Airstream | Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki

Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. Tractor&ConstructionPlantWiki Explore MainPage Discuss AllPages Community RecentBlogPosts TractorWiki TractorMfc PlantMfc SteamEngines&Rollers Trucks Engines Glossary Preservation ShowsandMeets ShowReports SteamFairs ClubsListing Museums Collections WebSiteLinks Lists TractorMfc JohnDeere's InternationalHarvester PlantMfc SteamEngineMfc AgriculturalMachinery AgriculturalImplements EngineMfc TruckMfc ListofHeavyHaulageContractors Models ModelsofTractorsandPlant CollectableModels EngineeringModels FANDOM Games Movies TV Video Wikis ExploreWikis CommunityCentral StartaWiki Register Don'thaveanaccount? SignIn Advertisement in: Recreationalvehicles,Recreationalvehiclemanufacturers,CompaniesoftheUnitedStates, and 2more ThorIndustries Airstream Airstream Viewsource History Talk(0) AirstreamFounded 1930sFounder(s) WallyByamHeadquarters JacksonCenter,Ohio,USAProducts trailersParent ThorIndustriesWebsite http://www.airstream.com/ 1966AirstreamOverlanderInternational AirstreamisabrandofluxuryrecreationalvehiclemanufacturedinJacksonCenter,Ohio,USA.ItiscurrentlyadivisionofThorIndustries.Thecompany,whichnowemploysfewerthan400,istheoldestintheindustry.Airstreamtrailersareeasilyrecognizedfortheirdistinctiveroundedaluminumbodies,whichoriginatedinthe1930sfromdesignscreatedbyHawleyBowlus.BowluswasthechiefdesignerofCharlesLindbergh'saircraft,theSpiritofSt.Louis. Contents 1History 2Airstreamers 3Airstreamparks 4Spaceprogram 5UnitedStatesAirForce 6References 7Externallinks History ThecompanywasfoundedbyWallyByam,whobeganbuildingtrailersoutofMasoniteinhisbackyardinLosAngelesduringthelate1920s.Alawyerbytraining,Byampublishedamagazineselling"how-to"kitstocustomerswishingtobuildtheirowntrailers.HethenacquiredthestrugglingBowlusCompany.In1936Byamintroducedthe"AirstreamClipper",whichwasessentiallyarebadged1935Bowlus,withthedoorrelocatedfromthefronttotheside.Thedesigncutdownonwindresistanceandthusimprovedfuelefficiency.Itwasthefirstofthenowfamiliarsausage-shaped,silveraluminumAirstreamtrailers.Ofmorethan400traveltrailerbuildersoperatingin1936,AirstreamwasthesolesurvivoroftheDepression.DuringWorldWarII,travelbecamealuxurymostcouldnotaffordandnon-militaryindustriesfacedanacutealuminumshortage.WhenWorldWarIIended,theeconomyboomed,andpeople'sattentiononceagainturnedtowardsleisuretravel.Byam'scompanywentbackintoproductionin1948.InJuly1952anewfacilityinJacksonCenter,Ohio,wasestablished.1979sawthelastAirstreamstobemanufacturedinCalifornia. In1974AirstreambeganmanufacturingaClassAmotorhome,badged"Argosy".Theybeganaspaintedaluminum20-and24-foot(6.1and7.3m)models,andwerefollowedin1979bythefirstexamplesoftheClassicmodelmotorhome,withanunpaintedaluminumbodymuchlikethetrailers. TokyoSmokingwagonisamodifiedAirstream Airstream-badgedClassAmotorhomesbeganas24-and28-foot(7.3and8.5-m)modelsin1979,andinthe1980sand1990s,modelsrangingfrom25upto37feet(7.6upto11.2m)weremarketed.Thealuminummotorhomeswerefollowedbymoretraditional-lookingfiberglassmodelsinthe1990s.AirstreamdiscontinuedmanufactureofClassAmotorhomesin2006.Onebusmodel,theSkydeck,featuredinteriorstairsleadingtoadeckontheroof. Startingin1989,AirstreambuiltClassBmotorhomesbasedontheFordEconolinechassisandtheDodgeB-seriesvanchassis.Productionceasedafterthe1999modelyear.In2004,AirstreamintroducedtheWestfaliaandInterstate.TheParkwaymodel,basedontheInterstate,wasintroducedin2006.AllmodelsarebuiltontheMercedes-BenzSprinterchassis.TheWestfaliawasdiscontinuedin2006. Airstream,stillbasedinJacksonCenter,isownedbyThor,Inc.Thecompanypresentlymanufacturesapproximately1,000trailersandmotorhomesperyear.Currently,Airstreamproducesseveralmodels —Sport,FlyingCloud,InternationalandClassicLimited.2011trailersizesrangebetween16ftto34ft(4.9to10.5m).AirstreamalsomanufacturesmodelsfortheEuropeanmarket. Airstreamers AirstreamersareagroupofRVerswhoshareacommunityspiritbecauseoftheirmutualloveofthetrailers.Intheearly1950s,AirstreamcompanyfounderWallyByambeganleadinggroupsofownersontravelstomanyportionsoftheworld,wherethetowedtrailerswerequiteremarkable.Photostakenofthetrailersinfrontofmanyfamoustouristsiteswerecommon.ThispromotedamystiquewhichsurroundedAirstreamsandpersiststothisday. TheWallyByamCaravanClubwasformedduringthe1955rallyinKentville,NovaScotia,Canada.Later,theword"International"wasaddedtotheclubname,resultingintheacronym"WBCCI"andmorecommonlyknownasthe"WallyClub".OnAugust17,2005,acommemorativeplaquewasdedicatedonthesite.ClubmembersjointogetherforonelargeInternationalRallyeachsummer(whichbyclubrulesalwaysincludesthedatesofJuly1andJuly4),andhundredsofsmallerlocalralliesareheldcoast-to-coastby"units"(chapters).Airstreamsaremorepopularthanever,andrestorationofoldermodelsisapassionsharedbymany. Airstreamparks TherearemorethanadozenAirstreamparksthroughouttheUnitedStates.TheseareRVresortsorcampgroundswhereownersofAirstream-manufacturedunitsareallowedtobuy,rentorleaseasite.Someofthesefacilitieswelcomenon-Airstreamproducts,whileothersaremorestrictintheiradmission.SomeoftheparksrequiremembershipintheWBCCItobeadmitted.SeveraloftheresortsareownedandoperatedbythelocalunitoftheWBCCI. Spaceprogram TheAstrovandrivesinfrontoftheVehicleAssemblyBuilding. In1969,upontheirreturnfromtheMoon,thecrewofApollo11werequarantinedintheMobileQuarantineFacility,amodifiedairtightAirstreamtrailer,untilitcouldbedeterminedthattherewaslittlelikelihoodoftheirhavingbroughtbacklunarpathogenswiththem. Fordecades,NASAhasusedafleetofAirstreammotorhomestotransportastronautstothelaunchpad.Thespaceshuttleprogramhasusedamodified1983AirstreamExcellasince1984dubbedtheAstrovan.[1] UnitedStatesAirForce AirstreamtrailersarecommonlyusedtotransportAmericanofficialsaroundtheworld.Thetrailersarestrappeddowninsidemilitarycargoplanes.Thetrailersfeatureleatherchairs,carpeting,woodpanelling,televisionandDVDplayers.[2] References ↑Mansfield,CherylL(2008)."CatchingaRidetoDestiny".NASA.gov.RetrievedonJuly13,2009. ↑Templateerror:argumenttitleisrequired.  Externallinks WikimediaCommonshasmediarelatedto:Airstream AirstreamCompanyWebsite WBCCI VintageAirstreamClub AirstreamTrailersFanSite&LinkLibrary AIRForums AirstreamLifemagazine v·d·e CampervanandRVmakersCampervans Dormobile-VolkswagenWestfaliaCampers-Westfalia •Recreationalvehicles BlueBirdCorporation-ForestRiver-GulfstreamCoach-Jayco,Inc-ThorIndustries-WinnebagoIndustriesDefunctBrands HolidayRambler-adddetailsofothers ... Category:CampervansandCategory:Recreationalvehiclemanufacturers ThispageusessomecontentfromWikipedia.TheoriginalarticlewasatAirstream.Thelistofauthorscanbeseeninthepagehistory.AswithTractor&ConstructionPlantWiki,thetextofWikipediaisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsbyAttributionLicenseand/orGNUFreeDocumentationLicense.PleasecheckpagehistoryforwhentheoriginalarticlewascopiedtoWikia Categories Recreationalvehicles Recreationalvehiclemanufacturers CompaniesoftheUnitedStates ThorIndustries Airstream CommunitycontentisavailableunderCC-BY-SAunlessotherwisenoted. Advertisement FanFeed 1 ListoftractorsbuiltbyTYMforothercompanies 2 ListofInternationalHarvesterengines 3 Universal(UTB) UniversalConquestWiki Let'sGoLuna!Wiki Club57Wiki FollowonIG Newsletter JoinFanLab