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From YouTube: Englewood Moments in History - Alexander Aviation
Description
This month’s installment of Moments in Englewood History features the extraordinary beginning and tragic ending to the famed Alexander Aviation’s time in the city. ✈️
In collaboration with: Englewood Historic Preservation Society: http://www.historicenglewood.com/
For more information about the explosion, local reporter David Gilbert wrote a fantastic article about it. Read the article at https://bit.ly/34FRsUa.
A
Alexander
aviation
company,
founded
in
Inglewood
in
1925,
the
Alexander
film
company,
which
would
later
become
the
Alexander
aviation
company,
was
once
known
as
the
largest
aircraft
manufacturer
in
the
world.
It
was
a
revolutionary
company
Fred.
It
did
with
designing
the
bull.
The
forerunner
of
modern
aircraft.
A
In
its
early
years,
Alexander
film,
company,
:
or
j.don
Alexander
had
a
visionary
idea
to
help
his
salesmen,
his
own
fleet
of
airplanes,
to
fly
them
to
appointments.
The
country
was
flush
with
cheap
war
surplus
biplanes
and
the
plan
was
to
purchase
a
fleet
of
planes
and
lease
them
to
the
sales
crew,
while
the
sales
manager
was
away,
learning
to
fly
Alexander
and
his
brother
Don
purchased
four
unassembled
biplanes
and
haven't
shipped
Englewood
when
the
tiny
planes
arrived,
Alexander
saw
an
opportunity
and
realized
his
own
employees
to
manufacture
them.
A
The
initial
planes
were
designed
by
Dan
Newton,
a
man
with
limited
aeronautical
engineering
experience
the
planes
much
like
Frankenstein
were
composed
from
parts
that
were
ported
from
a
variety
of
sources.
Following
a
christening
that
saw
Alexandra's
wife
Gertrude
damaged
the
cheap
aluminum
nose
with
a
bottle
of
champagne.
It
was
ready
for
its
maiden
flight.
The
flight
was
a
disaster,
the
big
beasts
lumbered
down
the
runway
circled
in
the
air
and
quickly
returned
to
earth
hissing
steam
from
an
overheating
engine.
A
Unbelievably,
it
was
a
19
year-old
self-taught
aircraft
engineer
named
Al
Mooney,
who
identified
the
problem.
His
new
design,
crafted
at
his
own
kitchen
table,
resulted
in
the
successful
flight
as
the
teenager's
aircraft
sword
over
Englewood.
Soon
after
Alexander's
signature
plane,
the
Eagle
Rock
debuted,
the
plane
was
a
momentous
success
and
the
planes
took
flight
worldwide.
Even
the
famed
actor
Will
Rogers
fool
won
to
his
speaking
engagements
by
September
of
1927,
fearing
an
annex
by
the
city
of
Denver
that
would
bring
higher
taxes.
A
Alexander
was
planning
to
move
the
factory
to
Colorado
Springs
in
a
cruel
twist
of
faith
just
before
noon
on
April
20th
1928,
a
malfunction
sparked
the
metal
fan
and
ignited
a
highly
volatile
liquid
form
of
silver
nitrate.
An
explosion
rocked
the
factory
as
it
was
humming
with
activity,
shooting
flames
50
feet
in
all
directions.
A
Eleven
souls
were
lost
that
day
in
a
factory
The
Denver
Post
described
as
a
mass
of
tangled
room
shortly
after
the
tragedy,
the
company
hastily
relocated
to
Colorado
Springs
in
the
dead
of
night.
To
the
dismay
of
many,
the
Arapahoe
County
District
Attorney
precipitously
dropped
manslaughter
charges
against
the
Alexander
brothers
Alexander
industries
blossomed
in
Colorado
Springs,
though
the
Depression
would
devastate
aircraft
sales.
The
last
Alexander
plane
was
built
in
1932
only
seven
years
after
the
first
Eagle
Rock
lumbered
skyward.