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.
Source: www.shanaberger.com
