Industry Aerospace Defunct 1933 Headquarters Alexandria | Fate Acquired Products Aircraft Founded 4 February 1929 Ceased operations 1933 | |
Key people Henry Berliner, Temple Nach Joyce | ||
Berliner-Joyce Aircraft was an American aircraft manufacturer. It was founded on 4 February 1929 when Henry Berliner and his 1922 company, Berliner Aircraft Company of Alexandria, Virginia, joined with Maryland Aviation Commission leader Captain Temple Nach Joyce.
Berliner-Joyce hired William H. Miller as chief designer, and opened a 58,000 square foot factory in Dundalk, Maryland, near Logan Field. The facility operated one of the largest private wind tunnel operations of the time. The Great Depression ended the civil aircraft production market, so Berliner-Joyce concentrated on designing aircraft for the USAAC and US Navy.
In May 1929 the company received its first order, for the Berliner-Joyce XFJ. Other projects, the P-16 and OJ-2, also received orders, but in 1933 North American Aviation bought controlling interest in the company and appointed its own executives. In January 1934 Joyce left the company to join Bellanca Aircraft, and soon after Berliner left for Engineering and Research Corporation. The company became the B/J division of North American Aviation, and was moved from Maryland to Inglewood, California.