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43-563: In 1913, Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte founded the Flexible Side Car Company in Loudonville, Ohio , to manufacture motorcycle sidecars with a flexible mounting to the motorcycle . The flexible mounting allowed the sidecar to lean on corners along with the motorcycle, and was based on a design patented by Young. In 1919, the company dropped the first "E" in "flexible" and changed its name to The Flxible Company as

86-426: A Loudonville, Ohio native and vice president of General Motors , was closely associated with Flxible for almost the entire first half of the company's existence. In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when he sold his firm,

129-477: A building that once served as the village's high school. Students then transition to the Loudonville High School campus, which includes the seventh and eight grades. The high school colors are red and gray and the athletic teams are known as the "Redbirds". Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation , later Grumman Aerospace Corporation ,

172-506: A business on December 6, 1929, and officially opened on January 2, 1930. While maintaining the business by welding aluminum tubing for truck frames, the company eagerly pursued contracts with the US Navy . Grumman designed the first practical floats with a retractable landing gear for the Navy, and this launched Grumman into the aviation market. The first Grumman aircraft was also for the Navy,

215-663: A joint venture with Changzhou Changjiang Bus , a Chinese manufacturer located in Changzhou , Jiangsu province , to produce buses based on the Flxible Metro design and with the Flxible name. The resulting company, China Flxible Auto Corporation, manufactured buses in a variety of lengths, from 8 m (26 ft 3 in) to 11 m (36 ft 1 in). These buses, which include both front- and rear- engine designs, and share only their general exterior appearance with

258-616: A producer in Mexico, DINA S.A. (Diesel Nacional), to manufacture Flxible-designed intercity coaches, and this continued until the late 1980s. In 1965 and 1966, Flxible also licensed its "New Look" transit bus design to Canadair Ltd. , an aircraft manufacturer in Ville St-Laurent, Quebec . In 1994, Flxible's parent company, General Automotive Corporation, and three other American companies – Roger Penske , Mark IV Industries, and Carrier  – entered into

301-484: A result of the consent decree from the 1956 anti-trust case, United States v. General Motors Corp. , GM was mandated to sell their bus components, engines, and transmissions to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, in the early 1950s and prior to the consent decree, Flxible built a small number of buses with GM diesel engines while Kettering still served on the board. It has been postulated that GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible to reduce

344-537: A wave of mergers as aerospace companies shrank in number; in 1994 Northrop bought Grumman for $ 2.1 billion to form Northrop Grumman , after Northrop topped a $ 1.9 billion offer from Martin Marietta . The new company closed almost all of its facilities on Long Island and converted the Bethpage plant to a residential and office complex, with its headquarters becoming the corporate headquarters for Cablevision and

387-589: Is a village in Ashland and Holmes counties in the U.S. state of Ohio . The population was 2,786 at the 2020 census . Loudonville is nicknamed the "Canoe Capital of Ohio" for the many canoe liveries along the Mohican River. It is also home to Mohican State Park and Mohican-Memorial State Forest . Loudonville was laid out in 1814 by James Loudon Priest, and named for him. A post office called Loudonville has been in operation since 1820. Loudonville

430-682: Is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1856, it is now home to the Blackfork Inn Bed & Breakfast. Loudonville is located along the Black Fork of the Mohican River . According to the United States Census Bureau , the village has a total area of 2.62 square miles (6.79 km ), of which 2.60 square miles (6.73 km ) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km )

473-514: Is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 2,641 people, 1,071 households, and 680 families living in the village. The population density was 1,015.8 inhabitants per square mile (392.2/km ). There were 1,174 housing units at an average density of 451.5 per square mile (174.3/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 97.8% White , 0.6% African American , 0.1% Native American , 0.4% Asian , 0.6% from other races , and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.0% of

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516-639: The Chicago Transit Authority . In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen, Alabama , and built small transit buses at the former Southern Coach factory until 1976. Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries in 1970, and a new factory and corporate headquarters were built in Delaware, Ohio , in 1974, with the original factory in Loudonville, Ohio, being used to manufacture parts and sub-assemblies. Flxible

559-573: The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco) , to GM for $ 2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958. After selling Delco to GM in 1916, Kettering organized and ran a research laboratory at GM and, by the 1950s, held the position of vice president at GM. As a result of Kettering's close relationship with both GM and Flxible, many GM parts were used in

602-721: The Grumman FF-1 , a biplane with retractable landing gear developed at Curtiss Field in 1931. This was followed by a number of other successful designs. During World War II , Grumman became known for its "Cats" (Navy fighter aircraft ): the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat , the Grumman F7F Tigercat and Grumman F8F Bearcat , and also for its torpedo bomber , the Grumman TBF Avenger . Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in

645-652: The 1930s until 1967. However, there are also quite a few "non-clipper" Flxible coaches that are owned, maintained, and operated by proud Flxible owners. This includes the Starliner, VL100 (VistaLiner), Hi Level, and Flxliner as well as some of the more modern transit buses. Most of these vehicles have been converted to motor homes ; however, there are still a few examples of seated coaches belonging to members. McPherson, Thomas A. (1993) "Flxible Professional Vehicles: The Complete History" Toronto, Ontario, Specialty Vehicle Press, ISBN Loudonville, Ohio Loudonville

688-790: The American-built Flxibles, were sold to many transit operators in major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai . A trolleybus version was manufactured for only one operator, the Hangzhou trolleybus system, which bought 77 units between the late 1990s and 2001. For these vehicles, Changzhou Changjiang supplied the chassis and Metro-style bodies to the Hangzhou Changjiang Bus Company (in Hangzhou), and that company equipped them as trolleybuses. Flxible Owners International (see external link)

731-680: The Gulfstream I was operated by several regional airlines in scheduled passenger services. The Gulfstream I-C (Grumman model G-159C) version was "stretched" to carry 37 passengers. In the early 1970s, Grumman acquired majority interest in the American Aviation line of very light aircraft -- relabeling its planes as "Grumman-American" or "Grumman American" -- eventually joining it with their Gulfstream division before selling off that combined enterprise in 1978. In 1978, Grumman sold Gulfstream to American Jet Industries , which adopted

774-594: The Gulfstream name. Since 1999, Gulfstream has been a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics . For much of the Cold War period, Grumman was the largest corporate employer on Long Island . Grumman's products were considered so reliable and ruggedly built that the company was often referred to as the " Grumman Iron Works ". As the company grew, it moved to Valley Stream, New York , then Farmingdale, New York , finally to its facility in Bethpage, New York , with

817-744: The Intruder in 1990. The U.S. Navy still employs the Hawkeye as part of Carrier Air Wings on board aircraft carriers, while the U.S. Marine Corps, the last branch of service to fly the Prowler, retired it on March 8, 2019. Grumman was the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module , the first spacecraft to land humans on the Moon. The firm received the contract on November 7, 1962, and built 13 lunar modules. Six of them successfully landed on

860-596: The Moon, with one serving as a lifeboat on Apollo 13 , after an explosion crippled the main Apollo spacecraft. LM-2, a test article which never flew in space, is displayed permanently in the Smithsonian Institution . As the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle , but lost to Rockwell International . In 1969,

903-423: The age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under

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946-462: The age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $ 36,273, and the median income for a family was $ 42,500. Males had a median income of $ 31,225 versus $ 23,807 for females. The per capita income for

989-517: The business looked for new opportunities to expand. After low-priced automobiles became available in the 1920s, the motorcycle sidecar demand dropped and in 1924, Flxible turned to production of funeral cars (hearses) , and ambulances , which were primarily manufactured on Buick chassis, but also occasionally on Studebaker , Cadillac and REO chassis, and intercity buses , initially (1930s and early 1940s) built on GMC truck chassis, and powered with Buick Straight 8 engines. Charles Kettering ,

1032-639: The company changed its name to Grumman Aerospace Corporation , and in 1978 it sold the Grumman-American Division to Gulfstream Aerospace . That same year, it acquired the bus manufacturer Flxible . The company built the Grumman LLV (Long Life Vehicle), a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the United States Postal Service . The LLV was produced from 1987 until 1994. Its intended service life

1075-511: The consent decree, which was not settled in its entirety until 1965, was that GM was barred from having any of its officers or directors serve as an officer or director for any other bus manufacturing company. That provision would have applied to Kettering, had he not died in 1958. In 1953, Flxible absorbed the bus -manufacturing portion of the Fageol Twin Coach Company, and accepted its first order for transit buses from

1118-410: The criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic . The same has been said about GM's decision in the 1960s and 1970s not to produce a 35 ft (11 m) "New Look" transit bus with an 8-cylinder engine. However, it is also possible that GM chose not to enter that market because the potential sales did not warrant the added costs of engineering and production. Another result of

1161-602: The end of that year. Subsequently, CARTA retired its last Flxible buses in October 2019. Flxible implemented a CAD program, CATIA, in the late 1990s to support production design. They were one of the first customers of IBM/Dassault. Flxible's intercity buses were popular in Mexico and in Latin American countries. However, high import duties into these countries limited sales. In the early 1960s, Flxible began licensing

1204-495: The entire fleet from service. Soon, several other companies reported cracked 870 "A" frames. However, the frame issues primarily affected NYCTA 870s and not the 870s owned by the franchisees of the New York City Department of Transportation , which were the first buses built with the problem rectified the following year. NYCTA attempted to get the remainder of its pending order for new buses transferred to GM, but

1247-717: The order was produced, and NYCTA obtained the remaining new buses from Orion instead. By the mid-2010s, very few transit systems were still operating any Flxible buses. Portland, Oregon 's TriMet retired its last Flxible buses in May 2015, after which the only known continued use of Flxible buses in service was by Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) in Charleston, South Carolina , and by Metro Transit in Omaha, Nebraska . However, Omaha ordered replacement buses in summer 2018 and retired its last Flxible buses before

1290-442: The population. There were 1,071 households, of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.5% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

1333-409: The production of Flxible vehicles, particularly prior to GM's 1943 purchase of Yellow Coach , a competing bus manufacturer, of which GM had been a majority owner since 1925. For example, most Flxible ambulances , hearses and buses, from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s, were built on Buick chassis, and Flxible's "Airway" model buses of the mid-1930s were built on a Chevrolet chassis. In 1958, as

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1376-489: The testing and final assembly at the 6,000-acre (24 km ) Naval Weapons Station in Calverton, New York , all located on Long Island. At its peak in 1986 it employed 23,000 people on Long Island and occupied 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m ) in structures on 105 acres (0.42 km ) it leased from the U.S. Navy in Bethpage. The end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s reduced defense spending and led to

1419-735: The value of wartime production contracts. Grumman's first jet aircraft was the F9F Panther ; it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar , and the F-11 Tiger in the 1950s. The company's big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and E-2 Hawkeye and in the 1970s with the Grumman EA-6B Prowler and F-14 Tomcat . Grumman products were prominent in several feature movies including The Final Countdown in 1980, Top Gun in 1986, and Flight of

1462-525: The village was $ 16,831. About 9.7% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 24.3% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over. Loudonville's three schools comprise the Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village School District. First through third graders attend the R.F. McMullen School. Fourth through Sixth graders attend the nearby C.E. Budd School,

1505-466: The village. The population density was 1,168.8 inhabitants per square mile (451.3/km ). There were 1,264 housing units at an average density of 508.4 per square mile (196.3/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 98.93% White , 0.03% Native American , 0.21% Asian , 0.17% from other races , and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.52% of the population. There were 1,189 households, out of which 30.0% had children under

1548-434: Was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age in the village was 43 years. 22.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23% were from 25 to 44; 27.7% were from 45 to 64; and 20% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 46.7% male and 53.3% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,906 people, 1,189 households, and 763 families living in

1591-629: Was 24 years, but some of them were still in service in 2020. In 1983, Grumman sold Flxible for $ 40 million to General Automotive Corporation of Ann Arbor. In the 1950s, Grumman began production of Gulfstream business aircraft, starting with the Gulfstream I turboprop (Grumman model G-159) and the Gulfstream II jet (Grumman model G-1159). Gulfstream aircraft were operated by many companies, private individuals, and government agencies including various military entities and NASA . In addition,

1634-927: Was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft . Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 with Northrop Corporation to form Northrop Grumman . Leroy Grumman worked for the Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation beginning in 1920. In 1929, Keystone Aircraft Corporation bought Loening Aircraft and moved its operations from New York City to Bristol, Pennsylvania . Grumman and three other ex-Loening Aircraft employees, ( Edmund Ward Poor , William Schwendler, and Jake Swirbul ) started their own company in an old Cox-Klemin Aircraft Co. factory in Baldwin on Long Island , New York. The company registered as

1677-678: Was barred from doing so unless they could prove that the 870s were flawed and unsafe. The buses were eventually returned to Flxible, and were rebuilt and resold to Queen City Metro and New Jersey Transit . Grumman blamed the problems with the NYCTA 870s on NYCTA's poor maintenance practices at the time, despite the fact that transit operations in Chicago , Connecticut Transit , Houston , Los Angeles and Orange County, California had also reported problems with their 870s. Regardless, NYCTA ordered fifty Metros in 1995, but Flxible closed its doors before

1720-595: Was founded in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the Family Motor Coach Association , and is dedicated to the preservation of buses and coaches produced by Flxible. The organization holds a rally in Loudonville biannually, in even-numbered years and normally in mid-July, where many preserved Flxible coaches and buses may be seen. The majority of vehicles owned by members are of the Clipper series (Clipper, Visicoach, Starliner) that were produced from

1763-687: Was shut down. The town of Loudonville includes three sites on the National Register of Historic Places . These include the Ohio Theatre , which was erected in 1909 under the name of "City Hall and Opera House". The theatre had a troubled history, and was almost closed in the 1900s, but three freshmen from the Loudonville High School raised $ 4,000 in a local talent show. In 2009, the Ohio Theater celebrated its 100th anniversary. The home of Phillip J. Black located at 303 N. Water Street

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1806-597: Was sold to Grumman Corporation in 1978 and became known as Grumman Flxible . The name reverted to Flxible when Grumman sold the company in 1983 to General Automotive Corporation. In 1996, Flxible declared bankruptcy and its assets were auctioned. The last Flxible vehicles were produced in 1995. In the mid-1980s, several Grumman 870 buses operated by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) developed cracks in their A-shaped underframes. This prompted NYCTA President David Gunn to remove

1849-537: Was the long-time (1913–96) home of The Flxible Company , a manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, commercial cars (hearses, ambulances, and flower cars), intercity coaches, and city-transit coaches. During World War II , Flxible interrupted its normal production and built instead a variety of war goods. A part of the former Flxible plant was in use as a parts depot and service point for the Motor Coach Industries until December 5, 2014, when all production

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