abstract
| - De Bruin, a Free Colorado company based in Denver (and a long-time supplier of parts to Hughes Aviation Engineering), began licensed manufacture of the Devastator in February 1937, including at-order customizing of the weapon load-out and engine specifications to meet each client’s requirements. The standard Mark III design is the basic configuration, but two standard variants have appeared in recent months. The first downgrades the craft’s speed in favor of armaments; the second downgrades the machine guns to twin 40-caliber Andersons in favor of greater rocket- and bomb-carrying capacity. De Bruin -- specializing in the customization of aircraft -- unsuccessfully attempted to manufacture a new aircraft design in 1932. The result -- the De Bruin Sky Marshal -- was unsuccessful (through a combination of lackluster engineering, and superior marketing efforts by then-rival Hughes Aviation). Howard Hughes, recognizing the craftsmanship that De Bruin brought to each project, began to commission them to do custom work for large Devastator orders. This relationship has proven highly successful; Hughes gets to farm out work to a supplier he can trust, and De Bruin has a steady source of income. DeBruin does have an exceptionally profitable side-business, however - the manufacture and distribution of specialised air-launched munitions. DeBruin's most popular muntions product is the magnetic missile, although it has also been responsible for the concussion rocket, the beeper-seeker rocket and the choker rocket, as well as serving as the North American distributor for the flash rocket as well several brands of high explosive rocket and flak rockets.
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