The National Water Lift Company is a division of Pneumodynamics Corporation, a subsidiary of IC Industries in Chicago. The NWL was founded in 1909 by Roland Fairchild, who set out to design and build water lifts for use in private homes. He was noted for his fierce desire to remain independent. Innovations over the following years led to the Kalamazoo Electric Pump (1919). His aim was high quality. After Fairchild’s death in 1942, the company was purchased by Kalamazoo entrepreneur, Balch Engineer. Merging NWL with his existing company, he expanded the NWL’s production into making various aircraft parts to help with World War II efforts. After the war, Balch briefly returned production to making domestic pump production, but the rapid profitability in the missile industry in the 1940s lead him to focus more on the production of aircraft components. By the 1950s the domestic pump was phased out and the pump business sold to Fred Bailey, a former employee of National Water Lift Co. in 1929. In keeping with Fairchild’s vision of quality, Balch expanded the business through the 50s to include the design and manufacture of actuators for the J-79 engine, hydraulic actuators and control valves for fighter planes, electro-hydraulic components for automatic flight controls, seals for after-burners of several military aircraft, and fuel regulators for Lockheed and Cessna. Though he retired in 1956 and the company was sold to Cleveland Pneumatic Tool (Cleveland, Ohio), the company continued to excel at production of aircraft parts. Subsequent years saw the complete selling of the domestic water pump side of the business, but also a more specialized and more innovative work in the aviation industry particularly in the area of military contracts. The name “National Water Lift Co.” is now only a reference to its history and no longer has any association with making water pumps. Today, the NWL is known as one of the largest value producing facilities in the world. NWL remained under the parent company Cleveland Pneumatic Tool until 1960 when it was acquired by the Aerospace Division of Pneumo-Dynamics Corporation, but the change in ownership again did not slow it’s expansion. The company now entered the space program and was awarded a contract to make flight controls. With the success of providing components for the Mercury flights, the Gemini flights, and the Apollo flights, the company became the leading supplier of components for Apollo missions. New plants around the country were added to keep pace with the space program as well as production of military aircraft. Not all the NWL’s production was limited to the air. In 1966, the company expanded production into the area of land and water based vehicles for the Army. The expansion continued until 1968 when the defense budget was cut. Though the company’s contract with the government and later with General Motors and Chrysler was cut, the business owners at the time, Harry Lammers, helped keep the company afloat through the troubled 70s when sales slowly began to increase with the purchase of several commercial contracts in the aircraft industry. When Lammers retired in 1978, John Jarboe was chosen to replace him. Jarboe refined the company’s production by cutting contracts with the Army and focusing exclusively on contracts with the Air Force. The flight control business expanded and NWL entered the helicopter industry. Later contracts opened up new developments in thrust reverser systems, primarily for jets. Currently, the NWL how has plants across the world and continues to be a leader in the aircraft industry.

Barbret, Michael. (1982). The History of the National Water Lift : From Pumps to Flight Control. [Senior Individualized Project: History, Kalamazoo College]. https://cache.kzoo.edu/handle/10920/24469?show=full