub-assembly work available to smaller airframers. Pawley may have been setting up Harlow Aircraft as a supplier in this lucrative trade as a potential deal-sweetner. If so, Pawley had correctly read the wind and he made the deal.

By July 1942, Pawley had convinced the Vultee Aircraft brass to purchase Intercontinent's controlling share in Harlow Aircraft Company. Shortly afterwards, the HAL deal with China fizzled. But, it is unlikely that Vultee's management even noticed. Their new Harlow Aircraft division held contracts to supply parts and airframe components to the likes of Timm Aircraft and Lockheed-Vega. Within the year, Vultee Aircraft was merged (within Aviation Corporation) with Consolidated - becoming Convair in March 1943.

Harlow Aircraft Company continued as a Convair division. In 1944, there were changes in top management again - with H.F. Keenan become President. Presumably, this was to prepare Harlow Aircraft Company for the coming peace. To that end, Keenan organized for Harlow Aircraft to acquired right to the Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corporation's line of light aircraft. [9] With the end of WW2, empty floor space threatened. Keenan's plan was to move Interstate aircraft production from El Segundo to Alhambra. That was done and the Harlow S-1 - a Franklin-powered Interstate S-1B1 variant went into production in 1945.

With a flood of war-surplus aircraft coming on to the civilian market, 1945 was not a good time to be a small airframe maker. In 1945, Harlow Aircraft Company ceased operations. Max Harlow was able to re-sell the rights to the Interstate S-1 to Ruell Call and Call-Air resumed production in the '50s. [10] Max Harlow, himself, moved on to another commercial venture. He teamed up again with J.B. Alexander - see how those connections keep popping up? - and the pair formed the Atlas Aircraft Company at Hemet-Ryan Airport in California. There, they planned to resurrect the PCC-10 as the Atlas H-10. But that is another story ...

________________________

[1] 'Commonwealth Aircraft Industries: India', Flight, 27 August 1954, page 296 -- http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1954/1954 - 2391.PDF

[2] Walchand Hirachand: Man, His Times, and Achievements, Gangadhara Devarava Khanolakara, Walchand Group, 1969, page 353

[3] There was some slight irony in Pawley's habitual method of crossing the Pacific. As noted, when Clement Keys was 'retired', his successor sold Keys' own shares in CNAC to Intercontinent. But Curtiss-Wright's 45% shares in CNAC were then were sold to Pan American Airways.

[4] The auto-plant concept wasn't abandoned. In 1940, a contract was signed with Chrysler. An independent Indian company - Premier Automobiles, Ltd or PAL - was established in 1944 with assembly of Plymouth cars and Dodge trucks beginning in 1947. See 'War Babies, in Business Legends by Gita Piramal, Chapter 9 (unpaginated).

[5] 'Harlow to Hawk: Training Aircraft from HAL', Vayu Aerospace and Defence, 1 January 2016, page 50
-- http://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/vayu-issue-Vayu-Issue-I-Jan-Feb-2016.pdf Note the 30 Harlows ordered differing from the commonly quoted figure of 50 aircraft.

[6] 'Blazing Platinum: HAL'S 75 Years of Glory', by George Jacoby, Aeromag Asia, page 18 -- http://www.aeromag.in/Magazines/2172340448.pdf

[7] The Vultee V-12 (or AB-2) was an improved V-11. China also ordered 26 V-12Cs powered by Wright GR-1820-G105A Cyclones. None were delivered. The V-12D had a deepened fuselage and was powered by the two-row Wright GR-2600-A5B. CKD kits being sent to China were redirected to Bangalore. Despite claims to the contrary, there doesn't seem to be very much evidence that any Vultees were assembled by HAL. If there were, there is no sign of their active service use (by China or by India).

[8] It is equally probable that China's KMT government cancelled the contract. By April 1941, US Lend-Lease policies had been extended to the Republic of China. With access to the most modern US combat aircraft on Lend-Lease terms, Chiang Kai-shek et al doubtless began to lose interest in the HAL order. If Hindustan Aircraft anticipating approved Lend-Lease supplier status being extended to India (as it had been for Canada), it was in for a disappointment. That never did happened.

[9] Interstate was leaving aircraft production with "plans to manufacture vending machines, refrigerator compressors, and small gasoline motors at its El Segundo, Calif., plant." Aviation News, August 13, 1945.

[10] The evolution of the Interstate S-1 Cadet would have made perfect sense to college instructor, Max Harlow. Designed by Ted Woolsey, the Cadet had begun as a student project at the Wiggins Trades School. The Harlow S-1 would continue in production into the '70s as the Arctic Co. S-1-B2 Arctic Tern.

________________________

Some Sources

'Harlow PJC-2', Williams Aircraft Collection - http://www.russellw.com/planes/harlow/default.htm

'PJC', Airwar.ru - http://www.airwar.ru/enc/law1/pjc.html

'Uncle Sam Wants a Trainer', Kurt Rand, Flying Magazine, June 1939, pp 20-22

'The Harlow PC-5', Flying Magazine, January 1940, page 48

'Harlow PJC-1/PJC-2', Avia Deja Vu - http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft32172.htm
'Harlow PJC-5', Avia Deja Vu - http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft31985.htm
'Harlow/Atlas PJC-4/H-10', Avia Deja Vu - - http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft32123.htm

'Harlow PJC-2', N18978, Ed Coates Collection - http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac3/Classics/Harlow.html
'VT-ATN Harlow PC-5A', Ed Coates Collection - http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac5/ROW Asia/VT-ATN.html

'From H-10 Atlas to Mono-Twin', Howard Carter, Air Classics, June 2018, pp 48-49

'Commonwealth Aircraft Industries: India', Flight, 27 August 1954, page 296 -- http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1954/1954 - 2391.PDF

'Harlow to Hawk: Training Aircraft from HAL', Vayu Aerospace and Defence, 1 Jan 2016, page 50
-- http://www.vayuaerospace.in/Issue/vayu-issue-Vayu-Issue-I-Jan-Feb-2016.pdf

'Blazing Platinum: HAL'S 75 Years of Glory', by George Jacoby, Aeromag Asia, pp 16-18
-- http://www.aeromag.in/Magazines/2172340448.pdf

'War Babies', in Business Legends, Gita Piramal, Penguin, 1989 unpaginated.

Walchand Hirachand: Man, His Times, and Achievements, Gangadhara Devarava Khanolakara, Walchand Group, 1969.

Chrysler in India including Premier Automobiles, Mike Sealey and David Zatz
-- https://www.allpar.com/world/india.html
 
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Amazing work as usual my dear Apophenia,

and for more Info about PC-6;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_PC-5
 
My dear Apophenia,

I can suggest that;

PC-7 was a S-1 Cadet of 1940
PC-8 was a military version of PC-2 in 1942,as UC-80,or unknown Project ?
PC-9 was a jet propelled helicopter Project of 1943

source for last one; ROTARY WING AIRCRAFT HANDBOOKS AND HISTORY VOLUME 14,by University of Michigan
 

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Thanks hesham, your PC-9 find is a real gem :) I had wondered whether the 7-to-9 'missing' designations were just the result of a random number application by the PCC student builders. Your find proves that this was not the case.

Your other possibilities are all plausible ... although some of the timing is funky.

For the PC-7 as a "1940 S-1 Cadet" designation, Harlow didn't actually own the Interstate rights until 1945. I had previously speculated about one of the 'missing' designations being reserved for a militarized Porterfield 65 Collegiate (rights to which were purchased by Max Harlow in 1940). The timing would be a better fit for a re-designated Harlow Collegiate.

On the UC-80, those were all ex-civil impressments for the USAAF. Your idea of a further developed PC-2 for the military use is interesting. We have no evidence for that ... but, until you uncovered that jet-propelled helicopter project, we had no evidence of a 'Px-9' either. Good find!
 
Thanks hesham. As noted in reply #3, that 'PC-5A' designation gets thrown around rather loosely when talking about India. Most probably, HAL re-assembled the three PC-5 and single PC-5A airframes originally built by Harlow. The RAF serial DR427 was assigned to a fifth (to have been first HAL-built airframe?) but it is highly unlikely that it was ever applied.
 

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