Republic Aviation Corporation, formerly known as Seversky Aircraft Company, was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island. The company was responsible for designing and producing a range of military aircraft, including the famous P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, F-84 Thunderjet and F-105 Thunderchief jet fighters, as well as the A-10 Thunderbolt II close-support aircraft.
Founded in 1931 by Alexander de Seversky, a Russian expatriate and a veteran World War I pilot who had lost a leg during the war, the company initially employed many Russian and Georgian engineers, including Michael Gregor and Alexander Kartveli, who went on to design several of Republic’s most famous aircraft.
After winning a design competition, Seversky Aircraft received their first military contract in 1936 for the production of the Seversky P-35. In 1939, the company again participated in a military fighter competition with the much-improved AP-4. Although the contract was awarded to the Curtiss P-40, USAAC was impressed with the AP-4’s high-altitude performance and ordered 13 more aircraft for testing as the XP-43. However, in April 1939, the corporation was in financial trouble, and Seversky was forced out of the company he founded. In September 1939, the company was reorganized as the Republic Aviation Corporation, with W. Wallace Kellett being elected as the new president.
The AP-4 finally went into production as the P-43 Lancer, with 272 aircraft produced, including 108 sent to China to be used against Japan. Many were used by the AVG Flying Tigers pilots, who appreciated the plane’s performance at high altitudes up to 30,000 ft, thus replacing the less effective P-40s at altitudes over 20,000 ft. However, Claire Chennault declined to keep the plane for his crews due to its lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and armor. The matter between Seversky and the company was resolved to his satisfaction in September 1942.
In 1965, Republic Aviation was acquired by Fairchild Aircraft and later dissolved in 1987.