| Charles J. Fletcher | |
| Birth Name: | Charles Joseph Fletcher |
| Birth Date: | December 21, 1922 |
| Birth Place: | Franklin, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Death Date: | April 20, 2011 (aged 88) |
| Death Place: | Saint Clare's Hospital at Boonton Township Boonton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Citizenship: | United States |
| Occupation: | Aeronautical Engineering |
| Alma Mater: | New York University, B.S. 1950 |
| Known For: | Hovercraft |
Charles Joseph Fletcher (December 21, 1922 - April 20, 2011) was an American inventor and the owner and chief executive of an aeronautical equipment manufacturing and engineering company, Technology General Corporation, in Franklin, New Jersey. While a naval aviator he came up with the idea of the "Glidemobile", a vehicle using air for support. This was not made public until used in defence in a patent claim from British manufacturers of hovercraft, Fletcher holds over seventy patents.[1]
He was born on December 21, 1922, to Horace Fletcher and Florence Romyns. He served as a Lieutenant Commander with the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. Fletcher earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from New York University in 1950.
He was the president of Technology General Corporation, a small ($2 million annual revenue) manufacturer of drawn metal products, spray coating systems, power mixers, and commercial ice crushing equipment. Fletcher penned his autobiography, Quest for Survival, in 2002.
A contributor to the X-15 rocket, Fletcher also worked on the test version of the Apollo Lunar Module, and holds seventeen aeronautical patents on vertical lift and rocket engines.[2] [3] Fletcher was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey in 1992 and the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 1993.
A resident of Fredon Township, New Jersey, he died on April 20, 2011, at Saint Clare's Hospital at Boonton Township in Boonton, New Jersey, at 88.[4]