Pecteilis Radiata

by | Mar 29, 2018 | Pecteilis Radiata

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One of Fletcher's inventions: the Glidemobile, arguably the world's first hovercraft, in the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey.

Charles Joseph Fletcher (December 21, 1922 – April 20, 2011) was an American inventor and the owner and chief executive of an aeronautical equipment manufacturing and engineering company, Technology General Corporation, in Franklin, New Jersey. While a naval aviator he came up with the idea of the "Glidemobile", a vehicle using air for support. This was not made public until used in defence in a patent claim from British manufacturers of hovercraft, Fletcher holds over seventy patents.[1]

Biography

He was born on December 21, 1922, to Horace Fletcher and Florence Romyns. He served as a Lieutenant Commander with the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. Fletcher earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from New York University in 1950.[2]

He was the president of Technology General Corporation, a small ($2 million annual revenue) manufacturer of drawn metal products, spray coating systems, power mixers, and commercial ice crushing equipment. Fletcher penned his autobiography, Quest for Survival, in 2002.

A contributor to the X-15 rocket, Fletcher also worked on the test version of the Apollo Lunar Module, and holds seventeen aeronautical patents on vertical lift and rocket engines.[3][4] Fletcher was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey in 1992 and the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993.

A resident of Fredon Township, New Jersey, he died on April 20, 2011, at Saint Clare's Hospital at Boonton Township in Boonton, New Jersey, at 88.[2]

Publication

  • Fletcher, Charles Joseph (2002). Quest For Survival.

References

  1. ^ Manchester, Lee. "The resurrection of Wellscroft"[permanent dead link], from Adirondack Life, September/October 2002. Accessed October 2, 2007. "The new owner was Charles Fletcher, of Franklin, N.J. The retired Navy aviator and inventor was (and continues to be) president of a corporation that manufactures aeronautical equipment."
  2. ^ a b "Charles Joseph Fletcher". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  3. ^ Fletcher, Charles (2002). Quest for Survival. Glenridge Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-944435-50-5.
  4. ^ "Charles Joseph Fletcher". New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13.
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