The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer that was based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II, and crewed spacecraft including the Mercury capsule and Gemini capsule. McDonnell Aircraft later merged with the Douglas Aircraft Company to form McDonnell Douglas in 1967.
History
James McDonnell founded J.S. McDonnell & Associates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1928 to produce a small aircraft for family use.[2] The economic depression from 1929 ruined his plans and the company collapsed. He went to work for Glenn L. Martin.[3]
He left in 1938 to try again with his own firm, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, based at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1939.[3]