Convairiety, Volume 7, Number 4, February 24, 1954 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2
CONVAIRIETY
February 24, 1954
teg Seek ChtrieA
Awards
FORT WORTH
The following received Employee Sug-
gestion awards totaling $478.49 for the
period ending Feb. 12, 1954.
Dept. 4, Material: 0. H. Macint'yre.
Dept. 6, Engineering: Charles E. War-
ren.
Dept. 22-3, Manufacturing Control:
Frank Javrone.
Dept. 25, Plant Engineering: W. A.
Wuest.
Dept. 27, Inspection-Production: Ed-
win R. Forsythe, Ralph Doyle Markum,
G. D. Heed.
Dept. 29, Inspection - Modernization:
Robert A. Rhodes.
Dept. 82, Pattern Shop: Russell E.
Hankins, J. C. Barnes.
Personals
FORT WORTH
I want to express my thanks to all
of you who were so kind and thoughtful
during the illness and death of my wife.
Van Hyde, Dept. 14.
Mr. and Mrs. W. V. Nelson, Dept. 22-
1, wish to express their thanks and ap-
preciation for the interest shown, and
for the blood and money given by fellow
workers, during their daughter’s illness.
Joanne is at home now and improving
daily. She too sends her thanks for
your kindness and interest.
Service Emblems
DAINGERFIELD
The following service pins were due
during the period Feb. 1 to 11:
Five-year pins: Dept-. 1, M. B. Mar-
tin. Dept. 4, R. N. Bean. Dept. 7, J. R.
Morton.
Births
FORT WORTH
SIMPSON—Daughter, Vandee Knox,
7 lbs, 1 y<2, oz., born Feb. 5 to Mr. and
Mrs. John A. Simpson, Dept. 6-4.
RB-36s Explore
'Jet Streams'
(Continued from page 1)
according to Brig. Gen. Stanley
J. Donovan, commander of the
14th.
“The great circle course from
Tokyo to Limestone is much
shorter than the 8,700 miles they
flew,” he said, “but their princi-
pal effort was to learn something
about the location of the jet
stream and its effect upon air-
craft operation.”
Task force commander of the
effort was Col. Willis F. Beightol.
Airplane commanders were Lt.
Col. James L. Scott and Maj.
Edward E. Sandin. Full AF
crews were aboard.
A brief report on the flight was
forwarded to Convairiety by
Howard R. Bissell, Convair FW
Division service engineering field
engineer stationed at Fairfield-
Suisun.
FW Payroll Window
In New Location
Employees going to the ac-
counting department’s payroll
section at Convair FW were re-
minded this week that the payroll
window has been moved from the
second floor of the administration
building to the first floor near
Col. 81.
At the payroll window, ques-
tions are answered concerning
U. S. Savings Bonds, payroll de-
ductions for group insurance and
questions concerning Convair pay-
checks.
Promotions
FORT WORTH
Promotions and transfers to or within
supervision, professional and adminis-
trative effective Feb. 4, 1954.
Dept. 6, Engineering: to senior design
engineer, F. W. Darby, H. M. Havins,
C. M. Kerby, H. F. Rogers : to engineer-
ing drawing checker, J. H. Cunningham ;
to aerophysics engineer, D. E. Davis ; to
senior flight test group engineer, R. P.
Scott; to project aerophysics engineer,
W. C. Duesterhoeft, Jr.
Dept. 22, Manufacturing Control: to
project coordinator, H. A. Pennington,
G. B. Henry.
Veteran Test
Plane Leaves
(Continued from page 1)
a total of 14% miles.
And how did the airplane per-
form during all of these 765 hours
of test flying ? Listen to Bob Hol-
ler, chief of engineering flight
tests:
“In all those flights, every
take-off and every landing was
made right here on the Carswell
Air Force Base runways. Never
once were we required to land
anywhere else.”
Thousands of tests were made,
but the primary purpose was for
refinement of our reciprocating
engines and their accessories. As
result there were improvements
made in the cooling system, in
manual leaning controls (giving
the plane extended range), and
numerous other items.
Tests also resulted in improve-
ment in alternators and the elec-
tric power systems, in the flight
control system and in operation
of the airplane at extremely high
altitudes.
In fact, No. 109 had the dis-
tinction of being the first B-36
operated by crews wearing the
latest type pressure suits for sur-
vival of crews at extremely high
altitudes when pressurization
fails.
Its test flying completed, No.
109 currently is going through
SAM-SAC work to make it opera-
tionally as good as a new aircraft
coming off the assembly line.
The flight test program was en-
gineered by the engineering flight
test group, while Dept. 64 per-
formed shop work concerning in-
strumentation, and also serviced
and maintained 109 during the
program. Flight Department
crews, of course, performed the
flights with flight test crew
members aboard to handle por-
tions of the tests.
Said Moller:
“I’d say the test program on
No. 109 was quite successful—
and has resulted in making the
newest B-36s the best yet.”
J. y. McClure Speaker
At ASQC Session
“Quality Control and Cost Re-
duction in Industry” was the
topic of J. Y. McClure, Convair
FW manager of quality control,
at a recent session of the Ameri-
can Society for Quality Control
at Wichita, Kan.
Tower Raised
For New FW
Radio Network
(Continued from page 1)
relayed to the fire department
and they in turn can dispatch
trucks from the nearest station
within a matter of seconds. This
certainly beats the former method
of telephone relay.
“The whole apparatus auto-
matically pays for itself on the
first fire. Getting there minutes
faster could save millions of dol-
lars.”
The radio can also be used in
case of civil defense, alert, or a
disaster.
The other fixed frequency is
used on sets in the civil defense
control center, guard headquar-
ters, flight department dispatch
office, and Carswell. Sets later
will be installed at Fort Worth-
Tarrant County civil defense cen-
tei and Texas State Highway Pa-
trol Center in Arlington.
“Communication with the state
patrol center is maintained in
case of a disaster,” Doering ex-
plained. “The captain of the state
police is captain of the area under
the governor’s direction during a
disaster.”
Power for the sets normally
comes from the regular service of
Texas Electric Co. In case of
failure, power may come from an
emergency generator in the boiler
room. And a third check is in
the form of a gas-driven genera-
tor at Convair.
This power provides radio serv-
ice within a 15-mile radius of the
Convair plant as well as inside
where it is used for normal every-
day operation of the guard and
fire departments.
Operation is on a frequency as-
signed by the Air Force and
monitored by the Federal Com-
munications Commission. It is
crystal controlled on a fixed fre-
quency.
Area Cleared For
B-36 Spares Setup
(Continued from page 1)
will be moved into and out of
Dept. 40 as necessary to fulfill
Air Force orders.
Assembly crews of Dept. 40,
Harwell said, will build up as
B-36 new production phases out.
A total of approximately 400 em-
ployees are expected to be as-
signed to the department ulti-
mately.
Work to be performed includes
the manufacture and assembly of
fuel cells and miscellaneous as-
semblies (formerly made in Depts.
43, 44, 45 and 46), ailerons, en-
gine sub-assemblies, outer panel
leading edges, cargo carriers,
quick engine change kits, rud-
ders, elevators and flaps.
Management Problem
Outlined Fpr Club
Ralph Wagner, training spec-
ialist at Convair FW, spoke on
“Management’s Principal Prob-
lem” at the Feb. 18 luncheon
meeting of the West Side Lions
Club at Connell Baptist Church.
His point was that training of
future executives is one of the
biggest concerns of industrial
management today. J. Y. Mc-
Clure, FW Division manager of
quality control, represents Con-
vair in the club and is its presi-
dent.
FW Men Lend Help
To Civil Air Show
Two Convair FW employees
will help out with the Civil Air
Patrol Variety show to be pre-
sented March 5 at Will Rogers
Auditorium.
Arthur D. Harris, Dept 22-5, is
one of the directors. Sponsor is
Jack Withers, Dept. 6, CAP cadet
commander in the Fort Worth
area.
The show will feature such
local talent as Darrell Glenn, son
of former Convair employee Artie
Glenn, and Bobbie Peters.
SETTING ’EM UP—Foreman Finn Wahl shown setting up soft
drinks as cost center continues high quality record. It’s part of a
dept. 30 game Wahl invented to center attention on monthly
Quality Control goals.
W CenOaiHetij ★
Founded Sept. 1, 1948. Published in three editions (Fort Worth-Daingerfield,
San Diego, Pomona) by Convair Industrial Relations, General Offices, San Diego,
Calif., Logan Jenkins, editor.
Approximate current total circulation, 50,000. News items and letters to the
editor are solicited, but no advertising can be accepted.
FW Editorial Offices, Industrial Relations Dept., ext. 5290; FW staff: Bob
Vollmer, news editor; Sally Abey.
THREE YEARS IN B-36s—Among them, these pilots have ac-
cumulated flight time in B-36s of some three years. Back, left to
right: G. I. Davis, E. J. Nadolski, L. C. Brandvig, R. O. Garlington,
R. Fitzgerald. Front: J. L. Blackmon, J. D. McEachern, R. E. Fisher,
B. A. Erickson, A. S. Witchell, Jr.
Pilots Look Back on Fantastic
Number of Hours Aloft in B-36s
A round trip to the South Pole
—365 times . . .
That’s the equivalent of the
miles flown by 10 flight depart-
ment crewmen while chalking up
2,000 hours or more of time in the
aii in B-36s.
'Log-Jumping' Feats
Of Test Ship Told
(Continued from page 1)
creasing speeds.
As the plane and the main
gear were proved out over logs of
one size, slightly larger logs
were used to make a tougher
“obstacle” course for the 400,000-
pound behemoth.
“Going over logs four and one-
half inches high at 90 miles an
hour, No. 109 made an almost
fantastic appearance,” said Mol-
ler.
“The wing center section (al-
most immediately above the main
landing gear struts) seemed to
hump up like a cat suddenly con-
fronted by a dog. The wing tips
seemed to remain at about the
same distance from the runway
throughout the run — while the
wing center section humped over
every log.
In addition to the “stump-jump-
ing” taxi runs, the gear and plane
were also exhaustively tested by
pilots who landed the plane by
virtually dropping it out of the
air onto the runway in a highly
abnormal fashion to prove the
stresses and strains which can be
borne by a B-36 without failui'e.
All the hours together make up
a total of almost three years aloft
flying and testing the bombers
before delivery to the Air Force.
The group also represents a to-
tal of 82 years of continuous
service with Convair. They are:
B. A. Erickson, manager of flight,
Flight Capts. G. I. Davis, L. C.
Brandvig, R. Fitzgerald, A. S.
Witchell Jr., First Flight Engine-
ers E. J. Nadolski, J. L. Black-
mon, R. E. Fisher, J. D. McEach-
ern, and Radio-Radar Operator
R. 0. Garlington.
Their B-36 time goes back to
the first moment of the first
flight in the first of the fleet of
bombers, the XB-36 which now
is in cocoon in a fenced area be-
hind the gun butt at the north
end of the FW Division reserva-
tion.
And it extends to the most re-
cent flights of the newest B-36s,"
the 400,000-pound model J’s now
coming off the assembly line.
Says Erickson:
“With the experience these men
obtained on B-36s—and with the
additional training we plan in
order to bring us up to date with
the latest development coming out
of research laboratories — we
figure we’ll be ready for any-
thing that Convair aeronautical
engineers come up with in the
future.
“And with what they have ac-
complished in the past, we know
that Convair aircraft of the
future again will set new marks
which will be the yard sticks by
which other aircraft are meas-
ured.”
First Member of New 'Turtle Club' at Convair FW
Received Membership Card and New Safety Hat
Bryant Cook Dept. 25-3 em-
ployee, set a new first for Con-
vair FW Division. Last week he
became the division’s first mem-
ber of the Turtle Club.
The organization is sponsored
by the E. W. Bullard Co. of San
Francisco, manufacturer of safety
helmets for industrial workers.
Members are employees who es-
caped serious head injuries by
reason of their use of sqfety hel-
mets.
Cook was saved from serious
injury by his safety helmet when
a wrench was accidentally drop-
ped from high in the steel rafters
near the roof of the plant. Fred
Temple, safety supervisor, pre-
sented Cook with a new safety
helmet with a turtle on the front.
FIRST MEMBER—Bryant Cook, who escaped serious injury be-
cause a hard hat protected him from falling wrench, receives
membership certificate in Turtle Club from Fred Temple, FW safety
supervisor. Cook is first member of Convair FW chapter.
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Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Convairiety, Volume 7, Number 4, February 24, 1954, periodical, February 24, 1954; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117946/m1/2/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.