Blanchard, W. J., 1900-1948

Werner J. Blanchard was a father, an inventor, and a well respected member of the Dayton business community. He was born in Bennington, Kansas on April 4, 1900. He attended college at Wooster, Ohio and graduated form Kansas State College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. In 1920 he went to work as a machinist for Cleveland Worm and Gear Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1924 he moved home to Manhattan, Kansas to teach school until 1927. He began his proffessional career in the Aeronautics industry as an engineer for Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corp. It was at the Curtiss Corp. that he first patented some of his innovations for aircraft propellers. In 1935 he left the Curtiss Corp. to co-found his own new company with his friend Charles MacNeil. They called their new corporation Engineering Products and started it in Vandalia, Ohio. The company was the first to develop a new propeller that has since become known as the "Aeroprop". In 1940 Engineering Products was purchased by General Motors Corp. and renamed to Aeroproducts. Werner J. Blanchard was named first General Manager of the Aeroproducts division.

Mr. Blanchard was a member of many local organizations and charities. He was elected president of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce in 1944. He also served as a founding member of the University of Illinois Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. In addition, he served as President of the Board at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio and was a member of the Dayton Engineers Club.

Werner J. Blanchard was sadly taken before his time in December of 1948 when he was killed in the crash of his Navion 85 airplane on a return trip from a business conference. After many days of searching rescuers found the wreckage of his plane outside of Columbus, Ohio. Shortly after his death he was awarded the Presidents Award for Service of Merit During Wartime. He was survived by his wife Juliet, daughter Eunice and son David.

From the guide to the W.J. Blanchard, Aeroproducts Inc. Collection, 1925-1960, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)