invested in the short-lived Wichita, Kansas based Buckley Aircraft Company, developing the all-aluminum Buckley LC-4. In 1930 Stout said: "Aviation in the U.S. has been stagnating for two years. We are all copying. Aviation has shown no progress ... comparable to that made in radio and talking pictures. Think how many copies have been made of the plane Colonel Lindbergh used on his flight across the Atlantic ... of other famous planes. None of us are building the plane that the public wants to buy, and that proves we are standing still." In 1943 Stout sold the Stout engineering laboratory to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation becoming the Stout Research Division of Consolidated. He was named the director of Convair's research division through World War II. While at Consolidated, Stout promoted three designs for postwar production, including a flying car using a Spratt wing. Stout's other innovations included the Skycar, an automobile/airplane hybrid and a Pullman Railplane and Club Car. He is also known as the originator of prefab housing and the sliding car seat. All of these innovations were modern in design, incorporating many features new in both appearance and function, features not yet available in vehicle design. Death Stout retired to Phoenix, Arizona and died on March 20, 1956, four days after his 76th birthday. Publications Stout self-published a small booklet (15 pp.) of poems, circa 1936. Two of the poems were in the form of letters: On Receiving Word that Stan Knauss Was Joining the Air Corps (September 18, 1918) and On Stan Becoming a Father (December 4, 1930). His autobiography, So Away I Went!, was published in 1951. Legacy Stout is remembered for his engineering credo, "Simplicate and add more lightness." This would later become best known as the adopted maxim of Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars. It actually originated with Stout's designer Gordon Hooton. William B. Stout Middle School in Dearborn, Michigan bears his name. Notes References Bibliography Ford, R. Bryan. Henry's Lieutenants. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1993. . Ludvigsen, Karl. Colin Chapman: Inside the Innovator. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing, 2010. . Stout, William Bushnell. So Away I Went! Indianapolis, Indiana: Boobs-Merrill, 1951. External links Mechanix Illustrated Nov. 1943 Popular Mechanics May 1936 The Reminiscences of Mr. William B. Stout – Benson Ford Research Center Henry Ford's Contributions to Aviation History featuring William Bushnell Ford executives University of Minnesota alumni 1880 births