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]
Charles J. Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Joseph Fletcher December 21, 1922 Franklin, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 20, 2011 (aged 88) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | New York University, B.S. 1950 |
| Occupation | Aeronautical Engineering |
| Known for | Hovercraft |
Biography
editHe 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
edit- Fletcher, Charles Joseph (2002). Quest For Survival.
References
edit- ^ 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."
- ^ a b "Charles Joseph Fletcher". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- ^ Fletcher, Charles (2002). Quest for Survival. Glenridge Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-944435-50-5.
- ^ "Charles Joseph Fletcher". New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13.