Editing Grumman (section)

==History==
[[File:Grumman Historical Marker.jpg|thumb|left|Grumman historical marker]]

[[Leroy Grumman]] worked for the [[Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation]] beginning in 1920. In 1929, [[Keystone Aircraft Corporation]] bought Loening Aircraft and moved its operations from [[New York City]] to [[Bristol, Pennsylvania]]. Grumman and three other ex-Loening Aircraft employees,<ref name=Jordan1>Jordan, Corey C. [http://www.planesandpilotsofww2.webs.com/Grumman1.html "Grumman's Ascendency: Chapter One."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103024723/http://www.planesandpilotsofww2.webs.com/Grumman1.html |date=November 3, 2013 }} ''Planes and Pilots Of World War 2,'' 2000. Retrieved: July 22, 2011.</ref> ([[Edmund Ward Poor]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FW_50wm8VnMC&pg=PA270 "Air Warfare".] ''An International Encyclopedia'', Volume Two, M-Z, Volume 1, pp. 270–271.</ref> William Schwendler, and [[Jake Swirbul]]) started their own company in an old [[Cox-Klemin]] Aircraft Co. factory in [[Baldwin, Nassau County, New York|Baldwin]] on [[Long Island]], New York.  

The company registered as a business on December 6, 1929, and officially opened on January 2, 1930. While maintaining the business by welding aluminum tubing for truck frames, the company eagerly pursued contracts with the [[United States Navy|US Navy]].<ref name=Jordan1/> Grumman designed the first practical floats with a retractable landing gear for the Navy, and this launched Grumman into the aviation market.<ref name=Jordan1/> The first Grumman aircraft was also for the Navy, the [[Grumman FF-1]], a [[biplane]] with retractable [[landing gear]] developed at [[Columbia Field|Curtiss Field]] in 1931.<ref name=Jordan1/> This was followed by a number of other successful designs.<ref name=Jordan1/>

[[File:Grumman 1976 logo.png|thumb|right|Grumman Corporation logo, ca. 1976]] 

During [[World War II]], Grumman became known for its "Cats" (Navy [[fighter aircraft]]): the [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|F4F Wildcat]] and [[Grumman F6F Hellcat|F6F Hellcat]], the  [[Grumman F7F Tigercat]] and [[Grumman F8F Bearcat]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/the-grumman-cats-9289264/|title=The Grumman Cats|publisher=Air Space Magazine|last=Nicklas|first=Brian|date=September 2006|access-date=April 19, 2020}}</ref> and also for its [[torpedo bomber]], the [[Grumman TBF Avenger]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/exhibits/tbm-avenger/|title=Grumman TBM Avenger|publisher=[[Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum]]|access-date=April 19, 2020}}</ref> Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p.619</ref> Production of the majority of the Wildcats and Avenger was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors : the [[Eastern Aircraft Division]]. Grumman's first [[jet aircraft]] was the [[Grumman F9F Panther|F9F Panther]]; it was followed by the upgraded [[Grumman F-9 Cougar|F9F/F-9 Cougar]], and the [[Grumman F-11 Tiger|F-11 Tiger]] in the 1950s. The company's big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the [[Grumman A-6 Intruder|A-6 Intruder]] and [[Grumman E-2 Hawkeye|E-2 Hawkeye]] and in the 1970s with the [[Grumman EA-6B Prowler]] and [[Grumman F-14 Tomcat|F-14 Tomcat]]. Grumman products were prominent in several feature movies including ''[[The Final Countdown (film)|The Final Countdown]]'' in 1980,<ref>{{cite book |author=Stephen A. Riffin |date=June 1, 2005 |title=Aviation's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Winged Wonders, Lucky Landings, and Other Aerial Oddities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MBKzwAOkrAC&pg=PA294 |page=294 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=9781574886740 |access-date=April 18, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Top Gun]]'' in 1986, and ''[[Flight of the Intruder]]'' in 1990.<ref name="Grumman facts">{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/grumman-studios-secrets-and-fun-facts-1.11490135|title=Grumman Studios: Secrets and fun facts|work=[[Newsday]]|date=March 29, 2018|first=Ian J.|last=Stark|access-date=April 17, 2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801085537/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/grumman-studios-secrets-and-fun-facts-1.11490135|archive-date=August 1, 2020}}</ref> The U.S. Navy still employs the Hawkeye as part of Carrier Air Wings on board aircraft carriers, while the U.S. Marine Corps, the last branch of service to fly the Prowler, retired it on March 8, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Snow |first=Shawn |date=March 8, 2019 |url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/03/08/the-saltiest-warfighter-in-the-marine-corps-the-ea-6b-prowler-retires/ |title=EA-6B Prowler, one of the saltiest warfighters in the Marine Corps, retires |website=MarineTimes}}</ref>

[[File:Lunar Module diagram.jpg|thumb|right|Apollo Spacecraft: Apollo Lunar Module Diagram]]

Grumman was the chief contractor on the [[Apollo Lunar Module]], the first spacecraft to land humans on the Moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM_News_Reference_H_Missions.pdf|title=Apollo Spacecraft: News Reference|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref> The firm received the contract on November 7, 1962, and built 13 lunar modules. Six of them successfully landed on the Moon, with one serving as a lifeboat on [[Apollo 13]], after an explosion crippled the main Apollo spacecraft. LM-2, a test article which never flew in space, is displayed permanently in the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/history/lunar-module.html|title=Lunar Module|publisher=[[Cradle of Aviation Museum]]|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref> As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the [[Space Shuttle]], but lost to [[Rockwell International]].<ref>{{cite book  |date=1972 |title=Astronautics and Aeronautics: Chronology of Science, Technology, and Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PwwnVheLEwC&pg=RA1-PA339|page=339 |access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>

In 1969, the company changed its name to '''Grumman Aerospace Corporation''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Grumman-Aerospace-Corporation|title=Grumman Aerospace Corporation {{!}} American Company|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref> and in 1978 it sold the Grumman-American Division to [[Gulfstream Aerospace]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thomas|first1=Joel|title=History of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation|url=https://www.stratosjets.com/history-of-gulfstream-aerospace-corporation/|access-date=January 5, 2016|date=May 19, 2014|website=Stratos Jets}}</ref> That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer [[Flxible]]. The company built the [[Grumman LLV]] (Long Life Vehicle), a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the [[United States Postal Service]]. The LLV was produced from 1987 until 1994. Its intended service life was 24 years, but some of them were still in service in 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/auto/special-delivery-new-u-s-postal-service-truck-to-be-picked-this-year|title=$6.3 billion delivery: New U.S. Postal Service truck to be picked this year|publisher=[[Fox News]]|last=Gastelu|first=Gary|date=May 7, 2019|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref> In 1983, Grumman sold Flxible for $40 million to General Automotive Corporation of Ann Arbor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/29/archives/grumman-is-seeking-1billion-in-subcontracts-in-us-spaceshuttle.html|title=Grumman to Sell Troubled Bus Unit|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1982|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>

In the 1950s, Grumman began production of [[Gulfstream Aerospace|Gulfstream]] business aircraft, starting with the [[Gulfstream I]] turboprop (Grumman model G-159) and the [[Gulfstream II]] jet (Grumman model G-1159). Gulfstream aircraft were operated by many companies, private individuals, and government agencies including various military entities and [[NASA]]. In addition, the Gulfstream I was operated by several [[regional airlines]] in scheduled passenger services. The [[Grumman Gulfstream I|Gulfstream I-C]] (Grumman model G-159C) version was "stretched" to carry 37 passengers.

In the early 1970s, Grumman acquired majority interest in the [[American Aviation]] line of very light aircraft -- relabeling its planes as "Grumman-American" or "Grumman American" -- eventually joining it with their Gulfstream division before selling off that combined enterprise in 1978.

In 1978, Grumman sold Gulfstream to [[American Jet Industries]], which adopted the Gulfstream name. Since 1999, Gulfstream has been a wholly owned subsidiary of [[General Dynamics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gulfstreamnews.com/history |title=History |publisher=Gulfstream News |access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>