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Archives at The Museum of Flight


United Aircraft Corporation

 Organization

Historical Note

United and Transport Corporation was founded in 1929 by William E. Boeing and Frederick Rentschler to serve all aviation markets. It was comprised of engine and aircraft manufacturers as well as airlines. The airlines were under the management of United Airlines, though they intiially operated under their original names.

However, after the Air Mail scandal of 1934, the U.S. government concluded that such large holding companies as United Aircraft and Transport were anti-competitive, and new antitrust laws were passed forbidding airframe or engine manufacturers from having interests in airlines. This law forced United Aircraft and Transport to split into three separate companies. Its eastern manufacturing interests became United Aircraft Corporation, which in 1975 became United Technologies Corporation while western manufacturing interests became the Boeing Airplane Compan and airlines merged to form United Air Lines.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

John Cook Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2013-07-31
Abstract Born in Scotland, John Cook (1899-) was a mechanic who worked on the engines that powered the Douglas World Cruisers that completed the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. Cook also served in the military for thirty-six years and later was a Quality Control Inspector for the Air Force Aircraft program at Boeing. The collection contains photographs, slides, and textual materials primarily related to his time at Boeing as well as some photographs and documents related to his...
Dates: 1920-1986

Alan Lonsdale Patterson Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2021-08-03-A
Overview Alan Lonsdale Patterson worked extensively in the field of aviation from the 1920s to the 1980s. Throughout his career he worked as a barnstormer, pilot and established multiple companies that facilitated the sale of aircraft and aeronautical equipment, predominately between companies based in the United States and China. The collection represents both his professional and personal life through correspondence, photographs, business records, clippings and audiovisual materials, as well as...
Dates: 1876-2021; Majority of material found within 1920-1981

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