MS-305 W.J. Blanchard, Aeroproducts Inc. Collection

INTRODUCTION

This collection contains personal papers and correspondence belonging to Werner J. Blanchard co-founder of Vandalia, Ohio based Engineering Products Inc. Also included in this collection are business documents from 1937-1940 when the small corporation was purchased by General Motors Corp. and renamed Aeroproducts. The collection also contains patent information and blueprints for the inventions of W.J. Blanchard as well as marketing information for propellers designed by the company.

The collection is arranged into the following record series:

• Series 1: Werner J. Blanchard Personal Material
• Series 2: Engineering Projects, Inc./Aeroproducts Business Records
• Series 3: Engineering Blueprints and Marketing Booklets
• Series 4: General Motors Strike
• Series 5: Aviation Handbooks
• Series 6: Oversize

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Werner J. Blanchard was a father, an inventor, and a well respected member of the Dayton business community. He was born in Bennington, Kansas on April 4, 1900. He attended college at Wooster, Ohio and graduated form Kansas State College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. In 1920 he went to work as a machinist for Cleveland Worm and Gear Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1924 he moved home to Manhattan, Kansas to teach school until 1927. He began his proffessional career in the Aeronautics industry as an engineer for Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corp. It was at the Curtiss Corp. that he first patented some of his innovations for aircraft propellers. In 1935 he left the Curtiss Corp. to co-found his own new company with his friend Charles MacNeil. They called their new corporation Engineering Products and started it in Vandalia, Ohio. The company was the first to develop a new propeller that has since become known as the “Aeroprop”. In 1940 Engineering Products was purchased by General Motors Corp. and renamed to Aeroproducts. Werner J. Blanchard was named first General Manager of the Aeroproducts division.

Mr. Blanchard was a member of many local organizations and charities. He was elected president of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce in 1944. He also served as a founding member of the University of Illinois Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. In addition, he served as President of the Board at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio and was a member of the Dayton Engineers Club.

Werner J. Blanchard was sadly taken before his time in December of 1948 when he was killed in the crash of his Navion 85 airplane on a return trip from a business conference. After many days of searching rescuers found the wreckage of his plane outside of Columbus, Ohio. Shortly after his death he was awarded the Presidents Award for Service of Merit During Wartime. He was survived by his wife Juliet, daughter Eunice and son David.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Series 1: Werner J. Blanchard Personal Material

Series 2: Engineering Products/Aeroproducts Business Records

Contains business documents relating to Enginneering Products and Aeroproducts. Included are the original Articles of Incorporation, Minutes of the Board, Corporate Tax Returns, Letters of Patent, project agreements and employee lists. After 1940 the documents reflect the purchase of Engineering Products by General Motors. These documents include Audits, Bills of Sale, Patent assignments to General Motors, Liquidation of Assets, and the Certificate of Dissolution of Engineering Products. There are also a small number of photographs and newspaper clippings related to Aeroproducts.

Series 3: Engineering Blueprints and Marketing Booklets

This series includes both blueprints and technical reports for various Engineering Products/Aeroproducts inventions and products. Also included are maketing booklets for Aeroproducts and Curtiss Propeller Company products.

Series 4: General Motors Strike

Documents exclusive to the labor difficulties in America after WWII and the General Motors/UAW strike in 1946. These documents include memoranda, newsletters, pamphlets and newspaper clippings from both local and national sources.

Series 5: Aviation Handbooks

Includes a military handbook and technical order for the Type A-5 Automatic Pilot “M1”. Also included is a Military Report on radio facility charts and an aerial map of Kansas City airport.

Series 6: Oversize

Contains oversize photographs, maps and awards from the collection of W.J. Blanchard. Included are 4 Phonograph records containing speeches by W.J. Blanchard and Charles Kettering and the Dedication of the Blanchard-MacNeil Memorial.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING