Convairiety, Volume 3, Number 21, October 11, 1950 Page: 5 of 8
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October 11,1950 CONVAIRIETY Pa~e5
Air Reserve Delegates and High AF Officials
~ fl...ft # feur rmans to i
Four hundred and twenty-five
Air Reserve Association national
convention delegates and high
ranking Air Force officials were
guests of Convair FW Sept. 29
at a luncheon in the Convair cafe-
teria.
Principal speakers were Harold
C. Stuart, Assistant Secretary of
the Air Force, and Ray 0. Ryan,
Convair vice-president and divi-
sion manager.
S t u a r t complimented ARA
members and thanked them for
their assistance in developing and
supporting Air Force policies.
As a preface to a tour of the
full 4,000 feet of the assembly
building, Ryan told delegates
briefly of the history of the B-36
BRITISH STUDY B-36-Officials of Bristol Aeroplane Co. busy bomber and of the Convair FW
building England's eight-engine 100-passenger Mark II transport division, recalling that the plant
plane made full day's study of B-36 production at Convair FW
in September. In conference here, left to right, are B. A. Erickson
manager of Flight; A. F. Pearce, Bristol's production engineer;
Robert S. Brown, Bristol's general manager; and E. Wenigmann, of
Convair FW division manager's staff.
B3 Experience Helpful in Flying
Brabazon, Says British Visitor
The British pilot flight testing visited the Bristol plant during
England's experimental model of a trip abroad.
her newest and largest transport "Across the water," Brown
plane, the eight-engine Brabazon, said, "we knew from Mr. Pegg
saved "months or perhaps more and Mr. Erickson, and from thethan a year" by the experience
he gained at Convair FW flying
B-36s.
The word came in September
during the Convair FW visit of
R. S. Brown, general manager of
England's Bristol Aeroplane Co.,
and A. E. Pearce, Bristol produc-
tion engineer.
Brown paid high tribute to
Convair and Air Force officials
for enabling his chief test pilot,
Arthur John Pegg, to visit Con-
vair FW in 1949 to be checked
out on B-36 flight procedures,
and to get the "feel" of such
large airplanes before he took up
the Brabazon for the first time.
A short time later, B. A. Erick-
son, Convair FW flight manager,many pictures we had seen, that
the Convair FW plant was im-
mense-but we had no idea it
was as big as we actually find it.
It's terrific-stupendous. There
just aren't words to describe it."
Brown said that he was happy,
as a citizen of an ally of the
United States, to know that this
country has such facilities for
bomber production,
The Mark II, the transport ver-
sion of which the Brabazon is
the first experimental model, has
eight engines operating in pairs
for a total horsepower of 28,000,
as compared to the 42,000 equiva-
lent horsepower developed by the
six piston and four jet engines
in the B-36.Red Noses Not From Moonshine
But Sign of B-36 in Flight Test
Red noses appearing these days and exhausts when engines are
on jet pods of certain Convair running.
B-36s at FW division are not the A third point is the fact that
work of painters on a spree, nor the red noses enable a pilot taxi-
are they result of anyone's effort ing the airplane on the ground
to adorn the already beautiful to more readily judge the posi-
B-36. tion of the airplane with rela-
The red noses are there for tion to other objects on the
very definite-and serious-rea- ground. That's because he needs
sons. only a glance out of the side of
For one thing, they enable the his eye to spot the red noses.
hundreds of employees in the Fourth: the red paint on the jet
shop operations section of the engine cowling contrasts with
Flight department (12-4) to read- the bright aluminum of the air
ily distinguish which B-36s are intake doors. This enables the
currently engaged in the flight pilot and co-pilot, when in flight,
test program. They need to know to determine at a glance whether
because they work only on flight intake doors are open or closed.
test airplanes. But besides all that, J. V.
Secondly, the red paint-tradi- Wiley, field and service mechanic
tionally a warning signal-serves of 12-4, seems to express the
as a reminder for men working thought of most people in the
around the airplane to stay at a yard when he says: "They sure
safe distance from jet intakes do look pretty, don't they?"crease B-o rertormance
now employs more than 21,000
people, as compared to its all-
time World War II peak of ap-
proximately 31,000.
In speaking of the B-36, Ryan
cited the improvements which
have been made since the original
XB-36 experimental model, and
expressed confidence that through
continuing improvements, the B-
36 will be enabled to "stay
around for a long time to come."
Ryan said that Convair had
been asked by the Air Force to
explore the further potentialities
and stated: "Convair has now
given the Air Force proposals
for new changes which will great-
ly increase its speed, range and
altitude."
Current model B-36s have a
speed of upward of 435 miles perhour, a maximum range of 10,000
miles, and operate at altitudes
upward of 45,000 feet.
In a separate party the day
before, Convair FW was visited
by Thomas K. Finletter, Secre-
tary of the Air Force. In a sub-
sequent press conference, Fin-
letter stated of the B-36: "It's a
very impressive airplane. I wish
we had lots more of them."
Finletter added that the B-36
"definitely" will continue in pro-
duction at Fort Worth.
Finletter's companion, John A.
McCone, Under Secretary of the
AF, was even more enthusiastic
after the party watched a new
model B-36D take off.
"Terrific speed," said McCone.
"It climbed almost like a fighter."CONVAIR ARA GUESTS-Informal dining room shot shows some of Convair's Air Force guests
at luncheon given in honor of Air Reserve Association. Trio in huddle at right, Ray O. Ryan (in dark
suit), Convair vice president and division manager, Brig. Gen. C. S. Irvine, Carswell AF Base com-
mander, and Harold C. Stuart, Assistant Secretary of Air Force. At left are Frank T. McCoy Jr.,
assistant to the Assistant Secretary, Lt. Col. Ainsley E. Stuart, AF resident officer-in-charge at Con-
vair FW, and Col. Beverly H. Warren, chief of Fort Worth AF Procurement Field Office.
TriigClasses Will Prepare Lone Wolf of '31'
Ex-omesteader
FW Workers for Convair Jobs (Continued from page 4)
Training classes to teach hun- which the employee is taught use ness of northern Wyoming, lead-
dreds of new Convair FW shop of the drill press, hand former, ing a rugged ranch life.
dedpos f nwhwte pes n omr "I homesteaded 640 acres 40
need on their jobs are tentatively punch press, metal trim saw, etc., miles from the town of New-
scheduled to get under way this aircraft assembling, and sheet castle. It was rather lonely. The
month at the Fort Worth Tech- metal work, all of which will be trip to town was a three-day
nical Institute annex behind Will three-week courses, and aircraft jaunt by wagon. No roads, just
Rogers Coliseum. electrical installation and aircraft trails. I took my wife and family
R. J. Donnelly, manager of In- inspection, both of which will be there in May, 1917, and from then
dustrial Relations, said that new four-week courses. until November, 1919, my wife
classes were planned when it be- Most instructors will be expert During thetyears Crossley add-
came evident to Convair and the Convair men. ed another 600 acres to his place
Air Force that a sufficient num- before selling it. He retained the
ber of experienced eligible air- . .____
ber f eperence crft mplyeescanot e fond -_ _- oil rights, however, and since
craft employees cannot be found then oil strikes in the neighbor-
at this time in the Fort Worth ~hood have increased the possibil-
area. ity of wells on his old ranch.
The program will be admini The Crossleys have four chil-
tered for the Industrial Relations dren, two of whom were born on
department by J. L. Budros, Edu- - the ranch: Marie (Mrs. Neil
cation section supervisor, with H=Dooley of San Diego), whose
R. B. Craig, assistant supervisor, _ birthday is Christmas; Wrenna
directly in charge. - (Mrs. Gerand Moody); John W.
The classes will consist of ap- of Vallejo; and Arthur E. of
proximately 18 new employees Salem, Ore.each. Classes will be held eight
hours a day, five days a week,
probably on a two or three shift
basis.
"Our purpose is to give the
new employee basic skills in shop
work and related knowledge he
needs in his work," Budros ex-
plained.
"We have found in the past
that intensive training for a short
time will enable the new em-
ployee to do his job better than
another new employee without
such training after many weeks
of work."
"But the course is also a 'prov-
ing ground.' The new employee
must show that he's got the stuff
to do the job before he will be
assigned to a place at the plant.
He will be continually evaluated
and graded as he trains. If he
successfully completes the train-
ing, we'll put him to work.""It's working fine! They don't A job at Convair is a job in national
even care whether they get in to defense and therefore a public trust.
see you." What you hear here keep to yourself.Same rules and regulations will
apply at the school as apply at
the plant, thus further indoctri-
nating the new employee to his
new work. Such new employees
also will be entitled to the same
FOR PURPOSE, NOT ADORNMENT-J. V. Wiley, field and benefits as are made available at
service mechanic of shop section of flight department (12-4) is the plant, such as Group Insur-
shown inserting plug in one of Convair FW B-36 jet pods recently ance and the like.I
given red noses. Accompanying article tells why. Courses cover fabrication, inCELEBRATION-When H. E. Pasek, Employment supervisor at
SD, received his 15-year pin recently, associates of Dept. 3 SD
made a party of it. In foreground is Dick Wilkens, manager of SD
Industrial Relations, while left to right around table are: J. K. Field,
R. B. Carter, H. W. Rubottom, V. L. Summitt, Pasek, Frank Merritt,
Dr. Amarol, H. D. Filloon, Tom Wills.October 11, 1950
CONVAIRIETY
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 3, Number 21, October 11, 1950, periodical, October 11, 1950; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1023909/m1/5/?q=%22~1~1%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.