Slow-Motion Dream

During a 50-year career, Inventor-Industrialist Sherman Fairchild, 68, has tinkered successfully with everything from aerial cameras to semiconductors.

But Fairchild's great dream is to assemble an Eastern aerospace company that would rival the West Coast's Lock heed, Boeing or North American. Toward that end Fairchild and his Fairchild Stratos Corp. have been buying into Long Island's Republic Aviation Corp., have acquired a controlling 21% of Republic's stock. Last week Fairchild's interest caused an upheaval at Republic. Faced by Fairchild's plans for changes at Republic, Mundy I. Peale, 58, Republic's president for 17 years, resigned.

While Peale flew to a Wyoming convention of the Conquistadores del Cielo, an organization of chiefs (and ex-chiefs) of aircraft companies, a quadrumvirate of directors, led by Fairchild Stratos President Edward Uhl, took over to run Republic without him. It will take some running.

Once a leading and lucrative aircraft company, Republic turned out the P47 Thunderbolt in World War II, the F-84 Thunderjet for Korea and lately the F-105 interceptor-bomber. But the F-105 contract ends this year, and Republic has been groundspeed slow in diversifying into other defense and space areas. Its earnings last year were $3,600,000 on sales of $362 million; this year sales will be below $300 million--and losses are certain. "The first job," says Uhl, 46, "will be to cut Republic down to size." He intends to reduce personnel and plant to that needed for a $100 million operation, concentrate more on engineering and research and development instead of on manufacturing operations.

While Uhl is trying to rescue Republic, he will also have to find ways to beef up his own Fairchild Stratos. Fairchild's most recent airplane, the F-27 short-haul commercial liner, was technically impressive but a financial red-inker. Fairchild sales have declined steadily for six years, although the company managed to earn $1,000,000 last year on a $62 million assortment of space and defense subcontracts. With no new major space contracts on the horizon to bid for, Sherman Fairchild's dream will have to remain just that for the time being.

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