2. Warren G. Grimes (1898 - 1975)
Inventor, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Civic Leader
3. The Father of Aircraft Lighting
Although not born in Urbana,Warren Grimes lived here for most
of his life and called Urbana home. He raised his family, built a
multimillion dollar business as well as the community’s airport,
served as mayor, and contributed to an extraordinary number of
philanthropic causes.
Mr. Grimes began operating his business in Urbana in 1930 in the
early years of the Great Depression. The rise of his career as an
inventor and manufacturer coincided with the increase in
demand for airplane lighting for WorldWar II, but his
inventiveness and sense of humor and fun helped him survive
the lean years of the early 1930s.
4. Humble Beginnings…
At first, his work revolved around preparing homes to
accommodate the area’s first electrical service lines.
A tinkerer and inventor, Grimes was never happier than
when he was at his workbench, designing and building.
He built go-carts using washing machine motors from
his brother Frank’s repair shop on the the town square.
Hi built “mouse circuses” for the front windows of local
shops, paying children a nickel for every field mouse
they caught to be “performers”.
5. …to National Defense
In 1933, sick and in the hospital, Grimes received approval of his
wingtip and tail lighting designs by the U.S. Department of
Commerce.
The company’s production skyrocketed during World War II,
during which there were dramatic advances in the aircraft
industry, and a strong demand for airplane lighting.
In the early years, the workforce at Grimes Manufacturing
consisted ofWarren himself and a few skilled tradesmen. The
company grew to be one of the largest employers in the region
within a few short years.
DuringWorld War II, virtually every U.S. plane in operation was
equipped with Grimes products.
6. Grimes Aerospace and Honeywell
Aerospace: The Legacy Continues
By the mid-1990s, Grimes Manufacturing had become
Grimes Aerospace and manufactured over 6,000 different
lights and components for aircraft and spacecraft.
Still today, the vast majority of airplanes and aerospace craft
are equipped with Grimes products, including exterior wing
tip and tail lighting, landing, instrumental and interior
lighting components.
Grimes Aerospace is now a part of Honeywell Aerospace.
9. Grimes and Airplane Flight –
Coming of AgeTogether
In 1903,Wilbur and Orville Wright made one of their first flights
at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That flight lasted 12 seconds.
Warren Grimes was 5 years old.
In 1904,The Wright Brothers conducted hundreds of hours of
flight testing at Huffman Prairie, located at the site of what is
now the Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
Grimes grew up in rural Montgomery County just a few miles
from where theWright Brothers lived and worked. As a boy, he
would ride his bicycle to Huffman Prairie to watch them testing
their plane, the Model Flyer.
15. Childhood Hardship
When Warren was nine years old, his father, Shelby Grimes,
drowned in the Mad River when returning from a camping
trip.
Being the youngest,Warren was sent to the Junior Order of
the United Mechanics Home inTiffin, Ohio.
Records show that other Grimes children (and some of his
younger cousins, it it believed) joined youngWarren at the
orphanage. The family was extremely poor, and their mother
could not care for them all herself.
17. Grimes and theWright Brothers
In 1903, Grimes was five years old when Wilbur and Orville
Wright made one of their first flights at Kill Devil Hills, North
Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds.
In 1904, Huffman Prairie, near Fairborn, was the site of several
successful flights made by the Wright Brothers.
YoungWarren was fascinated by the planes and, as his family’s
home was only a few miles from Huffman Prairie, he would ride
his bicycle over to watch the planes every chance he could.
18. Grimes and Henry Ford
At the age of 15,Warren ran away from the orphanage in
Tiffin and joined his older brother, Frank, in Detroit,
Michigan.
The two got jobs at Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly line
manufacturing plant during that factory’s $5/day heyday.
Warren’s lighting designs so impressed his supervisor, as well
as Ford himself, that he was commissioned to work on
lighting for the FordTri-Motor Airplane, or the “Tin Goose” as
it was nicknamed.
21. Grimes Field, Cont’d (edit)
Grimes Field, located about 1 mile north of Urbana is a small
airfield that opened in 1942. Named forWarren Grimes who
moved to Urbana in 1930, when he founded Grimes
Manufacturing, a small lighting fixture plant.What makes
Warren noteworthy is that he invented the familiar red,
green and white navigation lights found on the wing tips and
tails of aircraft throughout the world.
Grimes became known as the "Father of the Aircraft Lighting
Industry" and duringWorldWar II, every American-made
airplane was equipped with Grimes red-green-white lights.
Grimes also served as mayor of Urbana and chairman of the
Ohio Aviation Board
23. Flying Lab con’td
Grimes Flying Lab Foundation
Originally manufactured as a Beech C-45H transport aircraft for the
U.S.Air Force in 1953, it was acquired byWarren Grimes in 1963 to
be used as a lighting demonstration aircraft. Over the years the
aircraft regularly was flown at air shows around the world and
continued being used as a laboratory to develop new lighting
products. In 1986 the plane was damaged at an air show and sold
for salvage. In 1999 the plane was purchased by Honeywell (which
had purchased Grimes Manufacturing) and moved the damaged
and dismantled airplane back to Grimes Field for restoration.
Volunteer worked on the restoration project and the plane once
again began flying out of Grimes Field in 2008.The Grimes Flying
Lab Foundation was formed to handle the restoration of the
aircraft.
24. Grimes Family
Grimes and his young family moved from Detroit to Urbana.
At first, the family rented an apartment near Grimes’
workshop, eventually purchasing the Johnson family farm
north of town, and the site of the future Grimes Airfield.
Grimes’s wife Charlotte and daughtersVirginia, Beverly and
Gloria all helped him in his endeavors.
Grimes also purchased the local movie theater, built in 1904.
The theater was restored and Grimes named it after his
daughter Gloria.
25. The Horatio Alger Award
The Horatio Alger award is awarded annually to citizens who
have overcome great obstacles to achieve success.
In 1961,Warren Grimes received the 15th Annual Horatio
Alger Award.
Other Recipients that year included Dwight D. Eisenhower
and C.R. Smith, president of American Airlines.
Upon receiving his award, Grimes noted, “Good things come
to he who waiteth, provided he worketh like hell while he
waiteth.”
