-1948 |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Collected by Sue A. Thomas, 4-24-02 From: Educator at Curtiss Museum [mailto:educationdirector@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 4:25 PM To: flcpamba@aol.com Subject: Re: Thomas Brother Aviation School Hello Sue, Yes, we do have a lot of info on the Thomas Bros. In our archives. Also, there is a great book "The Heritage of Bath" that has a nice section on them w/ photos. In a nutshell- both came over from Great Britain - Oliver Thomas first-went to work for GE in Schenectady, N.Y. William Thomas came in 1908 to work for Curtiss. 1909- Williamm designed & constructed a Bi-plane 1910 - founded the Thomas Bros. Airplane Co. in Hammondsport Same year moved his operation to Hornell/Canisteo area to test flights Then they moved to Bath, N.Y. (Lake Salubria) a Kirkham engine was designed there - a pilot friend (also Curtiss employee-Walter Johnson, began doing all the actual flying from the ice of Lake Salubria "The Thomas Headless Pusher") 1911 -Oliver joined his brother 1914 - once again they moved their plant to Ithaca, N.Y. 1916 - they merged Thomas School of Aviation & the Thomas Aeromotor Co. 1917- it became the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Co. (they no longer used the Curtiss OX5 engines) William continued to do some flying, Oliver was the engineer/Administrative person After WWI, Oliver retired from aviation 1922-William resigned- the company remained in business until 1929 - Oliver went to Argentina, William to Daytona Beach Oliver died in England in 1948 William passed away July 29, 1966 During WWI, their company was the 4th largest producer of military aircraft in the U.S. Editor's Note: This summary of the careers of William and Oliver Thomas was collected by Sue A. Thomas and made available to us through her courtesy. She acquired them by her own initiative and curiosity and is continuing her search for more details. If you can help her in her quest, I am sure she would appreciate it. On behalf of myself and my visitors, I thank her very much for her efforts. |
|
You will find a comprehensive listing of some 70 different models of planes produced by the Thomas enterprises from 1910 to 1934. It provides detailed descriptions of the planes, illustrated with some 27 photos, To access this wonderful resource, click on: |
 |
|
If you have any information on this Early Bird, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper Back 
|