Hamilton Standard
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Hamilton Standard, a famous aircraft propeller parts supplier, was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller Corporation. Other members of the corporation included Boeing, United Airlines, Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney. At the time, Hamilton was the largest manufacturer of aircraft propellers in the world.
History
Standard Steel Propeller had been formed in 1918 in Pittsburgh, PA and Hamilton Aero Manufacturing had been formed in 1920 in Milwaukee, WI by Thomas F. Hamilton. Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis used a propeller made by Standard Steel Propeller Company in his historic solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the early 1930s Frank W. Caldwell of Hamilton Standard led a team that developed a variable-pitch propeller, using hydraulic pressure and centrifugal force to change the angle of attack of the blades. Caldwell received the 1933 Collier Trophy for this advance in flight propulsion. Later advances included full-feathering and reversible propellers.
Hamilton Standard was a division of United Aircraft Corporation (1934) along with Pratt & Whitney (engines).
In the early 1950s Hamilton developed the technology to accurately meter fuel in jet engines, and its fuel controls were employed on Boeing 707's and Douglas DC-8's. In 1952 Hamilton Standard opened its plant in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. In 1958 Hamilton's first environmental control system entered service on the Convair 880. In 1968 Hamilton began delivering automatic, electronic systems for control of cabin pressure in aircraft. Hamilton's mechanical fuel controls, in use since the 1950s, evolved into electronically controlled fuel controls and, eventually, to Full Authority Digital Electronic Controls (FADEC) for jet engines and are in use today on many commuter, airline and military engine applications. Hamilton's environmental systems and early association with NASA were highlighted in the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing - supported by environmental control, fuel cell and life support systems manufactured by Hamilton Standard.
According to Robert Hewson's "Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser" (pp. 44-46 for all this paragraph; MBI Publishing ISBN 0-7603-1197-8) Pan American chose Hamilton Standard fully feathering and braking propellors for its Stratocruisers and retrofilled them in the eight Stratocruisers acquired from its merger with American Overseas Airlines, replacing the Curtiss Electric electrically powered reversible pitch propellors chosen by most other Stratocruiser customers. However "the propellors became a source of worry following the loss of the first passenger-carrying Stratocruiser in April 1952." Propellor failure was the suspected cause but could not be proven. "Other Stratocruisers began to lose props and with them their engines." Following two more losses in 1955 and 1956, and two other incidents, the Civil Aviation Board mandated changes in the oil transfer bearing. In Hewsen's judgment, "the problem with the Hamilton Standard propellors lay in their basic construction. the blades were formed from hollow steel forgings filled with sponge rubber, and later, nylon. While they were of a very aerodynamic design they were also prone to fatigue cracking. This problem was solved, to a large degree, by replacing the original blades with new solid core blades." In contrast, Hewson notes, "The Curtiss Electric props never suffered any of the same failures and continued to give trouble free service."
In 1995 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 crashed in Carrollton, Georgia, killing 9 of the 29 people onboard. The crash was determined to be caused by the failure of the propeller due to undiscovered metal fatigue resulting from corrosion. There had been at least two previous failures of the same type propellers, but those aircraft had been able to land safely. The propellers had been recalled and serviced at a Hamilton Standard facility, but the inspection had been incomplete and the refurbishing work ineffective. The NTSB criticized Hamilton Standard for "inadequate and ineffective corporate inspection and repair techniques, training, documentation and communication", and both Hamilton and the FAA for "failure to require recurrent on-wing ultrasonic inspections for the affected propellers".
Merger
In 1999, Hamilton Standard merged with Sundstrand Corporation to become Hamilton Sundstrand, a division of United Technologies Corporation. Sundstrand brought a long history and portfolio of quality aerospace products to the newly named company, and Hamilton Sundstrand products are in use on most commercial aircraft produced throughout the world today. Hamilton Sundstrand continues to provide aerospace components and systems to most of the world's aircraft manufacturers, including Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and Embraer.
Hamilton Sundstrand employs more than 16,400 people worldwide (2009) and is headquartered in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA. Among the world's largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products, the company designs, manufactures and services aerospace systems and provides integrated system solutions for commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft. It also is a major supplier for international space programs.
Hamilton Sundstrand is owned by United Technologies Corporation, based in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, a diversified company that provides high-technology products and services to the aerospace and building industries.
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