Convairiety, Volume 9, Number 17, August 22, 1956 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2
CONVAIRIETY
August 22, 1956
DRAMATIC—This photo of Convair NB-36H was widely used in press this month as first pictures
were released of airplane which is being used in atomic reactor tests at Fort Worth. Object of carry-
ing reactor aloft is to test effects of radiation on equipment and to experiment with types of shield-
ing. It is part of nuclear-powered airplane project.
INSIGNIA—NB-36H carries two special symbols which designate
its mission. Above is one which appears forward on fuselage. Tail
carries still another.
B-36s of SAC Will Compete Soon
For Bombing, Navigation Honors
Four Engine Silencers
Being Built For SD to
Turn Jet Roars to Hum
VAN ZANDT VIEWS
B-58 AND NB-36H;
'MUCH IMPRESSED'
Congressman James Van Zandt,
member of the House armed ser-
vices committee and the joint
committee on nuclear energy, was
a visitor at Convair Fort Worth
Aug. 12.
After looking over the NB-
36H, the Convair B-36 which car-
ries a nuclear reactor for testing,
Van Zandt said: “I’m only sorry
that the average American can
not see what I’ve inspected to-
day.”
Van Zandt also toured the B-58
area and said he was “greatly im-
pressed” by the supersonic bomb-
er.
Another visitor was E. H.
Schooley, director of the Depart-
ment of Defense office of public
information.
year* Aqp ...
Following are brief excerpts from
Convairiety of five years ago:
★ ★ ★
First of new version Convair
T-29 takes off from San Diego
for Mather AFB.
* * *
Atomic bomb defense booklets
are mailed to over 30,000 Convair
employees in plant-wide civil de-
fense program.
* * *
C. R. Irvine is named assistant
division manager and chief engi-
neer of Guided Missile division.
* * *
Prototype of Model 340 is
mated a week ahead of schedule
at Convair SD.
* * *
New parking lot arrangement
goes into effect at Convair Fort
Worth.
* * *
Missile work at Convair Dain-
gerfield is inspected by top group
from office of Secretary of De-
fense.
* * *
Everett Henderson, Convair SD
Dept. 9, wins honors in San Diego
dahlia show.
* * *
Fairchild Air Force Base, Spo-
kane, Wash., receives first of
Convair B-36s to be based there.
* * *
K. J. Bossart talks on guided
missiles at Convair FW Manage-
ment Club.
Strategic Air Command B-36
crews will compete for top hon-
ors in the eighth annual SAC
bombing, navigation and recon-
naissance competition which gets
under way Aug. 24.
Airfield Parking Lot
Only Partly Filled
A 50-car reduction in the size
of Convair San Diego’s new park-
ing lot near the compass rose
was announced this week, but
there’s still plenty of room.
Part of the west side of the
lot has been blocked off to per-
mit aircraft compass equipment
to operate properly without static
interference.
However, at present only about
200 cars are utilizing space for
900, so there is ample space in
reserve for employees wishing to
use the lot.
FW Man Burned in
Gasoline Accident
C. H. Hutchison, Dept. 24-6
Convair Fort Worth employee,
was seriously burned Aug. 11 in
an accident at his home at 924
Kimbrough.
Gasoline ignited as he poured
it into the carburetor of a truck.
Hutchison was treated for first,
second and third degree burns on
his face, neck and hands.
Convair Fort Worth built
B-36s, piloted by top Air Force
crews, will match bombing ac-
curacy with B-47 and B-52 crews
from SAC bases.
This is the first year for B-52s
to compete. Since 1948, B-36
crews have swept the contests,
winning top honors for skillful
navigation and bombing.
The six-day meet is staged to
do more than name top crew of
Air Force personnel. Its main
purpose is an appraisal of SAC
ability to penetrate and destroy
an enemy target.
Bomb targets will be Rich-
mond, Va., Springfield, Mass., and
Montreal, Canada. Radar bomb
scoring units located near each
city will score accuracy of bomb
runs.
Base for B-36s and RB-36s will
be Loring AF Base, Me., where
modernization crews from Convair
recently completed a retrofit pro-
gram.
B-36s Take Refuge
From Hurricane
Ten B-36s from Ramey AF
Base, Puerto Rico, sat out Hur-
ricane Betsy this month in Fort
Worth.
Air Force crews flew into
Carswell AF Base on Aug. 12
to get out of the path of the
Hurricane.
About 200 men spent the
weekend in Fort Worth.
Construction work on four jet
engine silencers which will dim
the roar of an F-102A’s engine to
the quiet hum of a new automo-
bile began early this month at
Convair San Diego.
Costing almost $1 million, the
new units are scheduled for com-
pletion before the end of this
year.
Three of the silencers are be-
ing erected at the new “fly
away” facility on Lindbergh
Field for use in F-102A engine
runs prior to delivery flights
to Palmdale. The fourth goes
on the seaplane ramp where it
will be used in engineering en-
gine tests.
The silencers to be used in
field operations are of the “block-
house” type into which F-102As
are towed for tests. The unit at
the ramp will accommodate two
fuselages with engines or two
engines, although only one may
be tested at a time.
All four of the units are de-
signed to be adapted for larger
jet engines of the future.
“These silencers will make
sure that F-102 operations will
not become objectionable to our
community from a noise stand-
point,” said B. F. Coggan, man-
ager at San Diego.
Walls on all the units will be
of high-strength concrete, 12
inches thick. Sliding doors will
be of reinforced steel of the same
thickness. The sound suppressors
will extend some 125 feet behind
the buildings at the “fly away”
facility, with the ramp unit
slightly longer.
Sound from the engines will be
SD Postoffice Bldg.,
Canteen Are Moved
To make more room for ship-
ping, loading and unloading, two
small buildings at Convair San
Diego’s Plant 1 have been moved.
The post office building is now
located at the south end of Bldg.
7, while the canteen is now sit-
uated just west of Bldg. 14
(training).
muffled in a series of wave-
shaped metal baffles containing
glass wool. Exhausts are directed
through this material and up-
ward, eliminating excessive sound
in the immediate and distant
areas.
BOXED — The Arce brothers
have F-I02A well "surrounded."
David (lower photo), a Convair
leadman in Dept. 321 at Palmdale, is
on "delivery" end; while his brother,
Richard, a staff sergeant, is on "re-
ceiving" end at George Air Force Base
near Victorville. The sergeant is shown
in upper photo, left, with Master Sgt.
James Wilbourn affixing insignia of
327th Fighter Interceptor Squadron to
first TF-102 to arrive at George AFB.
Sgt. Arce is a crew chief. Sgt. Wilbourn
is in charge of "B" flight to which the
TF is assigned. David checks out air-
planes mechanically before their deliv-
ery to George AFB.
GLAMOROUS—Novel camera angle gives high speed effect
to photo of F-I02A on flight line.
ON THE SET—Morning (7 a.m. to 9) viewers of "Panorama Pacific" over CBS
at San Diego saw some familiar scenes recently when the whole TV show was
devoted to touring Plant 2 at SD. Three cameras were used, one moving about
aboard a fork lift. At right, Pilot Dick Johnson helps show's Helen Parrish into a
flight helmet for a feature. Visible at right center are Supt. F. N. McLaughlin,
Vice President Tom Lanphier and Plant 2 Works Manager A. P. Higgins.
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 9, Number 17, August 22, 1956, periodical, August 22, 1956; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117941/m1/2/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: 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.