Engineering and Research Corporation

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ERCO (Engineering and Research Corporation) was started by Henry Berliner in 1930. Henry was the son of Emile Berliner who had patented numerious inventions relating to sound and acoustics. Henry founded his company to produce tools for the manufacture of metal aircraft and propellers. Through his work in propellers he met Fred Weick, a noted aeronautical engineer, who worked with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics doing cowling and propeller work. Weick also worked on an experimental aircraft that incorporated the latest safety features that aerospace engineering could offer.

In 1936, Weick left NACA to come work for ERCO on his "safety airplane". In 1937, Berliner purchased 50 acres of land in Riverdale, Maryland near the College Park Airport, and built the large ERCO factory and airstrip. One of ERCO's most significant achievements was the development of the Ercoupe aircraft.

The first experimental model of the Ercoupe was test flown at College Park airport in 1937. It had a single tail (unlike the eventual production Ercoupes, with their characteristic twin tails), and was known as the "Jeep". Construction of the production prototype was completed in 1939 and certification by the CAA was completed in 1940. The first Ercoupe, serial no. 1, was owned by George Brinckerhoff, the operator of the College Park Airport, and flown there. It now belongs to the National Air and Space Museum.

During World War II, the ERCO factory produced several products under contract with the U.S. Government, including gun turrets. ERCO earned an "E" award for excellence in meeting manufacturing goals in its war contracts and employed hundreds of local residents in its wartime efforts.

In 1947, Berliner decided to get out of the aviation industry and sold the drawings, tools, parts, materials and distribution rights for the Ercoupe to Sanders Aviation, although the small aircraft market had fallen into decline. In all, ERCO and Sanders Aviation sold just over 5,000 Ercoupes.

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