When thinking of aircraft manufacturers, many folks who are interested
in the aviation history of Buffalo, New York generally think of Bell or
Curtiss-Wright. Relatively few will think of the Consolidated Aircraft
Corporation which operated out of Buffalo for eleven years, from September of 1924 to September of 1935.
Today we present an old print ad for Consolidated
from the June 1935 ish of Aero Digest, featuring the A-11 /
P-30 / PB-2 family of attack and pursuit planes. The basic design was somewhat successful, and Consolidated received production contracts from the US Army totaling 54 aircraft; four P-30/PB-2s and fifty P-30A/PB-2As. But the type was already obsolete by the time it entered service and further development was not pursued.
Just a few months after this
ad ran, Consolidated would close up shop in Buffalo and relocate to San
Diego, California where they would begin work on numerous designs, including two of the most well-known and successful aircraft of the Second World War: the PBY Catalina and B-24 Liberator.
Fade to Black...