Re: [VAL] Shirley's Factory Tour Pictures

["Tom Patterson" <pattersontom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the clarification.  I was basing my Byam/C-W manufacturing 
information on the following quote from the VAC Fredericksburg 2000 Rally 
program which reads:

"During World War II, Wally Byam the founder of Airstream was forced to close
up shop and take a job with Curtiss-Wright.  As the war wound down, he went to
top management and convinced them that he and they together should build
trailers after the war.  Thus as the war closed in 1945, Engineers were
assigned to designing this trailer under the guidance of Wally.  The first
examples were sold as Curtiss-Wrights in 1946.  Within months Wally tired of
the arrangement and negotiated a new contract under which Curtiss-Wright could
sell the trailer, but Wally could too, only he called his an Airstream. They
were identical.  C-W never found it very profitable and in June of 1949 sold
their interests to partners which called their trailer the Silver Streak."

Maybe the above is just an "Urban Legend" which crept into the program that 
year.  Certainly, the Curtiss spelling in the program is incorrect as I now 
know, through your efforts.