Overall good condition. Need flint/lighter fluid.

This Zippo lighter bears the logo of Westinghouse Aerospace, the aviation gas turbine division of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. During the 1940s and 1950s, Westinghouse was one of America’s earliest pioneers in jet propulsion, building the first turbojet engines ever delivered to the U.S. Navy. Their compact J30 engine powered the Navy’s first operational jet fighter, the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom, and subsequent designs such as the J34 equipped aircraft including the F2H Banshee and P2V Neptune.

By the mid-1950s, Westinghouse was tasked with producing more powerful engines for the Navy’s new generation of swept-wing fighters. However, programs like the J40 and J46 engines fell short of expectations, with chronic reliability issues and lower-than-promised thrust. Aircraft built around them—most notably the radical and notorious Vought F7U Cutlass (aka the “widowmaker”)—suffered from poor performance and high accident rates. These failures damaged Westinghouse’s reputation and led the Navy to shift its engine contracts to Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.

Despite its eventual withdrawal from the jet engine business, Westinghouse Aerospace holds an important place in history as a trailblazer in U.S. naval jet propulsion. Lighters such as this one, produced before 1960, reflect the era when Westinghouse stood at the cutting edge of the Cold War aerospace race, symbolizing both its pioneering achievements and its ambitious, if troubled, role in jet engine development.