North American Aviation

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · United States

North American Aviation

North American Aviation, Inc. · NAA · General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation (merged 1933)

A Wall Street holding company that built nothing became, under a Douglas engineer, the maker of the Mustang, the Sabre, the X-15 and the Apollo spacecraft — then vanished into a 1967 merger.

1928Founded
Merged into Rockwell International in 1967Status
23Aircraft on record
66Air forces flying its types
CountryUnited StatesFounded1928-12-06FoundersClement Melville KeysHeadquartersLos Angeles, CaliforniaStatusMerged into Rockwell International in 1967
The story

North American Aviation: the company and the aircraft that made its name

A company that built nothing

North American Aviation began life without a single aircraft to its name. On 6 December 1928 the financier Clement Melville Keys set it up as a holding company to buy and sell stakes in airlines and aviation firms. For five years it traded paper. In 1933 General Motors bought control and merged it with General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation, and a year later the Air Mail Act of 1934 forced holding companies of its kind to break up. What was left was a small aircraft factory at Dundalk, Maryland, with barely any orders. It needed someone who knew how to build aeroplanes — and it found him at Douglas.

Dutch heads west

James Howard Kindelberger, born in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1895, was nicknamed Dutch for his German ancestry. At Douglas he had been chief engineer on the DC-1 and DC-2. In 1934 he left with a younger colleague, Lee Atwood, to become president and general manager of North American; Atwood became chief engineer. Kindelberger promptly moved the operation from Maryland to Los Angeles for its year-round flying weather. The first product of the new team was the NA-16 trainer, which flew on 1 April 1935 and grew into the T-6 Texan, the Harvard of the Commonwealth air forces. 15,495 were built, and they served in more than 60 air forces.

One hundred and two days

In 1940 a British Purchasing Commission arrived wanting North American to build Curtiss P-40s under licence. Kindelberger argued his company could design something better. The prototype NA-73X was rolled out just 102 days after the order was placed and first flew on 26 October 1940. With its Allison engine the Mustang was superb at low level and breathless above 15,000 feet. The cure came from a Rolls-Royce test pilot, Ronald Harker, who in 1942 suggested fitting a Merlin 61. The Merlin Mustang became the long-range escort that made its name with the Eighth Air Force. In all 15,686 were built, and in one month the company turned out 571.

Sixteen bombers off a carrier deck

Its bombers made headlines too. The B-25 Mitchell, named after the air-power prophet Billy Mitchell, first flew on 19 August 1940. On 18 April 1942 sixteen B-25Bs lifted off the deck of USS Hornet, launched ten hours early and some 650 nautical miles from Japan, for the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home islands. Three years later, on 28 July 1945, a B-25 lost in fog struck the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors. By the end of the war North American had built about 42,000 aircraft and employed as many as 91,000 people; in 1946 it was down to 5,000.

Sabre against MiG

It bounced back with swept wings. The F-86 Sabre first flew on 1 October 1947 — three months before the Soviet MiG-15 — and set a world speed record of 671 mph in 1948. Over Korea the two became the defining duel of the early jet age. American pilots claimed 792 MiGs for 78 Sabres, though a later RAND study put the real ratio nearer 1.8 to 1, and closer still against Soviet pilots. With 9,860 built including licence production in Canada, Australia, Italy and Japan, it was the West’s most-produced jet fighter. Its successor, the F-100 Super Sabre, became the first USAF fighter supersonic in level flight.

To the edge of space

From Inglewood and Downey the company reached for space. The rocket-powered X-15 first flew on 8 June 1959 and made 199 flights. In August 1963 Joe Walker took one to 108 kilometres, becoming the first person to fly into space twice by the international definition; on 3 October 1967 William Knight reached Mach 6.7, 4,520 mph. The XB-70 Valkyrie, a six-engined Mach 3 bomber, flew in 1964 but the second prototype was lost on 8 June 1966 when an F-104 drifted into its wing, killing Walker and co-pilot Carl Cross. Meanwhile Rocketdyne engines powered Atlas, Thor and Saturn rockets, and on 28 November 1961 NASA chose North American to build the Apollo command and service module.

Fire, merger and a quiet ending

That contract brought the darkest day. On 27 January 1967 fire swept the Apollo 1 cabin during a launch rehearsal, killing Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The press blamed North American, though a congressional hearing later ruled otherwise, and the review board found serious shortcomings in the Block I design. Eight months later, in September 1967, the company merged with the Pittsburgh industrial group Rockwell-Standard to become North American Rockwell, renamed Rockwell International in 1973. The name lived on in the Space Shuttle orbiter and B-1 bomber, until Boeing bought Rockwell’s aerospace and defence business in December 1996. Its heritage now sits with Boeing.

A Wall Street holding company that built nothing became, under a Douglas engineer, the maker of the Mustang, the Sabre, the X-15 and the Apollo spacecraft — then vanished into a 1967 merger.North American Aviation · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

North American Aviation in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1928

  • Set up on 6 December 1928 by Clement M. Keys as an aviation holding company
  • Controlled by General Motors 1933–1948
  • Run from 1934 by James H. Kindelberger and Lee Atwood, both from Douglas
  • Merged with Rockwell-Standard in September 1967

Production

Best known for
P-51 Mustang

  • Famous types: T-6 Texan, P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchell, F-86 Sabre, F-100, X-15
  • About 42,000 aircraft built by the end of the Second World War
  • Apollo command and service module and the Saturn V S-II second stage

Today

Now
Part of Boeing

  • Became North American Rockwell in 1967 and Rockwell International in 1973
  • Aerospace and defence operations sold to Boeing in December 1996

Thousands of T-6s and hundreds of Mustangs still fly as civil warbirds.

The numbers

Peak employment
91,000Second World War
Employment after the war
5,0001946
Aircraft built by end of WWII
about 42,0001945
Sales
more than 315 million US dollars1952
Rank among US firms by wartime production contracts
11th
P-51 single-month production record
571 aircraft
Columbus, Ohio workforce
1,600 in 1950 to 18,000 in 1952
Apollo command and service modules built
35, of which 19 flew in space
The aircraft

Every notable North American Aviation aircraft

B-25 MitchellMedium bomber · first flight 1940 · 9,816 (B-25 article) to 9,890 (NAA article) builtP-51 MustangFighter · first flight 1940 · 15,686 builtF-86 SabreJet fighter · first flight 1947 · 9,860 including licence production (6,297 by NAA) builtT-28 TrojanTrainer and light attack · first flight 1949 · 1,948 builtF-86D SabreAll-weather interceptor · first flight 1949 · 2,847 builtF-100 Super SabreSupersonic fighter-bomber · first flight 1953 · 2,294 builtA-5 VigilanteCarrier bomber and reconnaissance · first flight 1958 · 167 builtXB-70 ValkyrieMach 3 bomber prototype · first flight 1964 · 2 builtOV-10 BroncoLight attack and observation · first flight 1965 · 360 built

Photos: Articseahorse · CC BY-SA 4.0; U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker · Public domain; USAF · Public domain; Pseudopanax · public domain; Alf van Beem / Wikimedia Commons (CC0); U.S. Navy · Public domain; NASA · Public domain; TSgt. Hans H. Deffner, USAF · Public domain

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
NA-16 / T-6 Texan (Harvard, SNJ) Advanced trainer 1935 15,495 Retired Served in more than 60 air forces; last military user South Africa, 1995
O-47 Observation aircraft 1935 239 Retired
B-25 Mitchell Medium bomber 1940 9,816 (B-25 article) to 9,890 (NAA article) Retired Flew the Doolittle Raid of 18 April 1942
P-51 Mustang Fighter 1940 15,686 Retired NA-73X prototype rolled out 102 days after the British order; transformed by the Rolls-Royce Merlin
A-36 Apache Dive bomber 1942 500 Retired Ground-attack Mustang
F-82 Twin Mustang Long-range escort and night fighter 1945 272 Retired
FJ-1 Fury Carrier jet fighter 1946 33 Retired
Navion Light civil aircraft 1946 1,109 Design sold to Ryan in 1947, which built 1,240 more
B-45 Tornado Jet bomber 1947 143 Retired First operational jet bomber of the USAF
F-86 Sabre Jet fighter 1947 9,860 including licence production (6,297 by NAA) Retired Fought the MiG-15 over Korea
AJ Savage Carrier attack bomber 1948 143 Retired
T-28 Trojan Trainer and light attack 1949 1,948 Retired
F-86D Sabre All-weather interceptor 1949 2,847 Retired
FJ-2/FJ-3/FJ-4 Fury Carrier jet fighter 1951 203 FJ-2, 538 FJ-3, 374 FJ-4 Retired Navalised Sabre family
F-100 Super Sabre Supersonic fighter-bomber 1953 2,294 Retired First USAF fighter supersonic in level flight; 242 lost in Vietnam
F-107 Fighter-bomber prototype 1956 3 Retired
A-5 Vigilante Carrier bomber and reconnaissance 1958 167 Retired 137 built as or converted to RA-5C; first flown at Columbus
T-2 Buckeye Jet trainer 1958 529
Sabreliner (T-39) Business jet and trainer 1958 800+ About 200 were military T-39s
X-15 Rocket-powered research aircraft 1959 3 Retired 199 flights; reached Mach 6.7 and 108 km
XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber prototype 1964 2 Retired Second prototype lost in a mid-air collision on 8 June 1966
OV-10 Bronco Light attack and observation 1965 360 In service Built at Columbus; still flown in small numbers, including by CAL FIRE
Apollo command and service module Crewed spacecraft 35 Retired Contract won 28 November 1961; 19 flew in space
Who flies them

North American Aviation aircraft in the world’s air forces

66 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew North American Aviation types. 2 of them still have one in service.

Air force In service Formerly flown
Canadian State Air Services North American Harvard Mk IV
Ecuadorian Air Force North American Sabreliner North American T-28 Trojan, Ryan PT-22, Curtiss-Wright CW-22, Fairchild PT-19A and North American AT-6A
Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo North American T-28 Trojan, North American T-6 Texan/Harvard
Air Vigilance Service North American P-51D Mustang
Argentine Air Force North American F-86F Sabre
Argentine Naval Aviation North American AT-6 / SNJ-5C Texan, North American T-28 Trojan
Austrian Air Force North American LT-6G Texan
Belgian Air Force North American Harvard
Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela North American F-86F Sabre, North American F-86K Sabre, North American B-25J Mitchell, North American T-2D Buckeye
Brazilian Air Force North American T-6 Texan
Brazilian Naval Aviation North American T-28 Trojan
Canadian Naval and Army Aviation North American Harvard, North American Harvard, army pilot training
Chilean Air Force North American AT-6 and Beech C-45
Colombian Aerospace Force North American AT-6 Texan
Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force North American P-51D Mustang, North American T-28 Trojan, North American T-6 Texan
Dominican Air Force North American P-51D / F-51D Mustang, North American AT-6 / T-6 Texan, North American T-28S Fennec
Ethiopian Air Force North American F-86F Sabre, North American T-28 Trojan
French Air and Space Force North American F-100D/F Super Sabre, North American P-51D Mustang
German Air Force North American F-86K Sabre Dog
Guatemalan Air Force North American T-6 Texan (armed), North American F-51D Mustang
Guinea-Bissau Air Force North American T-6G Texan
Haitian Aviation Corps North American T-28 Trojan (ex-French), North American F-51D Mustang, North American AT-6 Texan
Hellenic Air Force North American T-2E Buckeye, North American / Canadair F-86E and F-86D Sabre
Honduran Air Force North American NA-16, North American T-6 Texan, North American T-28A/B Trojan, North American F-86K Sabre
Indonesian Air Force North American P-51D Mustang, North American B-25 Mitchell
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force North American F-86F Sabre
Israeli Air Force North American P-51D Mustang
Italian Air Force North American F-86K Sabre, North American P-51D Mustang, North American T-6 Texan
Japan Air Self-Defense Force North American / Mitsubishi F-86F Sabre (and RF-86F), North American T-6 Texan
Lao People’s Liberation Army Air Force North American T-28 Trojan (T-28D, AT-28), North American AT-6 Texan
Lebanese Air Force North American Harvard T.2B
Mexican Air Force North American T-28A Trojan
Nicaraguan Air Force North American T-28 Trojan, North American P-51D Mustang
Pakistan Air Force North American F-86F Sabre and Canadair Sabre Mk 6, North American Harvard
Paraguayan Air Force North American T-6 Texan
People’s Liberation Army Air Force North American P-51 Mustang, PT-19 and de Havilland Mosquito (captured)
Peruvian Air Force North American NA-50 Torito, North American F-86F Sabre
Philippine Air Force North American F-86F/D Sabre, North American T-28 Trojan, North American P-51D Mustang
Polish Air Force North American Mustang III, North American Mitchell
Portuguese Air Force North American F-86F Sabre, North American T-6 / AT-6 Texan and Harvard
Republic of China Air Force North American F-100A/F and RF-100A Super Sabre, North American F-86F, RF-86F and F-86D Sabre, North American P-51/F-51D Mustang, North American T-28 Trojan
Republic of Korea Air Force North American F-86F and RF-86F Sabre, North American F-86D Sabre, North American F-51D Mustang
Republic of Korea Navy aviation (Naval Air Command) North American T-6 Texan (Haechwiho)
Royal Air Force North American Mustang III/IV, North American Mitchell
Royal Australian Air Force North American B-25 Mitchell
Royal Cambodian Air Force North American T-28D Trojan, North American T-6G Texan
Royal Canadian Air Force North American Mustang Mk.IV, North American Mitchell, North American Harvard
Royal Danish Air Force North American F-100D/F and TF-100F Super Sabre, North American F-86D Sabre, North American Harvard
Royal Moroccan Air Force North American T-6 Texan
Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force North American F-86K Sabre, North American P-51D Mustang (ML-KNIL), North American B-25 Mitchell
Royal New Zealand Air Force North American P-51D Mustang, North American Harvard
Royal Norwegian Air Force North American F-86F and F-86K Sabre
Royal Saudi Air Force North American F-86F Sabre, North American T-28A Trojan, North American T-6A Texan
Royal Thai Air Force North American F-86F Sabre, North American T-28D Trojan
Salvadoran Air Force North American P-51D and Cavalier F-51D Mustang, North American AT-6 / SNJ-4 / SNJ-5 Texan
Serbian Air Force and Air Defence North American F-86E and Canadair CL-13 Sabre
Somali Air Force North American P-51D Mustang, Beech C-45, North American T-6H Texan and Stinson L-5
South African Air Force North American F-86F Sabre (Korea), North American F-51D Mustang (Korea) and Mustang III/IV, North American Harvard and T-6G Texan
Spanish Air and Space Force North American F-86F Sabre (C.5), North American T-6 Texan
Swedish Air Force North American P-51D Mustang (J 26), North American Harvard and T-6 (Sk 16)
Swiss Air Force North American AT-16 Harvard IIB, North American P-51D Mustang, F-6D/K, TP-51D
Syrian Air Force North American T-6 Harvard
Tunisian Air Force North American F-86F Sabre
Turkish Air Force North American F-100C/D/F Super Sabre
United States Air Force North American P-51 Mustang, North American F-86 Sabre, North American F-100 Super Sabre, North American XB-70 Valkyrie
Uruguayan Air Force North American F-51D Mustang, North American B-25J Mitchell, North American T-6 Texan
Places, people, records

Where North American Aviation built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Dundalk works · Dundalk, Maryland — Original factory before the move west in the mid-1930s
  • Inglewood plant · Los Angeles (Inglewood), California — Main fighter plant; P-51, F-86, F-100
  • Dallas plant · Dallas, Texas — Wartime expansion plant
  • Kansas City plant · Kansas City, Kansas — Wartime expansion plant
  • Columbus plant · Columbus, Ohio — Grew from 1,600 staff in 1950 to 18,000 in 1952; A-5 and OV-10
  • Downey plant · Downey, California — Former Consolidated-Vultee site; built the Apollo command and service modules

People

  • Clement Melville Keys · founder, financier — Created NAA as an aviation holding company in 1928
  • James H. “Dutch” Kindelberger · president, then chairman and CEO — Ex-Douglas chief engineer; ran NAA from 1934; chairman until his death in 1962
  • John Leland “Lee” Atwood · chief engineer, president, CEO — Joined 1934; president 1948, CEO 1960; led the 1967 Rockwell merger; retired 1970
  • George Welch · test pilot — Flew the F-86 on its first flight, 1 October 1947
  • Scott Crossfield · test pilot — Flew the first X-15 flight, 8 June 1959
  • Ronald Harker · Rolls-Royce test pilot — Proposed fitting the Merlin 61 to the Mustang in 1942

Records and firsts

  • World speed record of 671 mph by Maj. Richard L. Johnson in an F-86, 15 September 1948 (n10)
  • F-100 prototype world speed record of about 755 mph, 29 October 1953 (n11)
  • A3J Vigilante world altitude record with payload, 91,450.8 ft, 13 December 1960 (n17)
  • X-15 reached 108 km with Joe Walker on 22 August 1963, his second flight above 100 km (n13)
  • X-15 fastest crewed winged flight, Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph) by William J. Knight, 3 October 1967 (n12)
  • XB-70 exceeded Mach 3 (Mach 3.02) on 14 October 1965 (n14)
  • B-45: first operational USAF jet bomber and first multi-engine jet bomber refuelled in flight (n19)
  • F-100: first USAF fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight (n11)
Timeline

North American Aviation, year by year

1928

Clement Keys founds North American Aviation as a holding company

1933

General Motors takes control and merges in General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation

1934

Air Mail Act forces the break-up; Kindelberger and Atwood arrive from Douglas

1935

NA-16, ancestor of the T-6 Texan, first flight

1940

B-25 Mitchell first flight

1940

NA-73X Mustang prototype first flight, 102 days after the order

1942

Sixteen B-25Bs fly the Doolittle Raid from USS Hornet

1945

A B-25 crashes into the Empire State Building in fog

1947

F-86 Sabre first flight

1948

General Motors divests NAA; Atwood becomes president

1953

F-100 Super Sabre first flight

1959

X-15 first flight

1961

NASA awards NAA the Apollo command and service module contract

1962

Dutch Kindelberger dies

1964

XB-70 Valkyrie first flight

1966

XB-70 No. 2 lost in a mid-air collision

1967

Apollo 1 fire kills three astronauts

1967

Merger with Rockwell-Standard creates North American Rockwell

1996

Boeing buys Rockwell’s aerospace and defence business

The family tree

Before and after North American Aviation

Came afterRockwell InternationalMerged with Rockwell-Standard in September 1967 as North American Rockwell; Rockwell International from 1973Read the Rockwell International pageCame afterBoeingBought Rockwell’s aerospace and defence business, including the former NAA operations, in December 1996Read the Boeing page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about North American Aviation

Who founded North American Aviation?
Financier Clement Melville Keys founded North American Aviation on 6 December 1928 as a holding company for airline and aviation interests. It became a true aircraft manufacturer after 1934, when James H. “Dutch” Kindelberger arrived from Douglas to run it.
How fast was the P-51 Mustang designed?
The NA-73X prototype was rolled out 102 days after the British order was placed and first flew on 26 October 1940. A total of 15,686 Mustangs were built.
What happened to North American Aviation?
In September 1967 it merged with Rockwell-Standard to form North American Rockwell, renamed Rockwell International in 1973. Boeing bought Rockwell’s aerospace and defence business, including the former North American operations, in December 1996.
Did North American Aviation build the Apollo spacecraft?
Yes. NASA chose North American on 28 November 1961 to build the Apollo command and service module; 35 were built at Downey and 19 flew in space. Its Rocketdyne division built the Saturn engines and the company built the Saturn V S-II stage.
Was General Motors the owner of North American Aviation?
Yes. General Motors bought a controlling interest in 1933 and merged it with General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation, then divested NAA as a public company in 1948.
How many aircraft did North American Aviation build in the Second World War?
About 42,000 by the end of the war, led by the T-6 trainer, the P-51 Mustang and the B-25 Mitchell. Employment peaked at about 91,000.

Continue the tour

Around North American Aviation

United StatesBellThe Buffalo firm that built America’s first jet fighter and the first aircraft through the sound barrier reinvented itself as the helicopter company — and…Read the Bell pageUnited StatesCessnaA Kansas farm boy’s backyard monoplane grew into the company that has built more aeroplanes than anyone — from the Skyhawk most pilots learn on to the…Read the Cessna pageThe indexAll aircraft manufacturersEvery company that built an aircraft flown by the air forces in the Order of Battle, current and historic.Open the list
Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.