Formerly |
|
---|---|
Industry | Aerospace |
Founder | Orin Welch |
Defunct | 1944 |
Fate | Bankrupt |
Headquarters | , United States |
The Orin Welch Aircraft Company was originally located in Charleston, West Virginia.[1] It purchased the holdings of the Muncie Aerial Company in 1928.[2] In 1929, it inaugurated a new airfield southwest of Anderson, Indiana.[3] Later that year, it would be purchased by the city.[4] Unfortunately, fire destroyed the plant in 1930.[5] As a result, it eventually moved to Bendix Municipal Airport in South Bend, Indiana in 1936.[6] By 1939, it had been renamed Welch Aircraft Industries.[7] It was then acquired by the Aircraft Corporation of La Porte, Indiana in 1940.[8] It was then moved to the Wyoming Valley Airport near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.[9] By 1941, it was planned for a new factory to be located in Exeter, Pennsylvania.[10] Then, in 1943, a proposal was made to relocate to Scranton, Pennsylvania.[11] However, in 1944 the company went bankrupt.[12]
Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Welch OW-1 | 1927 | 4 | Single engine biplane utility airplane |
Welch OW-2 | 1928 | 2 | Single engine biplane utility airplane |
Welch OW-3 | 1928 | 3 | Single engine biplane utility airplane |
Welch OW-4 | 1929 | 1 | Single engine monoplane utility airplane |
Welch OW-5 | 1931 | 38 | Single engine monoplane utility airplane |
Welch OW-6 | 6[13] | Single engine monoplane utility airplane | |
Welch OW-7 | 8 | Single engine monoplane utility airplane | |
Welch OW-8 | 2 | Single engine monoplane utility airplane |