Emil Matthew Laird (November 29, 1895[citation needed] – December 18, 1982) was a pioneering American aircraft designer, builder, pilot, and businessman.

A year later, after Laird completed eighth grade, he was forced to go to work to help support his mother and three siblings.

Laird later described the experience, "I was so thrilled with seeing him fly and maneuver around the land that I said right then and there that I wanted part of it and made up my mind I was going to have it.

[7][3] The promoter Bill Pickens heard of Laird's flights in the tiny biplane and hired him to demonstrate aircraft.

Laird's 1915 Biplane became known as "Boneshaker" due to the strong vibrations created by its 45-horsepower, six-cylinder Anzani radial engine.

At that time only a handful of American exhibition pilots had both the skill and a plane with enough power and structural strength to perform a loop.

[3] In 1916, Laird loaned this plane to Katherine Stinson for the first tour of an airplane in Japan and China.

He was in the hospital for months and ended up with an improperly knitted elbow, which disqualified him from military service during World War I.

As a result, the company was relatively small, never exceeding 85 employees, but it built a reputation for sleek, rugged, and fast airframes and high quality products.

[12] Laird had the reputation of getting more speed with less horsepower than other designers, in large part due to the quality of workmanship.

Despite starting with an untrained workforce, Laird led the company in successfully meeting rapidly expanding wartime needs for a wide range of components, including B-24 and SB2C vertical fins, complete empennage groups for Martin B-26s, wing flaps, radio cabinets, and crew bunks.

As a result of both factors, Laird retired and he and his wife moved their family to Boca Raton, Florida.