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69-652: The Flxible New Look bus shares many design features with the GM New Look bus that was introduced in 1959, however the Flxible New look bus was somewhat more rugged and solid. Both buses initially featured large 6-piece "fishbowl" windshields, as well as forward-slanting side windows, fluted aluminum siding, and slide/glide front passenger doors. Both buses were also equipped with the same Detroit Diesel 6V-71 (6-cylinder) / 8V-71 (8-cylinder) diesel engine (however, 150 propane -fueled Flxible New Looks were built for

138-721: A Dewar Trophy in 1913. Kettering helped found the Engineers Club of Dayton in 1914. In 1914, Flexible Sidecar Company 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 Kettering sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to United Motors Company for $ 2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible until he became chairman of

207-548: A "Turbo-Cruiser V" was built using a T8H-5305A in 1969. The Turbo-Cruiser III drivetrain also was used on the "RTX" (Rapid Transit eXperimental) bus of 1968, prototyping the styling and features of the Rapid Transit Series, which succeeded the New Look buses starting in 1977. In 1981–82, Brown Boveri & Company constructed 100 model HR150G trolley buses from 40-foot (12.2 m) New Look bus shells for

276-591: A New Look bus (TDH-5303, serial #0001) and named "Turbo-Cruiser II"; the GT-309 was also fitted to the Chevrolet Tilt-Cab truck chassis and called " Turbo Titan III ". The GT-309 developed power and torque comparable to the 8V-71 and weighed less, but fuel consumption and emissions proved to be intractable problems. The same TDH-5303 was later equipped with a continuously-variable transmission and rebranded "Turbo-Cruiser III". Production records also indicate

345-416: A conference center. Some of Charles' memorable quotations are: "It doesn't matter if you try and try and try again, and fail. It does matter if you try and fail, and fail to try again.", "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.", "My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there." . Kettering died on November 25, 1958. After his death, his body lay in honor at

414-405: A good amount of luck but added, "I notice the harder I work, the luckier I get." Beginning in 1907, his NCR colleague Edward A. Deeds convinced Kettering to develop improvements for the automobile. Deeds and Kettering invited other NCR engineers, including Harold E. Talbott , to join them nights and weekends in their tinkering at Deeds's barn. They became known as the "Barn Gang," and Kettering

483-749: A lifelong business, professional and personal relationship. In 1914, recognizing that Dayton was among the leading industrial cities in the US because of the skilled engineers and technicians in the city, they founded the Engineers Club of Dayton and the Foreman's Club of Dayton, which later on became the National Management Association . Kettering held 186 U.S. patents . He invented the all-electric starting, ignition , and lighting system for automobiles. Electric starters replaced crank (manual) starting of automobiles. First incorporated in

552-712: A majority of the New Looks continued to be built here during the life of the New Look's production run. In 1963, Flxible started building a line of shorter buses at the former Southern Coach factory in Evergreen, Alabama . These buses came in lengths of 31 feet (9.4 m), 33 feet (10.1 m) and 35 feet (10.7 m), and were all 96 inches (2.44 m) wide. The buses built in Evergreen were generally identical in appearance to those built in Loudonville, except that

621-478: A more conventional T-drive transmission.) Original transmission choices were a four-speed non-synchronized manual transmission with solenoid reverse and the Allison Automatic VH hydraulic transmission. The latter was essentially a one-speed automatic transmission which drove the wheels through a torque converter . At sufficient speed a clutch bypassed the torque converter and the engine drove

690-496: A pair of butterfly doors side-by-side. Where either type was used, the side window immediately behind the door was the size normally used in 35-foot buses. In 1967 and 1968, Red Arrow Lines tested a GM New Look bus converted to operate as a railbus on its interurban routes and the Norristown High Speed Line . General Motors had been interested in developing gas turbine engines for highway use and showed

759-485: A precursor to today's credit cards, and the electric cash register in 1906, which made ringing up sales physically much easier for sales clerks. Kettering distinguished himself as a practical inventor. As he said, "I didn't hang around much with other inventors and the executive fellows. I lived with the sales gang. They had some real notion of what people wanted." During his five years at NCR, from 1904 to 1909, Kettering secured 23 patents for NCR. He attributed his success to

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828-553: A rear exit door and standee windows. Air conditioning was an available option on all models, and in most cases was identifiable by a bulge above the rear window where the roof-mounted condenser and cooling fan were located (some buses were built with under-floor air conditioning). Air-ride suspension was standard on all models. At the start of production all New Looks were built at the Flxible factory in Loudonville, Ohio , and

897-493: A self-starter small enough to be practical he consulted Kettering, and Delco developed a practical model by February 1911. Kettering's key insight lay in devising an electrical system performing the three functions it still serves in modern cars: starter; producer of spark for ignition; and source of current for lighting. Leland ordered 12,000 self-starters for his 1912 models; Delco had to then transition from its research and development activities to production. The invention won

966-474: A tribute to Charles Kettering's life and his work in healthcare research. On January 1, 1998, the former General Motors Institute changed its name to Kettering University to honor Kettering as a founder. In 1998, GMI Engineering and Management Institute (formerly General Motors Institute), of Flint, Michigan , changed its name to Kettering University in honor of Kettering. His ideals, prowess, and belief in co-operative education continue there. Kettering

1035-752: Is also remembered through the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , a cancer research and treatment center in New York City, and through the Kettering Health Network , which includes several hospitals and medical center campuses as well as Kettering College in Kettering, Ohio . The city of Kettering, Ohio , a suburb of Dayton, was named after him when it was incorporated in 1955. The former U.S. Army Air Service testing field, McCook Field ,

1104-515: Is named for him, also Kettering Hall of Science at Oberlin College . At Antioch College , the 1929 Science Building he donated was not named after him (it is now the Arts and Science Building), but the school's 33.000-square-foot Charles F. Kettering Building was (the same being originally a research facility, now home to campus radio station WYSO ), while the college's Olive Kettering Library

1173-559: Is now a Dayton park called Kettering Field. Several U.S. public schools are named after him: The endowed Olive Williams Kettering Chair of The College of Wooster Department of Music is named in honor of his wife. The University of Dayton 's engineering building, Kettering Labs, is named after him. The Kettering Science center on the Ashland University campus in Ohio is named for him. Kettering Hall at Wilmington College

1242-758: The Chicago Transit Authority in the mid-1960s, Detroit Diesel 4-71 (4-cylinder) diesel engines were available for some models in the mid-1960s, and Cummins 165-285 and 903 8-cylinder diesel engines were available until 1973 as an alternative to the Detroit Diesel engines). Originally, the Flxible New Look was only available in lengths of 35 or 40 feet (10.7 or 12.2 m) and widths of 96 or 102 inches (2.44 or 2.59 m), however 31-and-33-foot (9.4 and 10.1 m) models later became available. Until 1963, these buses carried both

1311-756: The Edmonton Transit System (ETS). Two coaches (No. 192 and 197) were sent to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) for evaluation as potential supplements to the aging Flyer E700 trolley bus fleet in 1989 and placed in revenue service in January 1990; pleased with the results, TTC leased 38 more for a three-year term, starting in June 1990. All the leased buses were in the group of ETS fleet numbers between #149 and #199; in TTC service,

1380-475: The General Motors Firebird series of turbine-powered sports car concepts in the 1950s; to demonstrate the engine's practicality, GM fitted a copy of the same GT-300 "Whirlfire" engine from Firebird I into an "old-look" TDH-4512 transit bus and called it the "Turbo-Cruiser". For the 1964 New York World's Fair , the latest version of the gas turbine engine, designated GT-309 , was fitted to

1449-659: The Greyhound Scenicruiser , the air-sprung New Look did not have a traditional ladder frame . Instead it used an airplane-like stressed-skin construction in which an aluminum riveted skin supported the weight of the bus. The wooden floor kept the bus's shape. The engine cradle was hung off the back of the roof. As a result, the GM New Look weighed significantly less than competitors' city buses. Virtually all New Look buses were powered by Detroit Diesel Series 71 two-cycle diesel engines. The original engine

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1518-500: The Kettering Foundation , a non-partisan research foundation, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine in January 1933. Charles was born in Loudonville, Ohio , United States, the fourth of five children of Jacob Henry Kettering and Martha (Hunter) Kettering. Poor eyesight gave him headaches in school. After graduation he followed his sister Emma into a teaching position at Bunker Hill School. By all accounts he

1587-515: The Pontiac, Michigan , plant shortly after the RTS replaced fishbowl model production there. GM later sold the rights to produce both Classic and RTS models to other manufacturers, and exited the heavy-duty transit and intercity markets for full-sized buses, although production of some medium-duty and light-duty chassis products sold in these markets continued. Like GM's over-the-road buses, including

1656-558: The "Old Look" bus originally designed by Yellow Coach. GM ended bus production in 1987 after selling its bus division and assets to Motor Coach Industries , which continued production of the New Look-derived Classic and RTS. Charles Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and

1725-599: The "aerial torpedo", nicknamed the Kettering Bug . The 300 lb (136 kg) papier-mache missile had 12 foot (3.6 m) cardboard wings, and a 40 hp (30 kW) engine. It could carry 300 lbs (136 kg) of high explosives at 50 mph (80 km/h), and cost $ 400. The "Bug" is considered the first aerial missile, and lessons learned from the "Bug" led to development of the first guided missiles, as well as radio-controlled drones. Kettering and colleagues' development of leaded gasoline ultimately caused

1794-440: The 1912 Cadillac , all-electric starting aided in the growth of the US auto industry by making the automobile easy for anyone to start. Other patents included a portable lighting system and an incubator for premature infants. His engine-driven generator was combined with storage batteries to form a " Delco Plant", providing electrical power for farmsteads and other locations far from the power grid . In 1918 Kettering designed

1863-632: The American transit bus market, although it was still a distant second with GM building more than twice as many buses. The Flxible New Look bus bears a close resemblance to the GM New Look bus , and in fact Flxible New Looks were commonly equipped with GM engines. This was due largely to the consent decree resulting from the 1956 anti-trust case United States v. General Motors Corp. which mandated that GM's bus components, engines, and transmissions be made available for sale to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, it should also be noted that prior to

1932-515: The Engineers Club and then was interred in the mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio . Max D. Liston , one of Kettering's co-workers at GM, described him "one of the gods of the automotive field, particularly from an inventive standpoint." Liston quoted Kettering as advising him, "People won't ever remember how many failures you've had, but they will remember how well it worked the last time you tried it." Kettering and Deeds had

2001-517: The Evergreen buses had only two headlights, while the Loudonville buses had four. The Evergreen buses were available with either the 4-71 (4-cylinder) or 6V-71 (6-cylinder) Detroit Diesel engine. Production in Evergreen stopped in 1966. In 1965, Flxible licensed their New Look design to Canadair Ltd. , an aircraft manufacturer in Ville St-Laurent, Quebec . All were 40 feet (12.2 m) long and 102 inches (2.59 m) wide, and carried both

2070-517: The Flxible and Canadair nameplates. The intent of this licensing venture was to enter the Canadian bus market, however production stopped in 1966 after just one order for Montreal (50 buses for Montreal Transportation Commission ). In 1970, Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries , and in 1974 a new factory and corporate headquarters were opened in Delaware, Ohio . Final assembly of all New Looks

2139-570: The Flxible and the Twin nameplates, with the Twin name located in a small oval beneath the Flxible shield on the front of the buses ( Twin Coach had been a manufacturer of transit buses as early as 1927 and sold its transit bus product line to Flxible in 1953). In 1964 and 1965 Flxible produced a suburban model meant for longer distance highway routes, and these buses were equipped with all forward-facing high-backed seats and overhead luggage racks, but lacked

Flxible New Look bus - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-432: The GM New Look bus is shown below. Examples of model names are TDH-5301, T8H-5305N, T6H-5307N, S6H-4504A, and T6H-4521N. (Note that not all possible combinations were constructed.) The front end of the bus remained essentially the same through the production of the New Look. 3rd & 4th generation 6 = Detroit Diesel 6V71 6 = Detroit Diesel 6V92TA 8 = Detroit Diesel 8V71 two digits Manufacturing location

2277-797: The GMDD's introduction of the Classic in that year. The last New Looks to be built were an order for Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines (now Big Blue Bus ) of Santa Monica, California , in 1986. The completion of that order brought a final end to New Look production in April 1986. At least one transit property, the Société de transport de l'Outaouais in Gatineau, Quebec , operated the model until at least 2015 nearly 60 years after introduction and more than 30 years after mass production ended, but has since retired

2346-507: The appearance of a dropped center aisle. GM refused to install lavatories on these buses; at least one transit authority (Sacramento Transit Authority in Sacramento, California ) added its own. The New Look was built in 30 ft (9.1 m), 35 ft (10.7 m) and 40 ft (12.2 m) lengths and 96 and 102 in (2.44 and 2.59 m) widths. 35 and 40 ft (10.7 and 12.2 m) buses had different-length side windows, so

2415-763: The board in 1940, a position that he held until his death in 1958. Delco was sold to General Motors in 1918, as part of United Motors. Delco became the foundation for the General Motors Research Corporation and Delco Electronics . Kettering became vice-president of General Motors Research Corporation in 1920 and held the position for 27 years. Between 1918 and 1923, he led the research and development at GM's Dayton research laboratories to commercialize air-cooled engines for cars and trucks. The GM "copper-cooled" automotive engine used fans forcing air across copper fins for heat dissipation. The commercialization, attempted between 1921 and 1923,

2484-460: The consent decree a small number of earlier model (pre-New Look) Flxible buses were built with GM engines, at the same time that GM vice president Charles F. Kettering was also chairman of the board at Flxible. It has been suggested that prior to the consent decree GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible in order to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic . Another area of competition between

2553-503: The design. See the section below, headed "Description". Production of the New Look in the U.S. ceased in 1977, when it was replaced by the RTS transit bus. Production continued after this, however, at General Motors Diesel Division in Canada, due to the RTS design being rejected by Canadian transit agencies, with the name plate changing from "GM" to "GMC". Few were produced after 1983 due to

2622-523: The desire by some transit agencies for a shorter bus with a larger engine (mainly for hilly routes, freeway driving, or to provide extra power for air conditioning equipped buses), Flxible offered its 35-foot (10.7 m) New Look with the Detroit Diesel 8V-71, the Cummins 165-285, and the Cummins 903 8-cylinder diesel engines. Several different variations of model designations were used for Flxible New Look buses, with changes being made over time and between

2691-524: The front section and a powered middle axle, the TA60-102N utilized a "pusher" design that used a conventional New Look drive train and a specially-designed anti-jackknifing articulated joint that limited the angle between the two section to 7° at normal speeds (while traveling straight forward) and to less than 2° at highway speeds. 12 were tested by TTC in 1982, but TTC chose to purchase a fleet of Orion III articulated buses instead. The model naming for

2760-494: The holder of 186 patents. He was a founder of Delco , and was head of research at General Motors from 1920 to 1947. Among his most widely used automotive developments were the electrical starting motor and leaded gasoline . In association with the DuPont Chemical Company, he was also responsible for the invention of Freon refrigerant for refrigeration and air conditioning systems. At DuPont he also

2829-410: The job, and his spirits revived. He also met his future wife, Olive Williams. When his eye condition improved, he was able to return to his studies and graduated from OSU in 1904 with an electrical engineering degree. Kettering was hired directly out of school to head the research laboratory at National Cash Register (later known as NCR Corporation). Kettering invented an easy credit approval system,

Flxible New Look bus - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-465: The leased buses were renumbered with a leading 9 but retained their ETS livery and colors. TTC decided to discontinue trolley bus service in January 1992 to reduce operating costs; as ETS would not allow an early return of the leased buses, TTC continued to run the leased buses on two routes until July 1993. Back in Edmonton, 19 of the returned trolley buses were retired and used for spare parts, while

2967-530: The nickname "Fishbowl" (for its original six-piece rounded windshield, later replaced by a two-piece curved pane), it was produced until 1977 in the United States, and until 1985 in Canada. More than 44,000 New Look buses were built. Its high production figures and long service career made it an iconic North American transit bus. The design is listed as U.S. patent D182,998 by Roland E. Gegoux and William P. Strong. 44,484 New Look buses were built over

3036-460: The only V-drive transmissions made. New Looks were available in both Transit and Suburban versions. Transits were traditional city buses with two doors; Suburbans had forward-facing seats (four-abreast), underfloor luggage bays, and had only one door. The floor beneath the seats was higher than the center aisle to accommodate the luggage bays. There were also "Suburban-style" transits which had forward-facing seats on slightly raised platforms that gave

3105-540: The production lifespan, of which 33,413 were built in the U.S. and 11,071 were built in Canada ( GM Diesel Division ). Separated by general type, the production figures comprised 510 29-foot (8.8 m) city buses (all U.S.-built); 9,355 35-foot (10.7 m) city buses (7,804 U.S.-built, 1,551 Canadian); 31,348 40-foot (12.2 m) city buses (22,034 U.S., 9,314 Canadian) and 3,271 suburban coaches (of which only 206 were built in Canada). The total production of New Looks

3174-399: The profiles of both buses looked very similar, but not the same. In the 1970s, AC Transit shortened several 35' New Look buses to 29' by removing a section from the middle for dial-a-ride demand-responsive service, maintaining common parts and drivers with the remainder of its fleet. Double-width exit doors were offered as an option for 40-foot buses, in two styles: a single folding door or

3243-580: The rear wheels directly. A later option was the VS-2 , similar to the VH but with a two-speed planetary gearset with three modes: Hydraulic, direct (1:1), and direct-overdrive. The very last batch of American-built New Looks and most Canadian-built New Looks from 1977 through 1987 use the Allison V730 transmission, a traditional three-speed automatic with a lockup torque converter . These four transmissions were

3312-444: The release of large quantities of lead into the atmosphere as a result of the combustion of leaded gasoline all over the world. Due to the neurotoxic effects of lead , leaded gasoline has been widely banned since the late 1990s. The development of Freon using CFCs has been implicated in the depletion of the ozone layer . He developed the idea of Duco paint and helped develop diesel engines and ways to harness solar energy . He

3381-626: The rest of the fleet remained in use for 27 years until the Edmonton trolley bus system was shut down in 2009. Two were sold to the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority in 1996, where they were fitted with wheelchair lifts and operated in revenue service for approximately a decade to supplement the existing Flyer E800 fleet until both types were replaced by ETI 14TrE trolley buses. In 2010, 28 were sold to Plovdiv , Bulgaria , in an attempt to save

3450-624: The trolleybus system in 2009: the Illinois Railway Museum received #181 in Fall 2009 and the Seashore Trolley Museum received #125 in 2010. A 60-foot (18.3 m) articulated version was designed and built in 1982 for a Government of Ontario demonstration project. While a New Look body was used, a newer front (to allow a wider entrance), which would eventually be incorporated into the Classic transit bus,

3519-540: The trolleybus system there , but they were abandoned after the Plovdiv trolleybus system shut down as well in 2012. Although they were transferred to Yambol , which had built a trolleybus network but did not have the vehicles to operate it, they were eventually scrapped in 2015 after the city abandoned its plans to open a trolleybus system there as well. The Dayton trolleybuses (#109 and 110) were moved into storage in 2004. Two others were preserved after Edmonton shut down

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3588-417: The two manufacturers, but where Flxible had an advantage, was the market for 35-foot (10.7 m) long buses equipped with 8-cylinder diesel engines. In 1966 GM began offering its Detroit Diesel 8V-71 8-cylinder diesel engine on its 40-foot (12.2 m) New Look transit buses; however GM would not equip its 35-foot (10.7 m) models with anything larger than the 6V-71 6-cylinder diesel engine. In response to

3657-481: The type from active use. The last American-built New Look GM buses were ordered by the city of Wausau, Wisconsin , which placed an order for twelve 35-foot (10.7 m) transit buses, model T6H-4523N, the last of which was delivered in March 1977. The GM Buffalo bus , a group of intercity bus models built between 1966 and 1980, shared many mechanical and body parts with the fishbowl models, and were discontinued by

3726-538: The use of TEL as an additive instead of other options. Kettering became the first president of the newly founded Ethyl Corporation that started to produce TEL in 1923. One year later, he hired Robert A. Kehoe as the medical expert to proclaim that leaded gasoline was safe for humans. That its use was an ecological disaster leading to a global lead contamination was not acknowledged until many decades later. Kettering married Olive Williams of Ashland, Ohio, on August 1, 1905. Their only child, Eugene Williams Kettering,

3795-502: The various manufacturing locations. The letters and numbers gave a basic description of the type of bus as follows: GM New Look bus The GM New Look bus is a municipal transit bus that was introduced in 1959 by the Truck and Coach Division of General Motors to replace the company's previous coach, retroactively known as the GM "old-look" transit bus . Also commonly known by

3864-481: Was 41,213 transit coaches and 3,271 suburban coaches. Other than demonstrators, Washington, D.C., was the very first city to take delivery of any GM New Look buses, specifically TDH-5301s built in 1959 for O. Roy Chalk 's D.C. Transit System, which operated in Washington, D.C. , and the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. Several different models were introduced over the following years, and modifications made to

3933-541: Was a pioneer in the application of magnetism to medical diagnostic techniques. His inventions, especially the electric automobile starter, made him wealthy. In 1945, he helped found what became the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , based on the premise that American industrial research techniques could be applied to cancer research. . His son and daughter-in-law, Eugene and Virginia, created Kettering Medical Center in Ohio, as

4002-634: Was an engaging and innovative teacher. He attracted students to evening scientific demonstrations on electricity, heat, magnetism, and gravity. He took classes at the College of Wooster , before transferring to Ohio State University . He was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Eye problems forced him to withdraw, and he took a job as foreman of a telephone line crew. At first, the termination of his studies caused him to be depressed. Then he found ways to apply his electrical engineering skills on

4071-664: Was born on April 20, 1908. Eugene joined Winton Engine in 1930, which was acquired by General Motors and was eventually incorporated into the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) . He became a central figure in the development of the EMD 567 locomotive engine and the Detroit Diesel 6-71 engine , serving at EMD until his retirement in 1960. Charles Kettering built a house, "Ridgeleigh Terrace" , in 1914. According to local sources, it

4140-697: Was called Boss Ket. Their first goal was to find a replacement for the magneto . In 1909, Kettering resigned from NCR to work full-time on automotive developments, and the group incorporated as Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company , or Delco. The hand crank used to start early automobiles could kick back under some circumstances. Byron Carter , founder of Cartercar , died from complications after such an accident in Detroit's Belle Isle park. Henry M. Leland  – the head of Cadillac  – became determined to develop an electric self-starting device. When Leland's engineers failed to develop

4209-473: Was indicated by the serial number. No prefix was used for Pontiac, Michigan, C (Canada) indicated London, Ontario, and M (Montreal) Saint-Eustache, Quebec . All buses with 17-digit VINs were built in Saint-Eustache. Production totals are through August 1980, when serial numbers changed to 17-digit vehicle identification numbers . GM acquired Yellow Coach in 1943 and continued production of

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4278-508: Was mounted on a cradle that could be quickly removed and replaced, allowing the bus to return to service with minimal delay when the powertrain required major maintenance. Originally, all New Looks were powered by the 6V-71. GM resisted V8 power but eventually gave in to pressure from customers. (The exception to the above was the 29-foot (8.8 m) TDH-3301, which was powered by the GMC DH-478 Toroflow four-stroke V6, and had

4347-483: Was moved to Delaware, with the Loudonville factory still being used for the manufacture of sub-assemblies and parts. Also in 1974, a 31-foot-long (9.4 m), 96-inch-wide (2.4 m) model became available and was built in Loudonville/Delaware. It was only available with the 6V-71 (6-cylinder) Detroit Diesel engine. During the 1960s, Flxible was the only large-production competitor to General Motors in

4416-506: Was responsible for the development of Duco lacquers and enamels, the first practical colored paints for mass-produced automobiles. While working with the Dayton-Wright Company he developed the " Bug " aerial torpedo, considered the world's first aerial missile. He led the advancement of practical, lightweight two-stroke diesel engines , revolutionizing the locomotive and heavy equipment industries. In 1927, he founded

4485-420: Was the 6V71 ( V6 ). GM buses used a unique "Angle-drive" configuration with a transverse mounted engine. The transmission angled off at a 45-or-so degree angle to connect to the rear axle. The engines were canted backwards for maintenance access; in fact, the only parts not accessible from outside the bus were the right-hand exhaust manifold and the starter . The entire engine - transmission - radiator assembly

4554-404: Was the first in the United States to have electric air conditioning using freon. Ridgeleigh Terrace was the home of his son, Eugene, until his death. Eugene's wife, Virginia , lived in the house for many years, restoring and redecorating it. In the late 1990s, the house largely destroyed in a fire, and was rebuilt with serious deviation from the original blueprints to accommodate its current use as

4623-582: Was to mix ethanol with gasoline, while his "low percentage solution" looked for additives that would be added in small quantities to increase what later would be called the octane rating of gasoline. Thomas Midgley Jr. and Kettering identified tetraethyllead (TEL) in December 1921 as an additive that would eliminate engine knocking at a dilution of one thousand to one. While use of ethanol could not be patented, TEL's use as an additive could. Kettering and Midgley secured its patent and proceeded to promote

4692-566: Was unsuccessful due to a combination of factors, nontechnical and technical. Air-cooled engines have had commercial success before and since, used widely in such applications as lawnmowers, small aircraft, and automobiles - notably the Volkswagen Beetle and many generations of Porsche sports cars. Kettering's research in fuel was based on his belief that oil would be in short supply and additives would allow more efficient engines with higher compression. His "high percentage" solution

4761-466: Was used. For this reason, this model is sometimes not described as being a New Look and is not included in New Look production figures. Series production took place in 1982–1983, and a total of only 53 were built. With the newer front and older body, these buses, which were model TA60-102N (for T ransit A rticulated 60 feet long × 102 inches wide N o air-conditioning), were a transitional model. Unlike most other articulated buses with an engine in

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