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The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation
was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York,
the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and
Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as
the subsidiary was being closed by its parent corporation, General
Motors. Consolidated became famous, during the 1920s and 1930s,
for its line of flying boats. The most successful of the Consolidated
patrol boats was the PBY Catalina, which was produced throughout
World War II and used extensively by the Allies. Equally famous
was the B-24 Liberator, a heavy bomber which, like the Catalina,
saw action in both the Pacific and European theaters. In 1943,
Consolidated merged with Vultee Aircraft to form Consolidated-Vultee
Aircraft, later known as Convair. |
