Berliner-Joyce Aircraft was an American aircraft manufacturer.

Berliner-Joyce Aircraft
IndustryAerospace
PredecessorBerliner Aircraft Company
FoundedFebruary 4, 1929 (1929-02-04)[1]
Defunct1933 (1933)
FateAcquired
SuccessorNorth American Aviation
Headquarters,
United States
Key people

History

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The company was founded on the February 4, 1929, when Henry Berliner and his 1922 company, Berliner Aircraft Company of Alexandria, Virginia, joined with Maryland Aviation Commission leader Captain Temple Nach Joyce.[1][2]

Berliner-Joyce hired William H. Miller as chief designer, and opened a 58,000 square foot factory in Dundalk, Maryland, near Logan Field.[3] The facility operated one of the largest private Wind tunnel operations of the time.[4] The Great Depression ended the civil aircraft production market, so Berliner-Joyce concentrated on designing aircraft for the USAAC and US Navy.[1]

In May 1929 the company received its first order, for the Berliner-Joyce XFJ. Other projects, the P-16 and OJ-2, also received orders. A merger between the Douglas Aircraft Company and Berliner Joyce was proposed in early 1930, but fell through.[5] Later that same year, North American Aviation bought the company.[6] Later, in 1933, the since renamed B-J Corporation became a subsidiary of a subsidiary when North American Aviation was purchased by General Motors Corporation.[7][8] In January 1934 Joyce left the company to join Bellanca Aircraft, and soon after Berliner left for Engineering and Research Corporation. The company was then moved from Maryland to Inglewood, California.[1]

Aircraft

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Model name First flight Number built Type
Berliner-Joyce CM-4 1928 6 three-seat open-cockpit parasol monoplane
Berliner-Joyce 29-1 Commercial 1929 1 high-wing utility cabin monoplane
Berliner-Joyce XFJ 1930 1 Prototype single-engine biplane fighter
Berliner-Joyce P-16 1929 26 Single engine biplane fighter
Berliner-Joyce OJ 1931 39 Single-engine biplane observation floatplane
Berliner-Joyce F2J 1933 1 Prototype single-engine biplane fighter
Berliner-Joyce XF3J 1934 1 Prototype single-engine biplane fighter

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Angelucci, 1987. pp.58-59.
  2. ^ Aviation: 375. 21 March 1921. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ John R. Breihan. Maryland Aviation. p. 29.
  4. ^ Barry Leithiser (27 Oct 1929). "Aviation--Baltimore's First Aircraft Show Holds Significance: City's Gain In The Field To Be Shown Keynote Of Exposition Will Be Importance Already Attained By The Industry Here Locally Built Planes And Representative Types From Elsewhere Will Be Included". The Baltimore Sun.
  5. ^ "Berliner-Joyce and Douglas to Merge". Aero Digest. Vol. 16, no. 4. Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corporation. April 1930. p. 180. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Offer to Buy Plane Firm Here Approved". Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. 11 June 1930. p. 42. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Consolidation of Aircraft Groups Made". Baltimore Sun. 16 July 1933. p. 16. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  8. ^ "City's Chances to Get Plant are Held Good". Dayton Daily News. 29 October 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 4 February 2020.

Bibliography

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  • Angelucci, Enzo (1987). The American Fighter from 1917 to the present. New York: Orion Books. pp. 58–59.