MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
the Model 51 which was also an all-metal construction with retractable tricycle gear. The Model 51 was designed to be either a land plane or adapted as an amphibian (with revisions to the hull and added tip fl oats on the wings). The manufac- turing procedures at the Bendix factory were set up like the production of automobiles. By all accounts, each of the Bendix designs was innovative and met the requirements for approved type certifi cates. About a dozen aircraft were built, with a larger pro- duction to be manufactured in Michigan and Texas. Just as Bendix employees were expecting a brilliant future in general aviation, the board membership changed and support ceased abruptly. In May 1946, the Bendix Personal Airplane Project was dropped entirely. “Hundreds of engines were sold off ,” writes Larson, “and the fi nished planes were donated to local universities and high schools.” By 1960, Bendix had perfected newly designed automobile brakes and electric fuel injections systems as well as a small line of bicycles. In 1971, they introduced the fi rst anti-locking brake systems. Be- tween 1982 and 2002 the Bendix name merged, combined and was eventu- ally enveloped by Honeywell and then Knorr-Bremse in the U.S. and interna- tional affi liates.
. . . ABOUT THAT WASHING MACHINE During the mid-1930s, Bendix was also manufacturing hydraulic brakes when he leased part of his factory to two inven- tors of an automatic washing machine. In exchange for 25 percent of their stock, Bendix allowed his name to be used on the machine. “Bendix was assigned the task of producing certain components for the machines but that is as close as we came to the washer,” explains the editor of the Bendix “Log.” The washing machine was an immediate success, but in 1940, Bendix sold its stock. That should have been the end of that. But, ask the seniors among your family
and friends what fi rst comes to mind with the name “Bendix.” It won’t be automo- bile brakes or starters. It won’t be missiles. It won’t be radar or “personal aircraft.” It won’t be Jimmy Doolittle.
Giacinta Bradley Koontz is an aviation historian, magazine columnist and author who has received the DAR History Medal and Honorable Mention from the New York Book Festival. She has appeared on the History Channel and in PBS documentaries. For more information, visit
www.GiaBKoontz.com.
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