Edo Aircraft Corporation

Lore & Background

EDO Aircraft Corporation began operations on October 16, 1925 in College Point, New York. Founder Earl Dodge Osborne had dreamed of building airplanes, but his first successful product line was EDO floats. Because of a new innovative design using aluminum rather than wood, and the scarcity of hard-surfaced runways in the 1920s, demand built quickly for the floats. With the outbreak of World War II, the company shifted focus to providing subassemblies for military aircraft of the U.S. Naval Air Corps, U.S. Army Air Forces, and foreign air forces, leading to its renaming as EDO Corporation in November 1947. EDO built a factory in 1940 on Long Island, designed by the NYC firm of Malmfeldt, Adams & Prentice, at a construction cost of $305,000.

In June 1950, Ray Erwin founded the Erwin Sales Company, which was reorganized as Garwin Inc. on 1 March 1952, rebuilding aircraft instruments and accessories. By late 1952 it was manufacturing its own instruments. In 1963 it became Garwin-Carruth Inc., and in 1966 was sold to Weston Instruments. In 1969, EDO Corporation purchased the Wichita Division of Weston Instrument Company and control of Electronic Equipment Engineering, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, which designed radio/audio control equipment for long-range aircraft. The consolidated company was named EDO-Aire. By the 1980s, the light aircraft industry was in a prolonged deep slump, with annual production shrinking from over 12,000 units to around 1,600. In 1982, EDO Aircraft Corporation divested itself of the EDO-Aire Group, ending a 60-year presence in the aviation industry. In April 1983, four former directors of EDO-Aire Wichita formed Sigma Tek, Inc. and purchased the assets of EDO-Aire Wichita from EDO Corporation, with the deal finalized on 25 May 1983.

Reader's Guide

EDO Aircraft Corporation's significance lies in its pioneering role as the world's principal producer of pontoon floats for aircraft, starting before World War II. Its floats were developed for popular aircraft ranging from Piper Cubs to the Douglas C-47, and its leadership in this field continued well into the 1970s, when it began facing significant competition from Wipaire and their Wipline floats. The company's shift during World War II to military subassemblies led to its renaming as EDO Corporation in 1947. Later, through acquisitions in 1969, it formed the EDO-Aire group, which manufactured aircraft instruments and radio/audio control equipment. However, the prolonged slump in the light aircraft industry in the 1980s led EDO to divest its aircraft-related affiliations, including selling the name and rights of EDO floats to Kenmore Air Company, a small transportation company founded after World War II in the Seattle area that had acquired sales rights for EDO floats in the northwestern United States. The EDO-Aire Wichita assets were purchased by Sigma Tek, Inc., formed by four former directors of EDO-Aire Wichita. This legacy underscores EDO's central role in floatplane development and its adaptation to changing aviation markets.

Did You Know?

• Its founder, Earl Dodge Osborne, had originally dreamed of building airplanes but found success with aluminum floats.
• The name and rights of EDO floats were sold to Kenmore Air Company in the 1980s.