Аэронка: Американдық авиация тарихы және қазіргі жағдайы

American aerospace company
Aeronca is now (2011) a division of Magellan Aerospace, producing aircraft, missile, and space vehicle components at the same location adjacent to Middletown's Hook Field Municipal Airport.

Originally formed as the Cincinnati Aeronautical Corporation, the Aeronautical Corporation of America was founded November 11, 1928, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The name was generally abbreviated to Aeronca. Backed by the financial and political support of the prominent Taft family and future Ohio senator Robert A. Taft who was one of the firm's directors, Aeronca became the first American company to build a commercially successful general aviation aircraft. The corporation changed its name to Aeronca Aircraft Corporation in 1941. When production ended in 1951, Aeronca had sold 17,408 aircraft in 55 models. Production began with the Jean A. Roche designed Aeronca C 2 monoplane, often called the "Flying Bathtub", in 1929, the C designation standing for Cincinnati. By October of 1940 the plant had to expand by to keep up with production demands.

The Defender, a tandem trainer version of the Chief with a higher rear seat, was used in training many of the pilots who flew in World War II. A benefit of the concurrent development was that the new designs had about 80% of their parts in common. Nevertheless, the tandem seat Champ—resembling the extremely popular Piper J 3 Cub—was favored by the market, evidenced by its outselling its sibling, the Chief, at a rate of 4 to 1. Between 1945 and 1951, nearly 8,000 Champions were manufactured; while over the same period, approximately 2,000 Chiefs were produced. However, by 1965 it was nearly bankrupt and a new president, Alfred A. Handschumacher, was hired to return the company to profitability. In the early 1970s, Aeronca was contracted by Bede Aircraft to assemble its first Bede BD 5J Microjet—the world's smallest jet airplane—but, after its experiences with the prototype, Aeronca declined to be further involved with the program. Fleet Aerospace launched a successful hostile takeover of the company in 1986. Aeronca now builds components for aerospace companies including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed and Airbus. In its 23 year history as a general aviation and military aviation manufacturer, Aeronca produced 17,408 aircraft spanning 55 different models.