WWII Factory Columbia Aircraft Industries Portland Oregon

[Forgotten Field]

I have a grouping of documents belonging to a female employee of a company called Columbia Aircraft Industries. The location is Portland Oregon. Is this any relation with Columbia Aircraft Corporation on Long Island, NY? The documents reflect employment there in 1943 and 1944, and that she was a sheet metal worker with an occupation of Head Forming. It includes a Port of Portland USCG ID. Does anyone know about this company?

[CoastieJohn]

I'm asking my aircraft history guy. He said there is not alot of info on the Columbia Aircraft Corp. If this Columbia Aircraft Industries is related to the C.A. Corp, that would be of historical interest. What other documents or pics do you have that could offer some clues?

[ChrisK48]

Oregon Historical Society has a couple of photos online. Probably no help in connecting the companies though.

http://ohsresearchlibrary.tumblr.com/po ... tland-or-c

[ChrisK48]

I found an article from a 1945 newspaper mentioning the company.

PLANE PARTS MARKET OF FIRM DISAPPEARS

Portland, Ore., October 2. (AP)

Columbia Aircraft Industries, which turned out $20,000,000 worth of plant [sic] parts for the armed forces during the war, will be dissolved at once, Guy R. Harper, president, announced today.

He said no market was in prospect, because commercial aircraft demand will take "only a tiny percentage" of long-established companies' output. At its peak Columbia Aircraft had a payroll of 2000 which, by the war's end, had dropped to 750.

Goodwill Industries has purchased the option on the factory building and about 15 Portland industrial bidders will take the machinery.

[CoastieJohn]

I found four pics for C.A. Industries in Portland. I guess the question is, among other things, did they make Duck parts for C.A. Corporation?

I found this for C.A. Corporation on LI

http://www.vsvny.org/index.asp?Type=B_B ... AD90F0E%7D

Curtiss Field

It was in the late 1920s when the airplane was first introduced to the people of Valley Stream. In 1928, the Advance Aircraft Corp. opened a flying field for commercial and passenger service. The site was the Reisert farm, located on 270 acres. Hendrickson Bros. graded and constructed the field. Opening day included an air circus (aerial activities). The love affair with the airfield was short-lived. Dust storms, low and night flying, and the noise of roaring engines provoked much criticism from the local residents. Flying restrictions and zoning laws made running the airport very challenging, and in 1930, Curtiss Aircraft purchased the ill-fated airfield, turning it into the largest commercial airfield on Long Island. At the height of activity, over 800 planes flew in and out of the field every day. Charles Lindbergh made Curtiss Field his first headquarters. In 1929, twenty-six women, including Amelia Earhart, gathered at Curtiss Field and formed a women’s pilot organization, The Ninety-Nines. Amelia Earhart, who served as the organization’s first president, suggested the organization’s name reflect the number of original charter members,

By 1933 the Depression had taken its toll - activities had come to a standstill and the airport was closed. The airfield was then purchased by The Columbia Aircraft Corp,a United States aircraft manufacturer. In 1941, Columbia worked closely with Grumman Aircraft, undertaking the development and production of that company's military amphibian aircraft designs, including the J2F Duck. After the completion of wartime contracts for the United States Navy, the firm's operations decreased in scale and Columbia was acquired by Commonwealth Aircraft in early 1946. Commonwealth ceased production of aircraft in March 1947.


Commonwealth Aircraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Aircraft

[JohnB]

Fun fact: The building of the Long Island Columbia (yes, I know it's thread creep) still stands and is now a Home Depot or similar.

Back on topic, this thread should remind us how many sub contractors there were in the war and how many people they employed.
We think of the people doing the riveting at Boeing and North American where in reality, most people in the wartime aviation industry rarely saw a complete aircraft.

[Forgotten Field]

John, John, and Chris,
Thanks for the replies. The Columbia River runs through Portland. There is a Columbia Aviation today which operates Chinooks for heavy logging (founded in 1957), and I suspect the name for the WWII company and the modern aviation company was picked for the region. Columbia Aircraft Corporation (CAC) from Valley Stream, Long Island, NY was a small player- the small players either went out of business like the Oregon business, or were bought out after WWII by a bigger player like Commonwealth (which went out of business itself). I don't think there is a connection for that reason and for the fact that there were a whole bunch of jobbers in NY and the surrounding region that could fulfill any of the J2F-6 production, which was most of what CAC did. I just can't see them transporting stuff from Oregon to NY for final assembly. BTW, I have a set of NOS J2F-6 cowlings made by CAC.
Does anybody recognize the airframe pieces in the historical society photos? Are those B-17 or B-29 pieces on the left of the second photo? That makes more sense for an Oregon jobber.
These items related to Columbia Aircraft Industries will be for sale when I am able to get photos up. When I have them ready, you guys have first dibs if interested. It won't be expensive.

Thanks again for the information.