Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

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Goodyear was founded in 1898 and manufactured aircraft tires starting in 1909.[1][2]

Tho the great majority of people were skeptical, considering the flying machine too unsafe and impracticable ever to be of commercial use, Goodyear had faith—believed the day would come when the airplane and he dirigible would be as much a part of our civilization as the railroad and steamship are now. Furthermore, so strong was the belief of certain officials of the company that the dirigible balloon rather than the airplane would be the big factor in the commercial future, that it was decided Goodyear should take the lead in pioneering the way in this country in the development of lighter-than-air craft.
So in 1910, two of Goodyear's technical men were sent to Europe to collect all data and information available on the design and construction of balloons and balloon fabrics. When they returned we began our development work.[3]

Thus in 1910 the company significantly expanded its aeronautical activities, creating a Lighter-than-Air division which made balloons, an aero research division, and an aero marketing division.[4]

Goodyear discuss its balloon-making activities 1919 publication titled Free Ballooning, intended to rekindle enthusiasm for ballooning after the war. The company also operated the Goodyear Balloon School, which trained Navy pilots during the war, and trained government workers in field inspection and repair of balloon. They expected or hoped that business would expand after the war:

The question that arises in the minds of many is, "What are you going to do with this Airship Factory now that the War is over?" They do not yet realize that we are on the threshold of a new era—the era of aerial transportation on a commercial basis. They do not realize that the world is soon to be bound together by aerial lines that will make the different continents all neighbors.
We are therefore not confronted with the problem of dismantling an "Airship Factory" which was built up purely as a war emergency. Rather are we confronted with the problem of increasing the facilities of that factory so that we can construct the mammoth airships the commercial future will require.[5]

Many national branches and some international outlets (England, Spain, South Africa, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Panama, Brazil, Argentina).[6]

The company introduced aircraft for internal corporate purposes as well. Aerial Age Weekly reported in 1919:

A plane has just been put into commission at the head offices of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.'s cotton plantations, at Phoenix, Arizona, to enable the overseers to keep in closer touch with actual farming operations on the plantation.

In the aeroplane, the manager of the two plantations, which are situated about 40 miles apart, each about 20 miles from the city, can reach either plantation in 15 minutes. Formerly it required nearly an hour to reach them, because of the adverse road conditions prevailing.

The plane is in charge of Lt. O. P. Johnson, a Goodyear employee who became an "ace" with our flying forces in France, his operations having been chiefly in and around Cambrai and Amiens.[7]

Patents associated with organization named Goodyear Tire and Rubber

Patents associated with organization named Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

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References

  1. ↑ Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company article on English Wikipedia
  2. ↑ Official Goodyear History
  3. ↑ Free Ballooning, 1919, pp. 41–43.
  4. ↑ "Enlarging Goodyear Factory", Aero, Vol. 1, No. 14., 7 January 1911, p. 23.
  5. ↑ Free Ballooning, 1919, p. 59.
  6. ↑ Free Ballooning, 1919, pp. 62–63.
  7. ↑ "Cotton Plantations Inspected by Aeroplane", Aerial Age Weekly, Vol. 9, No. 24, 25 August 1919, p. 1086.


Organization names Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Entity type
Country US
City Akron
Affiliated with
Scope
Started aero 1910
Ended aero
Keywords
Key people Ralph Hazlett Upson, Charles Harters Roth, R. A. D. Preston, Herman T. Kraft, Melvin Vaniman
Wikidata id
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