Hamilton Standard
Encyclopedia
Hamilton Standard, an aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 propeller
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...

 parts supplier, was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...

 consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller Corporation. Other members of the corporation included Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

, United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...

, Sikorsky
Sikorsky Aircraft
The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. Its parent company is United Technologies Corporation.-History:...

 and Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...

. At the time, Hamilton was the largest manufacturer of aircraft propellers in the world.

History

Standard Steel Propeller had been formed in 1918 in Pittsburgh, PA and Hamilton Aero Manufacturing had been formed in 1920 in Milwaukee, WI by Thomas F. Hamilton
Thomas F. Hamilton
Thomas Foster Hamilton was a pioneering aviator and the founder of the Hamilton Standard Company.Since 1930, Hamilton Standard was involved with revolutionizing propulsion technology of propeller-driven aircraft, prior to World War II...

. Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

's Spirit of St. Louis
Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...

used a propeller made by Standard Steel Propeller Company in his historic solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the early 1930s Frank W. Caldwell of Hamilton Standard led a team that developed a variable-pitch propeller, using hydraulic pressure and centrifugal force to change the angle of attack
Angle of attack
Angle of attack is a term used in fluid dynamics to describe the angle between a reference line on a lifting body and the vector representing the relative motion between the lifting body and the fluid through which it is moving...

 of the blades. Caldwell received the 1933 Collier Trophy
Collier Trophy
The Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautics Association , presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space...

 for this advance in flight propulsion. Later advances included full-feathering and reversible propellers.

Hamilton Standard was a division of United Aircraft Corporation
United Aircraft
The United Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1934 at the break-up of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. In 1975, the company became the United Technologies Corporation.-1930s:...

 (1934) along with Pratt & Whitney (engines).

In the early 1950s Hamilton developed the technology to accurately meter fuel in jet engines, and its fuel controls were employed on Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...

's and Douglas DC-8
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...

's. In 1952 Hamilton Standard opened its plant in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 12,043. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region. It is also the site of the New England Air Museum...

. In 1958 Hamilton's first environmental control system entered service on the Convair 880
Convair 880
The Convair 880 was a narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller and faster, a niche that failed to create demand...

. In 1968 Hamilton began delivering automatic, electronic systems for control of cabin pressure in aircraft. Hamilton's mechanical fuel controls, in use since the 1950s, evolved into electronically controlled fuel controls and, eventually, to Full Authority Digital Electronic Controls (FADEC
FADEC
Full Authority Digital Engine Control is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an electronic engine controller or engine control unit , and its related accessories that control all aspects of aircraft engine performance...

) for jet engines and are in use today on many commuter, airline and military engine applications. Hamilton's environmental systems and early association with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 were highlighted in the 1969 Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

 moon landing - supported by environmental control, fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...

 and life support systems manufactured by Hamilton Standard.

In 1995 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529, registration N256AS, was an Embraer Brasilia aircraft that crashed near Carrollton, Georgia on August 21, 1995 while on a flight from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Mississippi...

 crashed in Carrollton, Georgia, killing 9 of the 29 people onboard. The crash was determined to be caused by the failure of the propeller due to undiscovered metal fatigue resulting from corrosion. There had been at least two previous failures of the same type propellers, but those aircraft had been able to land safely. The propellers had been recalled and serviced at a Hamilton Standard facility, but the inspection had been incomplete and the refurbishing work ineffective. The NTSB criticized Hamilton Standard for "inadequate and ineffective corporate inspection and repair techniques, training, documentation and communication", and both Hamilton and the FAA for "failure to require recurrent on-wing ultrasonic inspections for the affected propellers".

Merger

In 1999, Hamilton Standard merged with Sundstrand Corporation
Sundstrand Corporation
Sundstrand Corporation was founded in 1926 as a merger of the Rockford Tool Company and Rockford Milling Machine Company in Rockford, Illinois. It was known as Sundstrand Machine Tool Company until 1959 when shareholders voted to change the name to Sundstrand Corporation.Sundstrand is known for...

 to become Hamilton Sundstrand
Hamilton Sundstrand
Hamilton Sundstrand, is a global corporation that manufactures and supports aerospace and industrial products for worldwide markets. It was formed from the merger of Hamilton Standard and Sundstrand Corporation in 1999. A subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, HS is headquartered in Windsor...

, a division of United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Technologies Building in Hartford, Connecticut...

. Sundstrand brought a long history and portfolio of quality aerospace products to the newly named company, and Hamilton Sundstrand products are in use on most commercial aircraft produced throughout the world today. Hamilton Sundstrand continues to provide aerospace components and systems to most of the world's aircraft manufacturers, including Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

, Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....

, Bombardier
Bombardier Aerospace
Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc. and is the third-largest airplane manufacturer in the world. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada.- History :...

 and Embraer
Embraer
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....

.

Hamilton Sundstrand employs more than 16,400 people worldwide (2009) and is headquartered in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA. Among the world's largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products, the company designs, manufactures and services aerospace systems and provides integrated system solutions for commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft. It also is a major supplier for international space programs.

Hamilton Sundstrand is owned by United Technologies Corporation, based in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

, USA, a diversified company that provides high-technology products and services to the aerospace and building industries.
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