George Conrad Westervelt (December 30, 1879 – March 15, 1956) was a U.S. Navy engineer who created the company "Pacific Aero Products Co." together with William Boeing.[1] Westervelt left the company in 1916 and Boeing changed the name of the company to the Boeing Airplane Company the following year.
Early life
George Conrad Westervelt was born in Corpus Christi, Texas to GW Westervelt and Ida Florence DeRyee (DuRy) Westervelt. He attended Corpus Christi Grammar School and Texas Military Institute, San Antonio, Texas.[2]
During his naval career, Westervelt was also involved in naval aviation. Westervelt became friends with Boeing and worked with him on seaplanes, co-designing the Boeing Model 1, and co-founded The Boeing Company. He left Pacific Aero Products after 1916 after being transferred to the east coast by the USN. Westervelt was assigned by the Navy Bureau of Construction and Repair to work with Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company on the Curtiss NC float plane[7][5] and later became vice-president with Curtiss-Wright following his retirement from the USN.[8] From 1930 to 1931 Westervelt went to China to help out with the China National Aviation Corporation.[citation needed]
Westervelt was married to Rieta Brabham Langhorne of Lynchburg, Virginia, on December 20, 1927, and had two daughters, Sally Cary and Effie Eda.[11] He retired from Curtiss-Wright and became chairman of the board of the Kentucky River Coal Corporation. Westervelt died in 1956 in Florida, where he had a winter home at Jupiter Island and a ranch near Stuart, Florida.[3][10]
^Westervelt, George Conrad (1908). Fuel oil tests on a forge furnace (Thesis). Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
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