Alexander P. de Seversky and the Quest for Air Power

7. The Innovative Designer

97 7 The Innovative Designer Filling out a form and paying a fee of incorporation have little to do with actually establishing a company. Alexander P. de Seversky had to add flesh to a charter that by itself was all too easily accomplished in Delaware. It is fascinating to watch the Major maneuver around as he began building his corporation in 1931. Like a good carpenter or stone mason fashioning a house, his success as a builder depended heavily on working with familiar materials. He needed a place to construct the amphibian. Thus he logically arranged to secure space in a hangar at the Edo Aircraft Corporation (today, EDO Corporation) located at College Point by Long Island Sound. Sikorsky had been at the same location for several years. Moreover, Edo specialized in manufacturing seaplane floats, including those employed by Sikorsky, and de Seversky had worked with the company on a couple of his inventions.1 Fleshing Out the Corporate Skeleton The interconnections between Sasha and Edo set the pattern for his selection of key employees, the engineers, who could help him translate his ideas into a high-performing aircraft. One of the first and most important individuals he hired was Alexander M. Pishvanov, who had, in fact, worked for both Edo and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation before joining Seversky. Like the Major, Pishvanov was a Russian émigré, a trained engineer, and a World War I ace pilot for the Imperial Russian Air Service, but for the army not the navy. Unlike de Seversky, who fled the country with his mother several months after the Soviets came to power, Pishvanov stayed and flew for the 98 The Innovative Designer anti-Soviet Whites in the Russian Civil War. Victory by the Reds in that horrible conflict forced him to leave the land of his birth. He then served in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) as a flight instructor before immigrating to the United States in 1926. Fearless in battle, Pishvanov was a quiet, unassuming gentleman in peacetime. His native ingenuity combined with his engineering education and practical experience enabled him to become the future head of Seversky Aircraft Corporation’s Experimental Department.2 In one respect, Pishvanov proved to be the most important engineer. His child, Nicholas, was treated like a son by the childless Major and Evelyn, especially after Pishvanov’s wife, Nona, drowned in 1936. The Pishvanovs and de Severskys remained close long after the aircraft company they helped to create changed hands and names. Nevertheless, for a chief engineer, Sasha selected Mikhail Gregor, who had designed the Bird airplane prized by Alexander and sold by Evelyn. While the Major worked on the overall design, novel floats, wheeled landing gear, and control surfaces, Gregor and Pishvanov did the drawings for the fuselage. The unique wing would be the handiwork of the company’s fourth engineer, Alexander Kartveli, who was born in the Russian Empire in what is now the Republic of Georgia. Formerly employed by Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, his superior skills in designing metal aircraft would result in his promotion by 1936 to the position of vice president in charge of engineering. Kartveli held a similar title when Seversky Aircraft became the Republic Aviation Corporation; hence he was ultimately responsible for the subsequent development of the P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84 Thunderjet, and F-105 Thunderchief.3 Naturally, Kartveli, Pishvanov, and Gregor were vital to de Seversky’s plans for the company. No three-dimensional airplane could emerge until the four engineers completed their two-dimensional drawings and specifications for the airframe, landing gear, and floats. On the other hand, construction required expert “metal benders” like Judd Hopla and shop managers like Michael Bondar, the engineer in charge of actual construction. Hence the fledglingcompanystartedwithahandfulofwell-qualifiedemployees.Despite good personnel, the corporate puzzle remained unsolved because of the missing piece; de Seversky needed an “angel.” He had printed 10,000 shares of stock, which, not surprisingly, remained unsold. Before the October 1929 crash, aviation securities on the New York Stock Exchange weighed in at a value close to $1 billion. By the end of 1931, their worth had plummeted to $50 million. Fortunately, de Seversky’s fame as an air show star, inventive 99 The Innovative Designer engineer, and ace combat pilot converged with his Russian charm enabled him to convince Paul Moore to invest in the Seversky Aircraft Corporation over the winter of 1931–1932.4 Time magazine described...