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The M.F.P. aka Polson biplane
I have been reviewing available information on the 1916 M.F.P. biplane. Having been built by Polson Iron Works (of Toronto, Ontario), this is a rarity rather than an unbuilt project. I will lay out my conclusions - which I hope will be of some interest - in a series of posts (with sources listed at the end).
The M.F.P. or Polson biplane was a one-off in a planned family of types and variants. Of conventional biplane layout, the distinguishing feature of the M.F.P. design was its steel framework - round-section steel-tubing being used for both wing spars and the fuselage structure (with the tubing sections being clamped together with special bolted fittings and then braced with wire).
To trace the origins of that structural approach, we need to know who was behind the M.F.P. biplane. The New York firm, M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp., [1] sprang from the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. [2] M.F.P. were the intials of the three co-founders - J.B. Miller, Walter L. Fairchild, and Walter H. Phipps. So, who were these guys?
Lt-Col J.B. Miller
The "J.B. Miller" mentioned in all online references to M.F.P. was none other than Lt-Col John Bellamy Miller, then President and General Manager of Polson Iron Works of Toronto. [3] So, Lt-Col Miller provided financing for the enterprise, access to potential production facilities, and a Canadian address more likely to garner orders from the British War Office. Miller believed that the time was right for Polson's to move into aircraft production and hired W.H. Phipps to design a family of aircraft.
Other than the M.F.P. biplane Polson Iron Works remained a shipbuilder until its demise shortly after WWI. Polson's also made engines for ships. This may have confused one 1916 source [4] which listed the Polson Iron Works as also being a maker of "Aeronautical Engines". I've found no evidence for that claim.
Walter L. Fairchild
Walter Fairchild was an American aviation pioneer who had flown a 'Blériot-type' monoplane from Hempstead Plains Aerodrome near Mineola on Long Island. [5] No relation to the famous Sherman Fairchild, W.L. Fairchild's monoplane had some interesting features (such as twin, chain-driven propellers) but, of more relevance here, the Fairchild monoplane had a fabric-covered steel-tube structure. [6]
The Fairchild monoplane's steel-tube framework was the first such construction in the US. This structural approach proved itself when the aircraft was flown into telegraph wires. Piloted by Walter Fairchild's hangar-mate, Harold Dewolf Kantner, the monoplane was heavily damaged in this crash but none of the steel-tube framing was even bent. It is not clear when Fairchild became involved with M.F.P. project but he was likely already connected with the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. in New York City.
Walter H. Phipps
Walter Phipps is usually listed as the owner of the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. Prior to his connection with M.F.P., W.H. Phipps was known for model airplane competitive flying (he later distributing model plans and edited a book on this subject). He was also a contributor to aviation magazine - he was an Assistant Editor at Aircraft (under Alfred W. Lawson) and a writer for Aerial Age Weekly (including a regular 'Model News Column').
In 1916, after his involvement with M.F.P., Phipps became Chief Aeronautical Engineer with the Ordnance Engineering Co (Orenco) of Baldwin, Long Island. AFAIK, Phipps designed the entire Orenco line - and there is a vague similarity of outline between the M.F.P. B 2 and the smaller Orenco Model A trainer.
At some point, Phipps is also said to have worked as an engineer for "Lawson Aircraft" and for Curtiss. I haven't been able to confirm either appointment. The former is particularly hard to track - as a self-proclaimed 'genius', Alfred Lawson wasn't quick to share any of the glory. Worse, there were three, quite separate "Lawson" aircraft firms between 1917 and the late 1920s. [7] AFAIK, Vincent J. Burnelli was the Chief Engineer for all three of A.W. Lawson's attempts to mass-produce airframes.
M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. faded out fairly quickly. By the time that the M.F.P. biplane was being demonstrated before 'officials' at Hempstead Plains, NY, the firms was already on the blocks. Aviation & Aeronautical Engineering (vol.1, Aug 1916, pg.97) reported that Interocean Steel Products, Inc. of New York was taking over M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. with assets totalling $15.509 million. M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp. then became The Interocean Aeroplane Company, Inc. [8]
It's not clear whether Interocean Aeroplane intended to continue promoting the M.F.P. line-up designed by Walter Phipps. The Interocean Aeroplane Co. is listed in Eaton Manufacturing's A Chronicle Of The Aviation Industry In America 1903-1947 under "new companies entering the aeroplane manufacturing field" in 1916. There is no further record of The Interocean Aeroplane Co.
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[1] M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp. was sometimes listed simply as the M.F.P. Sales Corporation. This includes in Aerial Age Weekly (vol.4 no.22 of 12 Feb 1917) to which Walter H. Phipps was a major contributor. In Canadian Aircraft since 1909 (pg.395), KM Molson cites an unnamed source claiming that M.F.P Aero Sales was a subsidiary of Polson Iron Works.
[2] Aero Files lists this firm as 'M F P Steel Constructed Aeroplanes'. Although both firms were based in NYC, Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. and M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. seem to have been separate companies.
[3] J.B. Miller had become a Director at Polson's in 1892. Lt-Col. Miller had been commander of the 23rd Regiment, The Northern Pioneers - which became the 162nd (Parry Sound) Battalion, CEF during WW1. Miller had been President of Parry Sound Transportation Company Ltd. (and, thereby, a Polson customer) before coming to Polson Iron Works.
[4] Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering, vol.1, no.1, 01 August 1916
[5] Sometime called the 'Fairchild 1910 Monoplane', this aircraft was actually first flown in Jan 1911.
[6] There may have been two Fairchild monoplanes. According to the American Magazine of Aeronautics (July 1911), 'Walter B. Fairchild' (sic) was making improvements. In the Aug 1911 edition, the American Magazine of Aeronautics reported that "Walter L. Fairchild is trying propellers and is ready to fly his second machine again as soon as he has his engine tuned up."
[7] These were the 1917 Lawson Aircraft Corporation of Green Bay, WI; the 1921 Lawson Aircraft Company of Milwaukee, WI; and the 1926 Lawson Aircraft Company of Plainfield, NJ. Another connection was that Alfred W. Lawson was the founder of Aircraft and the magazine's Editor when Walter H. Phipps worked there as Assistant Editor.
[8] 'The myth of the early aviation patent hold-up: How a US government monopoly commandeered pioneer airplane patents', by Ron D. Katznelson and John Howells.
__________________________________________
I have been reviewing available information on the 1916 M.F.P. biplane. Having been built by Polson Iron Works (of Toronto, Ontario), this is a rarity rather than an unbuilt project. I will lay out my conclusions - which I hope will be of some interest - in a series of posts (with sources listed at the end).
The M.F.P. or Polson biplane was a one-off in a planned family of types and variants. Of conventional biplane layout, the distinguishing feature of the M.F.P. design was its steel framework - round-section steel-tubing being used for both wing spars and the fuselage structure (with the tubing sections being clamped together with special bolted fittings and then braced with wire).
To trace the origins of that structural approach, we need to know who was behind the M.F.P. biplane. The New York firm, M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp., [1] sprang from the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. [2] M.F.P. were the intials of the three co-founders - J.B. Miller, Walter L. Fairchild, and Walter H. Phipps. So, who were these guys?
Lt-Col J.B. Miller
The "J.B. Miller" mentioned in all online references to M.F.P. was none other than Lt-Col John Bellamy Miller, then President and General Manager of Polson Iron Works of Toronto. [3] So, Lt-Col Miller provided financing for the enterprise, access to potential production facilities, and a Canadian address more likely to garner orders from the British War Office. Miller believed that the time was right for Polson's to move into aircraft production and hired W.H. Phipps to design a family of aircraft.
Other than the M.F.P. biplane Polson Iron Works remained a shipbuilder until its demise shortly after WWI. Polson's also made engines for ships. This may have confused one 1916 source [4] which listed the Polson Iron Works as also being a maker of "Aeronautical Engines". I've found no evidence for that claim.
Walter L. Fairchild
Walter Fairchild was an American aviation pioneer who had flown a 'Blériot-type' monoplane from Hempstead Plains Aerodrome near Mineola on Long Island. [5] No relation to the famous Sherman Fairchild, W.L. Fairchild's monoplane had some interesting features (such as twin, chain-driven propellers) but, of more relevance here, the Fairchild monoplane had a fabric-covered steel-tube structure. [6]
The Fairchild monoplane's steel-tube framework was the first such construction in the US. This structural approach proved itself when the aircraft was flown into telegraph wires. Piloted by Walter Fairchild's hangar-mate, Harold Dewolf Kantner, the monoplane was heavily damaged in this crash but none of the steel-tube framing was even bent. It is not clear when Fairchild became involved with M.F.P. project but he was likely already connected with the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. in New York City.
Walter H. Phipps
Walter Phipps is usually listed as the owner of the Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. Prior to his connection with M.F.P., W.H. Phipps was known for model airplane competitive flying (he later distributing model plans and edited a book on this subject). He was also a contributor to aviation magazine - he was an Assistant Editor at Aircraft (under Alfred W. Lawson) and a writer for Aerial Age Weekly (including a regular 'Model News Column').
In 1916, after his involvement with M.F.P., Phipps became Chief Aeronautical Engineer with the Ordnance Engineering Co (Orenco) of Baldwin, Long Island. AFAIK, Phipps designed the entire Orenco line - and there is a vague similarity of outline between the M.F.P. B 2 and the smaller Orenco Model A trainer.
At some point, Phipps is also said to have worked as an engineer for "Lawson Aircraft" and for Curtiss. I haven't been able to confirm either appointment. The former is particularly hard to track - as a self-proclaimed 'genius', Alfred Lawson wasn't quick to share any of the glory. Worse, there were three, quite separate "Lawson" aircraft firms between 1917 and the late 1920s. [7] AFAIK, Vincent J. Burnelli was the Chief Engineer for all three of A.W. Lawson's attempts to mass-produce airframes.
M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. faded out fairly quickly. By the time that the M.F.P. biplane was being demonstrated before 'officials' at Hempstead Plains, NY, the firms was already on the blocks. Aviation & Aeronautical Engineering (vol.1, Aug 1916, pg.97) reported that Interocean Steel Products, Inc. of New York was taking over M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. with assets totalling $15.509 million. M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp. then became The Interocean Aeroplane Company, Inc. [8]
It's not clear whether Interocean Aeroplane intended to continue promoting the M.F.P. line-up designed by Walter Phipps. The Interocean Aeroplane Co. is listed in Eaton Manufacturing's A Chronicle Of The Aviation Industry In America 1903-1947 under "new companies entering the aeroplane manufacturing field" in 1916. There is no further record of The Interocean Aeroplane Co.
__________________________________________
[1] M.F.P. Aero Sales Corp. was sometimes listed simply as the M.F.P. Sales Corporation. This includes in Aerial Age Weekly (vol.4 no.22 of 12 Feb 1917) to which Walter H. Phipps was a major contributor. In Canadian Aircraft since 1909 (pg.395), KM Molson cites an unnamed source claiming that M.F.P Aero Sales was a subsidiary of Polson Iron Works.
[2] Aero Files lists this firm as 'M F P Steel Constructed Aeroplanes'. Although both firms were based in NYC, Steel Constructed Aeroplanes Co. and M.F.P Aero Sales Corp. seem to have been separate companies.
[3] J.B. Miller had become a Director at Polson's in 1892. Lt-Col. Miller had been commander of the 23rd Regiment, The Northern Pioneers - which became the 162nd (Parry Sound) Battalion, CEF during WW1. Miller had been President of Parry Sound Transportation Company Ltd. (and, thereby, a Polson customer) before coming to Polson Iron Works.
[4] Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering, vol.1, no.1, 01 August 1916
[5] Sometime called the 'Fairchild 1910 Monoplane', this aircraft was actually first flown in Jan 1911.
[6] There may have been two Fairchild monoplanes. According to the American Magazine of Aeronautics (July 1911), 'Walter B. Fairchild' (sic) was making improvements. In the Aug 1911 edition, the American Magazine of Aeronautics reported that "Walter L. Fairchild is trying propellers and is ready to fly his second machine again as soon as he has his engine tuned up."
[7] These were the 1917 Lawson Aircraft Corporation of Green Bay, WI; the 1921 Lawson Aircraft Company of Milwaukee, WI; and the 1926 Lawson Aircraft Company of Plainfield, NJ. Another connection was that Alfred W. Lawson was the founder of Aircraft and the magazine's Editor when Walter H. Phipps worked there as Assistant Editor.
[8] 'The myth of the early aviation patent hold-up: How a US government monopoly commandeered pioneer airplane patents', by Ron D. Katznelson and John Howells.
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