North
American Aviation was formed in 1928 for the purposes of
acquiring aviation oriented stocks and securities.
Important acquisitions include Berliner-Joyce
(1930) and General Aviation (1933). The U.S. Navy used the
letter "J" to identify Berliner-Joyce aircraft and
continued its use for North American aircraft.
The acquisition of these companies marked a
transition from earning income from stock trading and dividends to
designing and manufacturing aircraft. Also important was the
acquisition of "Dutch" Kindelberger as president and
general manager. "Dutch" had been a Lieutenant in
the U.S. Army Signal Corp, a draftsman for Glenn
Martin and chief engineer for Donald
Douglas.
North American's second aircraft was the aircraft
that became the AT-6 Texan, of which over
16,000 were produced. The Texan, B-25 Mitchell and, P-51
Mustang assured the success of the company.
North American Aviation merged with
Rockwell-Standard (owner of Aero Commander)
in 1967 to become North American Rockwell.
Another merger, this time with Rockwell Manufacturing, created Rockwell
International in 1973.
Rockwell sold it's General Aviation division to Gulfstream
in 1980, its Sabreliner division to Sabreliner
Corp in 1983 and the rest of it's aerospace interests to Boeing
in 1996.
