J Gordon Hussey

While the first Aero Flite trailer was not built until after World War II, the company’s history is able to be traced to the years preceding the war, when founder J. Gordon Hussey became interested in aviation and aircraft maintenance and repair. Hussey possessed a seemingly undying entrepreneurial spirit, having tried his luck in several other industries before becoming involved in aviation. He was born as Julious Gordon Hussey on August 11, 1897, and for most of his life went by the name J. Gordon Hussey. He attended New Mexico Military Institute, a high school and junior college in Roswell, New Mexico, from 1912 through 1916. Hussey attended University of California at Berkeley during 1916 and 1917, studying pre-med. He served his country from August 1917 through February 1919 in the US Navy. During 1920 and 1921, Hussey attended Alexander Hamilton University, Albuquerque, New Mexico where he studied business administration and business law. His wife was named Constance P. Hussey and together they had two children, whom they named after themselves. Their son, J. Gordon Hussey, Jr., worked for his father’s company in the early 1940’s before joining the United States Navy. Hussey, Jr., served as a Midshipman and in 1944 was sent by the Navy to Harvard University to study aircraft supply and aircraft repair. Hussey, Jr. worked for his father’s company again in the late 1940’s, and became part owner of the company that built Aero Flite trailers in 1946. J. Gordon’s daughter, Constance Louise Hussey (Connie), attended University of California at Berkley and in 1946 married Henry Paul Schoeller. The Hussey family was very affluent and Connie Hussey was sometimes mentioned in the society pages of the Los Angeles newspaper, including times when she would return from college to visit with her father.

J. Gordon Hussey was involved in several different business ventures during the years before becoming involved with aircraft reconstruction and trailer manufacturing. He was instrumental in negotiating with the federal government and securing funding to expand the Palmdale Airport in 1941. The airport’s directors wanted to expand the airport, but property surrounding the airport needed to be secured before expansion could occur. Hussey secured financing and was successful in purchasing and/or leasing land to allow expansion and development of the airport to begin. Hussey had also owned and operated a Studebaker car dealership in Bakersfield, California. He developed and operated Quakerline Oil Company, which he later sold to an oil company in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Hussey also developed a contracting firm in Florida, which he sold after operating it for five years. He also owned and operated a number of oil and gas wells in California.

At some point in the late 1930’s, Hussey became involved in aircraft manufacturing. By 1941 he was the Vice President of a Los Angeles airplane manufacturing firm, Aetna Aircraft Corporation. In 1941 Hussey’s firm purchased the rights to an airplane designed by aviation pioneer Wally Timm. The relationship between Hussey and Wally Timm did not end with the purchase of the airplane design. When Wally Timm sold his company in 1942 and it was renamed Aero Services, Incorporated, it was Hussey who was the president of the company while Timm was the secretary. Hussey ran Aero Services from 1942 until the company was dissolved in 1947, following its bankruptcy filing in 1946. Hussey worked throughout late 1945 trying to expand Aero Services' operations into new areas and he traveled to Washington several times trying to secure new government contracts to keep the company afloat. When Aero Lines, Incorporated was founded in early 1946, Hussey was on the board of directors and was named President.