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Alfred Victor Verville (November 16, 1890 – March 10, 1970) was an aviation pioneer and aircraft designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his forty-seven years in the aviation industry, he was responsible for the design and development of nearly twenty commercial and military airplanes. Verville is known for designing flying boats, military racing airplanes (such as the record breaking Verville-Sperry R-3 Racer), and a series of commercial cabin airplanes. His planes were awarded with the Pulitzer Speed Classic Trophy in 1920 and 1924. Verville was a founder of three aeronautical companies, the General Aeroplane Company, Verville Aircraft Company, and the Buhl Aircraft Company. He worked for General Billy Mitchell during his service at the United States Army Air Service from 1918 to 1925. From 1937 to 1945, he worked as a consultant for companies such as Douglas Aircraft, Curtiss-Wright, Snead Aircraft, and Drexel Aviation. Verville spent the next sixteen years in the U.S. Federal government, primarily in the Bureau of Aeronautics, before retiring in 1961. Verville received many honors and awards, including a selection as a fellow of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in 1962. An airmail stamp was issued in 1985 by the US Postal Service in Verville's honor. In 1991, he was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame. ==Early life and career== Verville was born in Atlantic Mine, a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on November 16, 1890,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Alfred Victor Verville (1890–1970) - Find A Grave Memorial )〕 as the son of Victor Verville and Fabianna Miron. As a child, his mother bought him a Conyne-style box kite from Sears Roebuck, which captured his imagination and started his interest in flight and aviation. Verville also began reading stories about the Wright Brothers in newspapers and magazines with great interest. Later he even wrote to the Wrights and Glenn Curtiss and received responses.〔 After graduating from Adams Township High School, Verville took a correspondence course in electrical engineering.〔 - ISBN 978-1-57607-345-2〕 He moved to Detroit, Michigan at the age of twenty, and from 1910 to 1913 he worked in the electrical departments of the Detroit Edison Company, Ford Motor Company, and Hudson Motor Car Company.〔 By 1913, Verville had made his mind up that he wanted to learn to fly. William Edmund Scripps, the editor and owner of ''The Detroit News'', introduced Verville to Glenn Curtiss in July 1913. Curtiss encouraged Verville to apply for his Spring 1914 flight school. Instead, Verville went to Hammondsport, New York in February 1914, where Curtiss Aeroplane Company was located, and told Curtiss he wanted to work as an apprentice in his drafting and engineering shop.〔 Curtiss agreed and this began Verville's aviation career.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tom McNeely: Alfred Verville Painting Commentary )〕 Verville excelled as a draftsman and designer, but still wanted to attend flight school and to become an exhibition pilot. After applying and being passed over three times for the Curtiss Flying School, Verville went to Curtiss, who responded: "No, Mr. Verville you don't want to be a pilot. We can get all the pilots we want. What we want are designers. You're () a designer and you don't know it."〔 While at Curtiss Aeroplane, Verville took an active part in the development of the transatlantic flying boat ''America'' (which was a Curtiss H-2) and the Curtiss Jenny of World War I fame. In the Fall of 1914, Verville left the company and joined the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company in New Jersey; shortly thereafter, he joined the Thomas-Morse Airplane Company.〔 In March 1915, he returned to Detroit and joined the General Aeroplane Company, where he led his first full design and build to his specifications, the Verville Flying Boat. On July 9, 1917, Verville married Bertha M. Kamrath in Escanaba, Michigan.〔 (Note: the name on this page is misspelled Kanmath, should be ''Kamrath''.)〕 He had three children with her, daughters Betty and Janet, and son Myron.〔 Also in 1917, Verville left the General Aeroplane Company to become executive engineer of Fisher Body Corporation, where he supervised the construction of de Havilland DH-4 airplanes.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alfred V. Verville」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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