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Garrett AiResearch
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Garrett AiResearch, founded in 1936 by Cliff Garrett, was a manufacturer of turboprop engines and turbochargers, and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies. It was previously known as Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, Garrett Supply Company, AiResearch Manufacturing Company, or simply AiResearch. In 1968, Garrett AiResearch merged with Signal Oil & Gas to form Signal Companies, which in 1985 merged with Allied Corp.
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Encyclopedia
Garrett AiResearch, founded in 1936 by Cliff Garrett, was a manufacturer of turboprop engines and turbochargers, and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies. It was previously known as Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, Garrett Supply Company, AiResearch Manufacturing Company, or simply AiResearch. In 1968, Garrett AiResearch merged with Signal Oil & Gas to form Signal Companies, which in 1985 merged with Allied Corp. into AlliedSignal, and in 1999 was acquired by Honeywell.
History
John Clifford "Cliff" Garrett (b. 1908 in Seattle, WA; d. 1963) founded a company in Los Angeles in 1936 which came to be known as Garrett AiResearch or simply AiResearch. The Company's first major product was an oil cooler for military aircraft. Boeing's B-17 bombers, credited with a major difference in the air war in Europe and the Pacific, were outfitted with Garrett intercoolers, as was the B-25. The Company developed and produced the cabin pressure system for the B-29 bomber, the first production bomber pressurized for high altitude flying. By the end of World War II, AiResearch engineers had developed air expansion cooling turbines for America's first jet aircraft, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star.
By the end of the 1940s Garrett Corporation was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. "In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Garrett was heavily committed to the design of small gas turbine engines from 20 - 90 horse power (15 - 67 kW). The engineers had developed a good background in the metallurgy of housings, high speed seals, radial inflow turbines, and centrifugal compressors."
On the industrial side, the first T-15 Turbocharger was delivered to the Caterpillar Company in 1955. It was followed by an order for 5,000 production units. "On September 27, 1954, Cliff Garrett made the decision to separate the turbocharger group from the Gas Turbine department due to commercial diesel turbocharger opportunities. That was the beginning of the new AiResearch Industrial Division - for turbocharger design and manufacturing." This new division was established in Phoenix, Arizona. AiResearch Industrial Division would later be renamed Garrett Automotive.
In the 1950s and 1960s Garrett diversified and expanded. Garrett AiResearch designed and produced a wide range of military and industrial products for aerospace and general industry. It focused on fluid controls and hydraulics, avionics, turbochargers, aircraft engines, and environmental control systems for aircraft and spacecraft. Garrett pioneered the development of foil bearings, which became standard equipment on all U.S. military aircraft. In the 1960s, AiResearch Environmental Control Systems provided the life supporting atmosphere for American astronauts in the projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab.
In 1968, after a merger with Signal Oil, Garrett became part of Signal Companies. In 1985, Signal merged with Allied Corp., becoming AlliedSignal. The Garrett Aviation Division was sold to General Electric in 1997 and is now part of Landmark Aviation. AlliedSignal merged with Honeywell in 1999.
Part of the original Garrett AIResearch became known as the Garrett Turbine Engine Company after the Signal acquisition in 1968, and became the Garrett Engine Division of AlliedSignal from 1985. In 1994, AlliedSignal acquired the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division of Textron, merging it with Garrett Engine to become the AlliedSignal Engines Division of AlliedSignal Aerospace Company. The company became part of Honeywell Aerospace in 1999.
In the 1970s Garrett's expanding industrial and other non-military applications had changed the basic sources of income. "At the start of the decade sales to the military accounted for 70 percent of the company's business. At the end of the ten years, largely because of turbochargers and general aviation products, the situation was reversed. Commercial sales made up 70 percent; military had dropped to 30 percent." Also by the end of the decade "sales had reached $1.3 billion; backlog was $1.9 billion".
Garrett Aviation was later renamed Landmark Aviation after a 2004 merger, becoming StandardAero after a further merger in 2007.
Other
Since 1984 the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has given an annual Cliff Garrett Turbomachinery and Applications Engineering Award, which "honors Cliff Garrett and the inspiration he provided to engineers by his example, support, encouragement, and many contributions as an aerospace pioneer. To perpetuate recognition of Mr. Garrett's achievements and dedication as an aerospace pioneer, SAE administers an annual lecture by a distinguished authority in the engineering of turbomachinery for on-highway, off-highway, and/or spacecraft and aircraft uses".
Cliff Garrett was installed in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 1994.
Aircraft engine products
Turboprops/Turboshafts:
Turbofans:
See also
External links
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