Evening star., 1943-05-02
Lear, the Gadget Man Of Aviation
Turns Out Vast Quantity of Accessories Which Are
Invaluable to Aircraft
By Paul B. Mason,
..-4I n.~.s yXyr;}ar

Associated Press writer.
pIOUA, Ohio-Take Huckleberry Finn
and Tom Sawyer, project them into
world of airplanes and radios, add the
genius of Thomas A. Edison. season with
the vagaries of Rube Goldberg cartoon,
scramble with the cast of "Hellzapop-
PIN"
Meet William P. Lear, idea man OF
aviation
Lear is president of radio and air.
craft accessory development and manu-
featuring company, and its only sales
man. But his big job is dreaming up
the 1,0O1 never er-needed-unti -now-and-
where do -we-f1nd-th them quick gadgets
that go into the building of Americas
improving warbirds.
Nearly every plane in the United Ma
tons military and commercial service
carries Lear's name on some part OF Its
equipment: The radio or automatic direc-
ton finder, the units which operate the
cowl-ventilation flaps Of bomb-bay doors,
or the devices for temperature control.
Lear, stocky, blue cherubic-faced
and restless, is Bill" to the industry and
to any one else after five minutes con-
tact with his pile-driver personality. He
can't remember faces or names, but try
to stump him" on myriad details of de-
sign or operation of hundred or more
devices projected or under manufacture
in his shop. 1t can't be done.
And when collaborators many of whom
are top-notch mathematicians, attempt
to argue him down, he turns on them
with You can't fool me. I'm too ignor-
ant" It's his pet expression-and as fire.
quently his aides have to back down.
Opening New Factory. \
Lear doesn't look day over 30, spends
seven-tenths of his time on the road.
It's tough schedule, but Lear Avia, Inc,
Is expanding.
The company is opening new factory
in Grand Rapids, Mich, and production
already is under way, although not
scheduled to start until May: it is en-
larging quarters within stones throw of
seven California aircraft plants, is in
creasing floor space in New York City,
has all but outgrown six buildings of an
old stove foundry into which it moved
here 16 months ago.
All this is being done despite press
ing shortage of trained men. I'VE don't
have 10 per cent of the top personnel we
need" says Lear. I'VE have five top
design engineers and should have 100.
We have so detailers and should have
TOO. We have Is men in the model shop
and need 85O."
Lear is a paradox: He'd rather fool
around with his ideas and experiments
than anything else except fondle q De-
cember addition of his family; he would
rather fly than eat-he holds q CONNER
cial pilots license and flies his own twin
motored. custom-equipped plane; he
rumbas with grimacing, headlong gusto
in all the better night spots from New
York to Los Angeles and yields to the
mood of classics or jive with the playing
of any of the hundreds of records In his
library.
He likes Tschaikowsky, particularly,
with the volume control "all out" Walls
Of his six-room country home fairly
bulge under the deafening diapason Of
sound, and the good folk within 4 radius
Of miles can think either war priorities
or .. change -of-whim for the fact that
Bill did not carry through m idea to
construct Z bandshell, equipped with ana