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Archives at The Museum of Flight


Lear Developments

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1931 - 1939
  • Usage: 1931 - 1939

Historical Note

Lear Developments manufactured direction finders, aircraft receivers and transmitters, such as the RadioAire, as well as B-battery eliminators for car radios. It also manufactured aircraft equipment, such as antenna reels and radio compasses, also known as automatic direction finders (ADF).

The company was founded in Glenview, Illinois by William P. Lear in July 1931. WPL hired Reeder G. Nichols, Warren Knotts, and Freddie Schnell as radio engineers; Norman Wonderlich as Vice-President and John Wehner as chief engineer.

The company’s first major ADF success was the 1935 Lear-O-Scope, which was marketed for commercial pilots. Also in 1935, the company shifted its focus to the design, development, and manufacture of airborne radio transmitters, radio receivers, and radio direction finder equipment. At the end of 1939, WPL sold to T.S. Harris, an investor, a 49 percent interest in the company. Lear then changed the name to Lear Avia Corporation and relocated both himself and the company to the municipal airport in Dayton, Ohio.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Series I. Lear Developments, 1907-1944, 1979, undated

 Series
Scope and Contents: Series I: Lear Developments Series I: Lear Developments provides insight into one of WPL’s earliest companies, Lear Developments, whose main focus was aircraft radio development and production. The company was established in 1931 and continued through 1939, when it changed its name to Lear Avia Inc. The series includes materials from the lifespan of the company as well as collected items dating earlier and some items dated later due to the restructure.The series is broken down...
Dates: 1907-1944, 1979, undated
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives / William P. and Moya Olsen Lear Papers

Series II. Lear Avia Inc., 1884-1946, 1957, 1975, 1998, undated

 Series
Scope and Contents: Series II. Lear Avia Inc. Series II: Lear Avia Inc. is the second largest series of the collection. It documents the research, development, and manufacture of Lear Avia’s key World War II-era products, notably clutches, screw jacks, motors, and aircraft navigation and radio equipment and parts. In addition, there is documentation of other products which reflect the company’s post-war considerations for manufacture and production. These are not just limited to the field of aeronautics...
Dates: 1884-1946, 1957, 1975, 1998, undated
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives / William P. and Moya Olsen Lear Papers

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