Aeronaves de alumínio Hall
The son of the man who made aluminium cheap built the US Navy’s last biplane patrol boats out of it, and Coast Guard crews flew them on rescue and anti-submarine patrols into 1944.
Hall-Aluminum Aircraft: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Aluminium in the blood
Charles Ward Hall was the son of Charles Martin Hall, who had invented the process for mass-producing aluminium and founded the firm that became Alcoa. The son made aluminium aircraft. After experimental work that included an all-metal version of the Curtiss TS-1 fighter, he founded the Hall-Aluminum Aircraft company in Buffalo, New York, in 1927, and by 1934 had moved into the former Keystone Aircraft plant at Bristol, Pennsylvania. His structures used flanged closed aluminium tubing and monocoque fuselages.
The PH flying boats
Hall’s lasting product was the PH patrol flying boat. The XPH-1 first flew in December 1929, nine PH-1s went to Navy squadron VP-8 from 1932 until the PBY Catalina replaced them in 1937, and the Coast Guard bought seven PH-2s and seven PH-3s. These were the last biplane patrol aircraft in US service; after Pearl Harbor the Coast Guard armed them for anti-submarine patrols and flew them until 1944. Prototypes included the XFH-1 fighter, the XPTBH torpedo-bomber and the four-engine XP2H-1, which flew non-stop from Norfolk to Panama in 25 hours 15 minutes in 1935.
Monoped and Consolidated
Hall himself died on 21 August 1936, according to HistoryNet in the crash of his Monoped, an experimental single-wheel design. His company built 29 aircraft in about 15 years. In 1940 Consolidated Aircraft bought Hall-Aluminum, took its assets, patents and many of its staff, and dissolved the company. Among the 29 were two Curtiss-Hall F4C-1 fighters, all-aluminium versions of the TS-1 that weighed 300 pounds less than the wooden original. The last of the Navy’s PH-1s was surveyed in February 1941, after 2,121 flight hours.
Hall-Aluminum Aircraft in numbers
A empresa
- Resumidamente
- Founded 1927
- Founded in Buffalo by Charles Ward Hall, son of Alcoa’s founder
- Moved to the ex-Keystone plant at Bristol, Pennsylvania, by 1934
- Bought and dissolved by Consolidated, 1940
Produção
- Mais conhecido por
- Hidroavião Hall PH
- 24 PH series for the Navy and Coast Guard
- 29 aircraft in total
- Prototypes XFH-1, XP2H-1, XPTBH
Hoje
- Agora
- Extinto
- Assets and patents absorbed by Consolidated
Os números
- PH flying boats built
- 24
- Total aircraft built
- 29
- PH-1 unit price
- 53,778 US dollars
Every notable Hall-Aluminum Aircraft aircraft
| Aeronave | Papel | Primeiro voo | Construído | Status | Observação |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curtiss-Hall F4C-1 | Lutador | 2 | Aposentado | Aluminium version of the TS-1, 300 lb lighter | |
| Hall XFH-1 | Caça embarcado | 1929 | 1 | Aposentado | Watertight fuselage |
| Hall PH-1 | hidroavião de patrulha | 1929 | 9 | Aposentado | VP-8, San Diego; XPH-1 prototype flew December 1929 |
| Hall PH-2 | Coast Guard rescue flying boat | 7 | Aposentado | ||
| Hall PH-3 | Coast Guard patrol flying boat | 7 | Aposentado | Armed for anti-submarine patrols in WWII | |
| Hall XP2H-1 | Four-engine patrol flying boat | 1932 | 1 | Aposentado | Norfolk to Panama non-stop, 25 h 15 min, 1935 |
| Hall XPTBH-2 | Torpedo-bomber floatplane | 1 | Aposentado | Twin-float monoplane |
Hall-Aluminum Aircraft aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Hall-Aluminum Aircraft types. Nenhum deles ainda tem um em serviço.
| Força Aérea | Em serviço | Anteriormente voado |
|---|---|---|
| Aviação da Guarda Costeira dos Estados Unidos | Hall PH-2/PH-3 and General Aviation PJ-1/2 flying boats |
Where Hall-Aluminum Aircraft built, who led it, what it achieved
Fábricas
- Buffalo works · Buffalo, New York — Founding location, 1927
- Bristol works · Bristol, Pennsylvania — Former Keystone Aircraft plant, by 1934
Pessoas
- Charles Ward Hall · founder, engineer — Son of Alcoa founder Charles Martin Hall
Recordes e pioneirismos
- XP2H-1 non-stop Norfolk to Panama in 25 hours 15 minutes, 1935
- PH series were the last biplane patrol aircraft in US service
Hall-Aluminum Aircraft, year by year
Company founded in Buffalo
XPH-1 first flight
PH-1 deliveries to the Navy begin
XP2H-1 first flight
Operating from the ex-Keystone plant at Bristol, Pennsylvania
XP2H-1 flies non-stop Norfolk to Panama
Charles Ward Hall dies
Navy PH-1s replaced by PBY Catalinas
Consolidated buys and dissolves the company
Coast Guard retires its last PHs
Before and after Hall-Aluminum Aircraft
Everything people ask about Hall-Aluminum Aircraft
Who founded Hall-Aluminum Aircraft?
What was the Hall PH?
How many Hall PH flying boats were built?
What happened to Hall-Aluminum?
Around Hall-Aluminum Aircraft
Todos os fatos foram verificados.
- Historic Aircraft — The Hall Contribution, Naval History (USNI), February 2015
- Hall PH — Wikipedia
- Hall’s Aluminum Wonders — HistoryNet
- Consolidated Aircraft — Wikipedia
Verificado em 03/10/2026.