W. Wallace Kellett

Kellett was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 20, 1891. His parents were William W. Kellett and Frances Revere (Flagler) Kellett. His family was wealthy.[1]

Kellett graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor of letters in 1913.[2][3]

Kellett attended Chestnut Hill Academy, then went to Princeton University. Upon graduation, he became associated with the Liquid Carbonic Company that manufactured soda fountains in Kansas City. During World War I he enlisted and first drove an ambulance in Europe for the American Field Service. Later he became a pilot in the French Air Force.[4] The flying experiences gave him an interest in aviation that would last the rest of his life.[1] Kellett earned a French Général de corps d'armée citation and an Italian Service Medal during World War I.[3]

1938 mail delivery demonstration by an autogyro at Washington D.C. capital lawn

Kellett became an aviation enthusiast after his Army service and he entered into the aircraft manufacturing business in 1919. He established an autogyro company under a license from Autogiro Company of America.[5] He made rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps.[6][7] Kellett was known internationally in the aviation field as a pioneer in the development of autogyros and helicopters.[8] Through his company Kellett constructed the first successful wingless aircraft in the United States.[9][10] He also built the first fleet of rotary-wing military aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps.[10]

Kellett was the president of the Aero Club of Pennsylvania 1923–25.[11] In 1929 he founded the Kellett Autogiro Corporation with his brother Rodney and Charles Townsend Ludington and his brother Nicholas.[12] They licensed and further developed the seminal designs of Harold Frederick Pitcairn and Juan de la Cierva for an autogyro. He promoted his autogyro as being useful as that of an automobile.[13] Under the corporate umbrella, Kellett's company made some thirty-eight aircraft for military and civilian customers.[14]

Kellett started a campaign in Washington D.C. to get a government contract to carry mail for short distances after his KD-1B autogyro proved its airworthiness in 1935. A demonstration of mail delivery was made at the Capital in early of 1938 to get congressional approval for funding. It was decided to carry mail using an autogyro on an experimental basis and Congress passed laws accordingly.[15] The first autogyro used by the United States Post Office Department to carry mail was produced by Kellett.[16][17][18] It flew between the Camden Central Airport in New Jersey and the main post office at Philadelphia. The roof was 100,000 square feet and specially designed for autogyro landings. The Kellett vehicle flew same day delivery of mail, where it took overnight before.[16]

Kellett also served as president of Republic Aviation Corporation from 1939 and chairman of the board from 1943.[19][20][21] He resigned from Republic in 1945 and directed his attention to his Corporation. The Kellett Autogiro Corporation had changed its name in 1943 to Kellett Aircraft Corporation to reflect that they were also a manufacturer of helicopters. His company made several different prototype helicopters for the United States Army Air Corps, however never obtained permanent contracts from the government. Hughes Aircraft Company instead obtained many of these helicopter contracts. Kellett eventually went out of the aircraft business in 1949 and his company became a subcontractor of aircraft assemblies in 1950.[22] Kellett died in Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia on July 22, 1951, after an illness of several months.[1][23]

• American Aeronautics (1922). Who's who in American Aeronautics. Aviation Publishing Corporation.
• Charnov, Bruce H. (2003). Autogiro to Gyroplane. Praeger. ISBN 978-1-56720-503-9.
• NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (31 December 2005). Realizing the Dream of Flight. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-083151-5.
• Princeton Alumni (1951). Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton Alumni Weekly. PRNC:32101081976985.
• Smith-Daugherty, Rhonda (27 March 2012). Jacqueline Cochran. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6275-9.
• Townson, George (1985). Autogiro: The Story of "the Windmill Plane". Aero Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8168-2900-2.

• "Kellett KD-1 Autogyro" (Video). Universal Newsreel. 1941 – via YouTube.
• "The First Airmail Flight from the Roof of a Post Office: Philadelphia Pennsylvania to Camden New Jersey by Kellett Autogiro operated by Eastern Airlines" (Video) – via YouTube.