By 1927, the Navy (Glenn L. Martin's major customer at that time) was urging Martin to relocate on the eastern seaboard to save the cost of shipping planes to coastal bases. Cleveland officials had balked at buying land for an airport that could accommodate a new Martin plant, so Martin began negotiating with the government of Baltimore, Maryland. He was successful in forming what became the Martin-Marietta Corporation. In 1928 Martin sold his Cleveland factory and production licenses to Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation of Delaware, a company organized by a group of Chicago businessmen. By 1935, that particular company was out of business, but the aircraft industry was firmly established in Cleveland.

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, production of military aircraft began to grow in the United States even as it rocketed in England. The Bristol Aeroplane Company in England turned to its American supplier of engine valves, The Thompson Products Company, for advice on a potential source of forgings for its rapidly expanding engine production.

Thompson Product engineers and metallurgists recommended The Steel Improvement and Forge Company, and a new chapter in the history of the company began.
Bristol Aircraft, Ltd Parts
Master Connecting Rod	Articulating Rod	Airscrew Shaft

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