2/12/35 USS MACON Destroyed w Reaper, Autographed by Goodyears P. W. LITCHFIELD!

Item Specifics

Country

United States

Condition

Unused

Stamp Format

Single

Item Description

Additional Notes: Mellone's 2/12/35 - C69. $75.00Grim Reaper Surcharge"Dirigible Macon Destroyed"Signed by P. W. Litchfield!Unaddressed, but there must have been an address removedwhere the VIA AIRMAIL label is.A Very Attractive Cover! Paul W. Litchfield (July 26, 1875 – March 18, 1959) was an American inventor, industrialist, and author. He served as President, Chairman, and the first CEO of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the founder of the town of Litchfield Park, Arizona and the city of Goodyear, Arizona. Among his many accomplishments as chairman was the establishment of a research and development department that produced the first practical airplane tire, long-haul conveyor belts, hydraulic disc brakes for airplanes, the first pneumatic truck tire, and a bullet-sealing fuel tank for military airplanes. Litchfield was also the author of books on air power, trucks, employee relations, and business.P. W. LITCHFIELD An industrial leader, chairman of the Goodyear board, who has believed for 30 years that airships would prove useful to his country in peace or war.By 1924, Litchfield was Vice President of the Goodyear Co. That same year he forged a joint venture with the German Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company. The two companies built two Zeppelins in the United States. The Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation was created to facilitate the relationship. In 1926, Litchfield went on to become the president of the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation. As company president, he was responsible for the company's expansion and set up plants, factories and plantations in foreign countries such as Java, Sumatra. the Philippines and Mexico. He expanded the company's operation in South America, Europe and Africa. The two airships built by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation were the USS Akron a.k.a. "ZRS-4" and the USS Macon a.k.a. (ZRS-5). Both were designed by Chief Designer Karl Arnstein and a team of experienced German airship engineers. The construction of the USS Akron airship began on October 31, 1929 at the Goodyear Airdock in Akron, Ohio. A special hangar had to be built because this ship was larger than any other airship previously built in the United States. The airship was launched on August 8, 1931. Construction of the USS Macon began in May 1931 and launched on March 11, 1933. Both airships were sold to the United States Department of the Navy.Random Notes & Accomplishments of Litchfield on Airships, including the USS AkronA young American engineer, P. W. Litchfield, attended the Paris meet, saw these wonders, made notes. He stopped in Scotland on his way back, bought a machine for spreading rubber on fabric, hired the two men tending it (those men, Ferguson and Aikman, were still at their posts in Akron thirty odd years later), hired two young technical graduates on his return, tied in the fortunes of his struggling company with what he believed was a coming industry.So far the use of masts had been entirely a matter for the large rigid airships. The Army did the first development work on high and low masts for its smaller ships at Scott Field, as well as a landing wheel for them to ride on. A situation at Akron started experimentation along a different line. At Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake Field, Mr. Litchfield frowned over the expense of having a considerable crew on hand to land and launch the blimps, with little to do after the ship was in the air. To an Army or Navy post, with plenty of men in training, this surplus of men was no difficulty, but any private corporation operating passenger airship lines would find the expense burdensome.And so the fact that the company had maintained an airship fleet for a number of years had the result that in emergency when the Navy needed ships and men to fly them, Goodyear was ready. All of which was not foreseen when Mrs. Litchfield pulled a cord to release a flock of pigeons and christen the pioneer ship Pilgrim, at a pasture-airport outside Akron in 1925.Previous Dealer Price: $175.00Hi! I just purchased hundreds of great dirigible covers and ephemera! USS Akron, Macon, Goodyear, Shenandoah, Graf Zeppelin, Defender, Puritan and more! Be on the lookout as many have autographs of Eckener, Dresel, Rosendahl, Crew Members, Survivors, Pilots, Captains & More! Some are unique! In addition to that, there are many original photos, postcards & even 2 pieces of fabric from the USS Akron!This item is in Very Fine Condition.

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