Glover Edwin Ruckstell was born in San Francisco, California on May 5, 1891. Ruckstell only completed 2 years of high school, but by 1914 he was an experimental engineer and racing driver.  During 1917 Ruckstell was an engineering assistant to Lieutenant Colonel E.J. Hall and conducted tests on the Liberty Engine in preparation for production. In 1918 Ruckstell became a Commissioned Captain of the U.S.A. Airservice Aircraft Production where he was in charge of the de Haviland airplane production at the Dayton Wright Airplane Company. During the 1920s Ruckstell was the president and general manager at the Ruckstell Corporation and in the 1930s he earned his Commercial Pilot’s License #10,006 C.A.A. and he became president and general manager of Grand Canyon Airlines, Inc. In the mid-1930s Ruckstell became president of the Ruckstell-Burkhardt Engineering Company and he negotiated the contract and operated the Boulder Dam Recreational Area, under the Department of the Interior. Ruckstell attempted to join the United States Naval Reserve during WWII but his application was disapproved because the positions he qualified for were already filled.

During his career Ruckstell designed the Ruckstell Axle, a planetary gearing installed in the rear axle of the Model T Ford passenger car and Model TT Ford Truck. He also co-designed the Liberty 6 (Hall-Scott) Aircraft Engine, Hall-Scott LM-6 Marine Engine, and the Ruckstell-Burkhardt Auxiliary Aircraft Engines.  

For more, see this collection's Descriptive Finding Guide.