# Help a fella out



## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)

I just bought a 12 foot aluminum jon boat that I plan on restoring. It is a Aero-craft and has Aero-craft emblem on both sides and a Aero-craft plate with number. It is a rivetted jon, and is in really good shape. I would like to figure out how old it is, and I have tried to look the logo up online but the one thats online does not look like the one on my boat. Can anybody help me out? Thanks in advance. Wil


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## Jim (Mar 6, 2011)

:WELCOME:

Thanks for joining! Post a picture of your boat if you can. I will see what I can find for you.


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## cactusjack (Mar 6, 2011)

If your jon has a HIN # on it (Hull Identification Number) you can tell by that, they are usually on the transom somewhere. I purchased a jon 3 or 4 days ago and locaed the HIN to detemine it was a 1984 model.


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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)

It is a 12 foot Flat bottom rivetted jon. Its 40 inches wide, 16 inches deep, with a 21 inch bow. the Aero-Craft plate has the serial #57642 model id#G and there is a smaller plate with the #12259 I want to refurbish it to its original state, but this is my first boat and I need some help identifying her. I do not know how to post pictures here so if you could email me at [email protected] any advice would be greatly appreciated


Thanks Wil


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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)

Let me know if the pic is up






Wil


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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)

here she is


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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)




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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)




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## reedjj (Mar 6, 2011)

I have never seen anything like that! Its pretty cool though! Judging by the name and the design it looks/and sounds like it was made by a airplane company. Looks strong and sturdy. It will definately make a nice fishing boat.

I don't know anything about this or have any way to back it up, but from the way it looks and the design it looks like something from the late 50's or early 60's.

Let us know what you find out. Its definately a cool boat. Cant wait to see what you do with her.

Good luck.


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## swampthing111 (Mar 6, 2011)

From what I can find out on the web my boat must be pretty old.

This is all I can find out about AERO-CRAFT

AeroCraft -- Harwill 

Harwill, Inc. got its start in February 1946 at Bay City, Michigan. . 
The company name HARWILL came from combining portions of the names HARkins and WILste. L.B Harkins had taken a course in aircraft sheet metal work in Detroit at the outset of World War II. He subsequently worked for Briggs Aircraft and later Dow Chemical in Bay City. At Dow he worked in their magnesium fabrication plant. After the war Dow began making magnesium boats. L.B. and Wilste claimed they could make a better boat at lower cost and this was their impetus for forming Harwill in 1946. 
The first AeroCraft aluminum boats were made in June 1946 at St. Charles. The original boat constructed was a twelve-foot row-motor boat. Ten boats per week rolled off the assembly line by November. 
Some of the early products in addition to boats included experimental boats up to 27 feet in length for the Army; parachute packing tables; aluminum mess and card tables for the Navy; aluminum cabinets for Navy ships; and laundry tables for the Army Quartermaster Corp. One hundred were employed by the summer of 1953. 
The company was originally formed to make plastic products, however the aluminum fabrication took over immediately. Aluminum boats were their first products. Ultimately they added a line of fiberglass boats to supplement the metal operations. 
Harwill was purchased by Browning Arms Company in the spring of 1969 for a cash amount exceeding $2 million. The boat operation became the Browning Marine Division and all personnel were kept on the payroll. At that time, Harwill had 120,000 square feet of production space on 17 acres of land. 1968 sales amounted to $2,769,691.00 with after tax earnings of $91,692.00. Both L.B. and Leon Harwill were with the firm as was A.S. Brennan at the time of the sale to Browning. They remained with the new owners as managers. 
One third of the workers at Browning Marine were layed off in early December 1973. They all came from the fiberglass production staff. Uncertainly in gasoline supplies had boat sales plummeting at the time, so production had to be cut. Browning wanted out of the boat-building field and closed the plant on 19 July 1974. 
The Browning Marine Division was sold in August 1974 to Fuqua Industries, Inc. of Atlanta according to an announcement by J.J. Klein, general manager. The closure of the sale ended months of rumors of impending shut down of the boat works. Production on a limited basis began soon after the sale. The trade name Browning AeroCraft continued to be utilized by Fuqua. Browning AeroCraft was assigned to Fuqua’s subsidiary Signa Corporation. 
On the second of February 1976 a fire destroyed a large portion of the St. Charles boat works. Estimated damages reached the $400,000.00 mark. Many of the boat molds were consumed by the conflagration. 
At peak production the company was building 250 aluminum boats and 30-35 fiberglass boats each week. 
In 1979 Signa moved AeroCraft production to their boat plant at Decatur, Indiana. Soon after, a group of local citizens rallied and established St. Charles Boatworks, Inc. with the intent of purchasing the abandoned AeroCraft facility. Over $125,000.00 was raised, however it was not sufficient to swing a deal. So the idea was abandoned and the funds returned to the investors. 
The economic uncertainty of the late 1970s took its toll on Browning AeroCraft when she was closed down. A liquidation auction took place on 17 December 1979. 
An interesting an ironic turn of events took place in March 1976. Fuqua agreed in principal to sell the Fuqua marine subsidiaries to Saul Padek. These assets included Thunderbird Products and Signa Corporation. Thunderbird made boats at several plants in the country and Signa owned the Browning AeroCraft operation at St. Charles. Padek was owner and president of Thompson Boat Company of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. The sale between Fuqua and Padek never materialized, however. In 1980 a new occupant took over the abandoned AeroCraft facility, Thompson Boat Company. Thompson went belly up in the summer of 1980, about a year after Padek sold out. Dale and David Anderson of Detroit purchased the Thompson assets and they moved the operation, lock, stock, and barrel, to St Charles. They moved into the former AeroCraft plant. Thompson continued to make their boats at St. Charles until about the year 2000.


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## cactusjack (Mar 7, 2011)

I may be wrong but boats made before 1970 were not required by law to have the HIN numbers attached to them. Heres teh website that I used to determine mone was a 84 model

https://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm 

From your description it sounds like to me all you may have is a serial number. Hope the above site helps.


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## Oldgeek (Mar 7, 2011)

Nice to read the history on a boat. Boats are a recreational product so when times get hard they are the first companies to take a hit. Even the big companies cut way back when the economy is bad.


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## reedjj (Mar 7, 2011)

You boat would look really nice if you cleaned up the aluminum and polished it. I found this Aerocraft and thought it looked pretty cool.


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## silver_bay (Jun 25, 2011)

Model "G" was used (at least) from 1949 thru 1967 for flat 12' boats, but yours looks like an older one from the lines and the serial plate, I'd say mid 50's or earlier. I'm collecting AeroCraft photos and info at https://www.ultimate.com/aerocraft-boats/

I'd love to have larger copies of your photos for the site, you can send them to p h i l at u l t i m a t e dot c o m,
Thanks!


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