MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
focused five years ahead of existing technology. Faced with insurmountable differences, he resigned in 1924, the same year his father died. Again, news accounts speculated his re- turn to Hamilton and again “Horsepower” declined. Instead, as its new president, he formed a company (with no name!) with six former Wright engineers to design and produce a new aircraft engine. The “no-name” business had no office, no shop and no
payroll. During 1925 it fell to Rentschler to find funding and a factory space for the company to build its engine (also un-named.) With some family help and well-earned recom- mendations he entered into negotiations with P&W in Hartford, Connecticut, a company respected for producing precision machine tool products. Rentschler adopted the name already on the building, forming “Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation.”
Into a space the size of a tennis court, set off from the
rest of P&W, his intended engine factory was stacked to the ceiling with tobacco left by a previous tenant. Rentschler and his engineers used their own vehicles to haul away tons of leaves. The space was then crammed with engineering offices, a drafting room and a machine shop. During that fall, the lights over the drawing boards were
rarely turned off. Progress increased daily as parts were handmade, assembled, tested and refined, then reassembled. Literally steps away from their offices, the engine took shape. With a nod to the swarm of activity and the hum of machines that fall, Faye Rentschler suggested calling their first engine the “Wasp.” It stuck. “Wasp No. 1” was a 9-cylinder, air cooled, radial en-
gine which excelled at 425hp, running 50 hours without overhaul. Sales were immediately brisk, and soon aircraft designs were created expressly to include P&W engines. During the 1920s and 1930s, world-record flights of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post were made us- ing Wasp engines. More importantly, P&W engines were a major asset which led to victory for the allies of WWII. The Hornet and other engines kept P&W ahead of competitors for years.
In 1951 Rentschler appeared on the cover of Time maga-
zine, giving America a face to go with the name of the man who founded P&W and was then at the helm of United Air Lines. His management style matched his demeanor. Except for his crumpled fedora hat, he was the image of organiza- tion and strength. Rentschler’s methodical and routine habits were divided
between his professional life at United, and his family. He was systematic and regular in his daily office routines for meetings, internal memo directives and correspondence. His evenings were spent without mention of airplanes or engines in the company of his wife and children. He was fond of reading several newspapers and addicted to gossip columns.
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Through the years Rentschler played tennis regularly and his physique seemed impervious to aging. It was not until after the death of his wife that he began to slow down. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 69, he told no one. According to those close to him, “Mister Rent- schler” was not a cold person, yet in management as in his personal life, he insisted upon decorum and respect. His remarkable career spanned more than forty years, two
world wars and the advent of commercial airlines. Before he died in 1956, he prioritized his remaining months by relinquishing his professional life to spend time with his family. He moved to Florida, and enjoyed nature walks with his young grandson. The two were known to share evenings close together in front of the television set awaiting the William Tell Overture and the arrival of the “Lone Ranger” riding Silver, a different type of horsepower.
Giacinta Bradley Koontz
Giacinta Bradley Koontz is an aviation historian and author. With a BA in Anthropology from San Diego State, Giacinta’s background includes field work in historic archaeology as well as museum cura- tion. Between 1995 and 2002 she was the director of the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation and Museum in California where Charles Taylor is buried.
For the past 14 years Giacinta has given hundreds of multi-media presentations on early aviation including appearances at EAA AirVenture (Oshkosh) and the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy center. She has been featured on PBS and the His- tory Channel in documentaries of the history of early aviation. Giacinta is the author of “The Harriet Quimby Scrapbook, the Life of America’s First Birdwoman (1875-1912).” Her books are sold in the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum.
Giacinta’s historic preservation projects have won honors with the Wolf Aviation Fund, and in 2008 she was awarded the National DAR History Medal.
On her new column in D.O.M. magazine, Koontz shares, “I look forward to contributing some of my favorite stories about those quirky, clever, sometimes courageous, and often outrageous pioneers who were often mechanics or aircraft engineers that later became managers or business owners in the aviation industry.”
A feature story by Giacinta will appear in the October 2009 issue of the Smithsonian’s Air&Space magazine.
Giacinta is a recent resident of the SW Four Corners area. For more about Giacinta’s aviation history projects visit her web site
www.harrietquimby.org or
www.portalofthefoldedwings.com
DOMmagazine
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