Convairiety, Volume 12, Number 15, July 22, 1959 Page: 2 of 8
8 p. : ill. ; 44 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 2
CONVAIRIETY
Wednesday, July 22, 1959
OVER ROCKIES—B-58 moves serenely over Rocky Mountains in this beautiful air photo. Even if
crewmen had to bail out during war mission over such rough terrain as this, their survival kits would
meet virtually every need.
UNPACKED—Each one a vital item to downed airman, here is
how survival kit looks when unpacked.
Two Bushels Crammed
In One' in Survival Kit
Full Parking
Lots Impress
Soviet Party
Andrei N. Tupolev, leading So-
viet jet airplane designer, spent
the July 4 weekend in San Diego
this month and with his party
toured San Diego Division’s
Plants 1 and 2.
The visit was arranged by
Thomas Lanphier Jr., Convair
vice president. It was part of a
tour of U.S. aircraft companies.
The Convair trip was followed by
visits to Lockheed and Douglas.
Lanphier indicated that the
doors were opened to Tupolev
partly as a means of impressing
the visitors with U.S. military
might and partly in expectation
that American visitors to Russia
would receive similar treatment
in future.
The visitors showed consider-
able interest in both the 880
transport and the F-106 inter-
ceptor but made no particularly
significant comments.
“They seemed impressed by the
obvious well-being of our em-
ployees,” Lanphier said. “Par-
ticularly they noted the hundreds
of automobiles in our parking
lots . . .”
The Russians stayed at La Jol-
la’s Del Charro and were enter-
tained at Kona Kai and in the
Lanphier home. One Convair ob-
server, who accompanied them as
guide to the Southern California
Exposition at Del Mar, was im-
pressed by the Russians’ interest
in the flower displays.
“They must have taken 1,000
snapshots,” he said.
Other observations: the visitors
put away big quantities of fruit
and fruit juices at mealtimes
(evidently rare in Russia); and
shunned vodka for Scotch and
bourbon.
Only one request stumped the
Russians’ hosts. A size 44 swim
suit — the largest available —
didn’t even come close to fitting
Tupolev!
Air Force B-58 crewmen forced j
to bail out on a strategic mission
will find they’ve got just about
everything they need when they
reach the ground.
This includes a life raft, a rifle
and cartridges, matches, a com-
pass, rations, a signal mirror—
and two-way radio.
“And that’s only the start,”
says Max Martin, furnishings
group design engineer.
“Depending upon the mission—
and the territory to be covered—
the Air Force would add a num-
ber of other items in case they
might be needed.”
What’s more, all the vital gear
fits like a two-layer jigsaw puz-
zle inside a rugged plastic box
only seven inches deep, 16 inches
wide and 22 inches long.
“In fact, it’s a stock joke in
furnishings that two bushels of
stuff go into a one-bushel con-
tainer,” said Martin.
In service, when a crewman
bails out, he automatically takes
the survival kit with him. If
over water, the crewman would
trigger a device which automati-
cally opens the kit, drops the
life raft and inflates it before
he hits the water.
Once aboard the raft, he would
find in the kit the items listed
above, and others he might need:
a net to catch fish, heat tablets,
first aid kit, a canteen with
water—and a razor with 10
blades!
There’d also be a de-salting kit
to use when the water ran out,
a fishing kit—and a manual on
what to do and how to do it to
survive until rescued.
For missions over cold or arc-
tic regions, the kit would contain
ski goggles, wool ski socks and
a sleeping bag which would pro-
tect the crewman to 30 Fahren-
heit degrees below zero.
“The Air Force in planning the
survival kits has taken into ac-
count most everything that a
man might reasonably expect to
carry aboard a fighting aircraft,”
said Martin.
“Unlike some nations, we con-
sider our crews definitely NOT
expendable, and we do everything
possible to assure their safe re-
turn—even if the aircraft is lost.”
ON TOUR—Visiting Russians were guests at SD Division plants
this month. From left, A. P. Higgins, manager of military relations
at SD; Evgenty Kutovoy, interpreter; Sergei Yeger; Andrei Tupolev;
Alexander Arcnangelski; Col. Charles Taylor; and Anna Vinson, SD
Dept. 133. In foreground is 880 forward cargo door.
JiVe tfearA
Following are brief excerpts from
Convairiety of five years ago:
★ ★ ★
Work starts at Convair SD on
first C-131B, which will be used
by Air Force as test plane for
electronics equipment.
D. B. Acker is appointed man-
ager of industrial engineering at
Convair SD.
* * *
Plans are laid at Convair FW
for ceremony to mark delivery
of last B-36 to Air Force.
Ralph L. Bayless is named as-
sistant chief engineer, research
and development, at Convair SD.
* * *
Pre-production work and build-
ing of detail parts for compon-
ents of B-52 jet bomber are on
schedule at Convair FW.
* * *
Administrative appointments
for B-58 assembly at Convair
FW are revealed.
Lab Offers to Perform
Precision Optical Work
For Other Divisions
A new service is being offered
by a newly-expanded group with-
in Convair San Diego electronics
sub-department of engineering.
The optical and infrared fa-
cilities of electronics are now
equipped to turn out precision
optical work for other depart-
ments at Convair SD, other Con-
vair divisions, or outside com-
panies.
Romuald Anthony, design spe-
cialist in charge of the group,
explained, “The value of optical
instruments for special tooling
purposes and the use of infrared
techniques in research and ex-
perimentation is becoming of in-
creased importance in industry.”
In the group’s optical shop, set
up on the first floor of Bldg. 51
at Plant 1, lenses and mirrors are
designed and fabricated to a high
degree of precision. In fact,
Anthony said, surfaces can be
made accurate to one-twentieth
of the wave length of light over
a diameter of 12 inches. Prism
angles can be fabricated to an
accuracy of a one-second arc
which is equal to the shift of
vision in the blink of an eye
looking at a point 20 miles away!
The shop is equipped with the
only precision infrared optical
bench in the country for check-
ing out errors in infrared or vis-
ible optical systems.
“Infrared is that portion of
the spectrum which falls between
the visible and microwave area
and is used to bridge the gap be-
tween vision and radar. Infrared
radiation can be transmitted
through materials impervious to
visible light. Like radio waves
it can travel in a vacuum as well
as through air,” said Anthony.
A dark tunnel, 150-ft. long, is
being readied on the second floor
of Bldg. 51 for testing an infra-
red fire control system designed
for the Convair-built F-106.
“We hope soon to be using an
infrared system as a welding
monitor,” Anthony continued.
“With infrared radiation measur-
ing temperature differences, we
can determine characteristics of
welds and castings and convert
the temperature information to
black and white film for perman-
ent record.”
Microwave, radar, thermody-
namics, and manufacturing de-
velopment are among groups at
Convair SD and Astronautics who
are availing themselves of serv-
ices offered by the optical and
infrared facilities group.
It is grinding metals to be used
as standards in inspection, fabri-
cating new materials for experi-
mental purposes, and planning
the application of optical tech-
niques to design of radar an-
tennas and receivers.
One of the group’s most recent
accomplishments was the design
and fabrication of a “schlieren”
system, the optical portion of the
Convair ballistic test section be-
ing used at Ames Laboratory,
Moffett Field, Calif., for study
of shock waves. The unit can
take pictures of shock waves from
a ballistic missile traveling at
20,000 feet per second. It is en-
abling the team of Convair re-
searchers to “see” the effect of
the shock on microwaves and to
get an actual pictorial record of
the wave itself.
The portable unit is said to be
one of the first of its kind, and
probably the largest, in use for
this type of testing.
The optical and infrared group
now consists of eight men in ad-
dition to Anthony, all experts in
their fields. Four men work in
the optical shop, two in research,
and one each in optical design
and infrared systems. “Every
one of our men has had a wide
background in optical systems
work and research, making it pos-
sible for us to offer our services
in a highly technical field. We
feel that the application of new
optical and infrared methods will
become more and more important
and necessary for accurate in-
strumentation, data recording,
and production control,” Anthony
said.
New Courses Assist
Exam Preparations
Two new courses to assist Con-
vair employees interested in pre-
paring for exams given by the
California Board of Registration
for Civil and Professional Engi-
neers are on tap in San Diego.
They open Aug. 4 and 6 for a
15-week period under the spon-
sorship of the University of Cali-
fornia Extension service. One
will be taught by James B. Her-
reshoff, Convair SD design spe-
cialist.
Interested students may apply
for information on the “Funda-
mentals of Engineering” courses
at the Extension office or obtain
data through Convair educational
services offices at SD and Astro.
Association Elects
Pomona’s Ov.erturf
Convair Pomona’s Jack C.
Overturf (Dept. 6) has been
elected president of the Orange
Belt Chapter of the Systems and
Procedures Association for the
1959-60 club year.
Overturf is a systems analyst
in the engineering procedures
group.
LENS POLISHER—H. C. Hall
polishes large optical lens on one
of polishers for precision work in
Convair SD optical shop on lower
floor of Bldg. 51.
OPTICAL CHECK—F. H. Vogler uses precision infrared optical
bench at Convair SD for testing out errors in optical systems.
Bench is said to be only one of kind in country.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View five places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 12, Number 15, July 22, 1959, periodical, July 22, 1959; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117971/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.