Kollsman Instrument Company

The Kollsman Instrument Company, founded as Kollsman Instruments Co., was an American maker of aircraft instruments started in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, by the German-born inventor Paul Kollsman and his brother Otto, who put in 500 dollars of savings. Its first commercial success was an order from the United States Navy for 300 altimeters, after James Doolittle tested Kollsman's altimeter on the first instrument flights in 1929, and later models added the Kollsman window that lets a pilot set the local altimeter setting. By the mid 1930s its altimeters dominated the aircraft market. In 1940 it was sold to the Square D Company of Detroit for more than 4 million dollars, and Paul Kollsman stayed on as a vice president in charge of the Kollsman Instrument division. In 1951 Square D sold the division to Standard Coil Products of Chicago for more than 5 million dollars. Its present day successor is Elbit America.