Convairiety, Volume 11, Number 1, January 8, 1958 Page: 6 of 6
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Page 6
CONVAIRIETY
Wednesday, January 8, 1958
B-58 "TOOTH" TESTING—Assignment of Convair folk at Eglin AFB is to put
B-58 fire control system into action. At left is planning conference including A. B.
Riley, J. V. Gibson, A. O. Hollis, J. E. Holt, R. P. Andrews, J. B. Murphrey, C. C.
Widaman, all of FW, and H. W. Duchek of Emerson Electric. In center are Emerson
flight engineers R. Talbot, H. Nelgner, C. Wolf, R. Woods. At right J. F. Hopkins,
T. M. Tynes, C. S. Benjamin, R. E. Hammond, B. W. Gresham, FW Dept. 64.
Hustler's Reconnaissance Role
Under War Conditions Revealed
(Continued from Page 1)
use in carrying out a bombing
mission.
“The demands of modern war-
fare will not allow a lot of time
to do reconnaissance the old
way,” Schmitt explained.
“It is much different than
when a plane merely flew over
the target and dropped its bombs.
The crewmen of a B-58 may
never see the target before they
CLUB TO INSTALL
NEW OFFICERS AT
JAN. 23 GATHERING
New officers of the Convair
Fort Worth Management Club
will be installed Jan. 23 when the
club observes its annual “Civic
Night.”
Sam Cantey, chairman of the
public relations and advertising
committee of the Fort Worth
Chamber of Commerce, will speak
on “What Fort Worth Needs and
What is Being Done About It.”
R. P. Curry, new club presi-
dent, said the talk will include a
discussion of plans for a cam-
paign to advertise the city. Can-
tey is vice president of the First
National Bank.
B. M. McHarg is program chair-
man. The meeting will be spon-
sored by the new officers and
board of control of the club.
Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m.
and dinner at 6:30 p.m. The meet-
ing will be held at Ridglea Coun-
try Club. Entertainment will in-
clude “Uncle Willie” of Pappy’s
Showland in Dallas.
release the bomb.”
Convair, meeting with Fairchild
representatives, described what
was needed — and made some
seemingly impossible demands on
space and weight allocations for
the system.
With assistance from Convair
representatives, Fairchild and its
sub-contractors began stripping
and redesigning cameras to re-
duce weight. Sub-contractors to
Fairchild included Norden Labora-
tories, Aeroflex Laboratories,
Eastman Kodak, and Vectron.
The result was an overall
weight reduction of 37 per cent.
Weight of one camera was cut
from 128 to 50 pounds.
A typical camera system in
modern planes requires 114 cubic
feet of space and weighs about
1,584 pounds. That was too much
for the pod-borne system. The
Hustler’s system is packed into
only 65 cubic feet—and weighs
but 998 pounds.
But still another problem had
to be solved-—how to give the
crew a look downward. The photo
operator must “see” if he is to
pinpoint specific targets.
Closed circuit television was
the answer. Optics were placed in
a special bubble in the pod’s nose
and a television camera was
mounted right behind. A tele-
vision screen was put in the No.
2 crew compartment of the B-58.
Now, the photo-navigator could
“see.”
R. B. Stangl and Howard Ol-
sen both served as Convair Fort
Worth representatives to Fair-
child, and Stangl has worked
with the program since it started.
FW Man Scores
$2,756 Award
(Continued from Page 1)
just $12 less than the all-time
high suggestion award won by
Joe Rozina of Dept. 30 last July.
Campbell said he got the idea
for his suggestion when his op-
erational tests of F-102 electron-
ics equipment were often inter-
rupted to put the ships under
shelter in bad weather.
The idea was for a slight modi-
fication of electronics equipment
in the F-102 which allows the
equipment to be tested inside the
assembly building.
Previously, all tests of the
equipment had to be performed
outdoors along the flight line to
protect sensitive receiver crys-
tals. Tests inside a building dam-
age the crystals because of pow-
erful radar echoes. Outside, how-
ever, in case of inclement weather
operations must close down while
the ships are moved inside to
wait out the storm.
Tests now are performed be-
fore F-102s leave the building.
This results in a saving of both
time and money because of de-
creased handling of the airplanes,
according to J. M. Langendoen,
supervisor of the suggestion sec-
tion.
LANKFORD REELECTED
HEAD OF FIREMEN
Mason Lankford, Dept.
28-2,
Florida Hears B-58 Guns
In Control System Test
Assignment: perfect a fire con-
trol system for a bomber that
travels at supersonic speed—and
far beyond.
That’s the project which keeps
a Convair Fort Worth crew of 50
people busy at Eglin AFB near
Valparaiso on the Gulf Coast of
Florida. They test the system
used to aim and fire B-58 guns.
A crew from Emerson Electric
Manufacturing Co., sub-contractor
for the B-58 system, completes
the team.
The Convair-Emerson group
works in a small metal building
at Eglin, but all their work on
the ground is toward testing the
B-58’s guns in the air. R. P. An-
drews, team captain, said results
of preliminary tests are encour-
aging.
Flight tests of the system
actually started 20 months ago in
Fort Worth.
To perform the tests, B-58 fire
control systems were installed in
two subsonic B-47 jet bombers.
At Eglin, the bombers are used
to determine gunfire effects,
ballistic dispersion, tracking and
gun-aiming accuracy.
The project moved to Eglin in
February, 1957, to make use of
the test support and facilities of
the Air Proving Ground Center.
The tests include a new type of
“flashing” ammunition which ex-
has been elected to hisjplodes one second after leaving
the gun. The guns are fired at a
eighth consecutive term as presi
dent of Tarrant County Volun-
teer Firefighters’ Association.
Howard Horn, Dept. 42, was re-
elected to his second term as
treasurer of the county organiza-
tion.
target towed by a second plane.
A third plane carries equipment
to photograph the flashes.
Results are studied by Convair
and Emerson people to evaluate
performance of the system under
all conditions.
“This armada of airborne equip-
ment calls for extraordinary co-
ordination between the Air Force,
Convair and Emerson,” Andrews
said.
But all is not work for the
“displaced Texans.” Convair and
Emerson people have a four-team
bowling league. Other social ac-
tivities include tennis, fishing,
boating, picnics and club activity.
“We frequently charter a large
craft to go out to the snapper
banks,” Andrews said.
Most Convair families at Eglin
‘CRA Junior* Supplies
Recreation Funds
A coffee pot called “CRA
Junior” adds a touch of home
to Convair colony assigned to
Eglin AFB. It is operated on
honor system and proceeds (as
with profits from vending ma-
chines at other Convair opera-
tions) go toward financing
group recreation activities.
live in nearby communities. Fort
Walton Beach (pop. 10,000) is
largest. Niceville, Valparaiso and
Destin each have populations of
about 5,000.
B-58 Production and Flights
To Loom Large in New Year
FW Installs New Milling Machines
That Will Operate by Magnetic Tape
Convair Fort Worth soon will
begin using two milling machines
which go automatically through
eleven major cutting operations
by means of impulses from a
magnetic tape.
The tape, something like that
used in a tape recorder, feeds up
to 1,200 blocks of information to
the machine in a single operation.
J. B. Rankin, senior tool engi-
neer, and E. C. Smith, parts
programmer, recently returned
from Convair San Diego, where
they tested tape for the Fort
Worth operation by putting it
on San Diego’s automatic
machines.
“It does a fantastic job,” Ran-
kin said. “It cuts parts without
spoilage or error.”
The machine operator merely
puts a slab of metal into the
machine and clamps it down. He
then punches a button. The tape-
informed machine does the rest.
Rankin said the machine has
complete three-dimensional con-
trol and can make all types of
contours and profile cuts.
The machine does in about
three hours an operation that
otherwise requires about 30 hours.
And, once a tape is proved, subse-
quent operations are accomplished
without spoilage.
Making tapes is a tricky opera-
tion. Men must reduce engineer-
ing data to discreet machine tool
movements. Computers are used
to figure repetitive type opera-
tions.
The first tape, tested in San
Diego on two parts, was perfect.
The Fort Worth machines are
expected to be in use by Febru-
ary.
★ ★ ★
San Diego Division of Con-
vair developed the first machine
of this type in the aircraft indus-
try under an Air Force contract
dating back to 1955.
At present nine machines em-
ploying this principle are either
in production or being readied
for production at San Diego.
In addition, San Diego Division
through its “Director,” a device
for turning out magnetic tapes,
will soon manufacture all tapes
used by aircraft firms in this
type operation on the West Coast.
(Continued from Page 1)
sign, procurement and production
of all components except engines.
Previously many such compon-
ents (such as bombing and navi-
gation, for example) were sup-
plied by the government.
Flight tests in 1957 included
many B-58 missions at speeds
faster than sound, as well as tests
in which the B-58 drops its de-
tachable pod. Carried beneath the
slim fuselage of the B-58, the
pod can be a devastating bomb,
a battery of cameras, or a con-
tainer for electronic counter-
measures.
Pod-drop tests will continue at
the Air Force Missile Develop-
ment Center at Holloman Air
Force Base, New Mexico. A Con-
vair Fort Worth colony is based
nearby at Kirtland AF Base to
support the tests.
Other off-site testing will con-
tinue at Eglin AF Base, Florida.
There Convair Fort Worth people
conduct tests on the fire control
system for the B-58.
At the same time, the Air Force
early in the year will be starting
its own Phase IV tests on the
B-58 at Edwards AF Base. In
these the AF establishes perform-
ance and stability characteristics
as prescribed by AF regulations.
Production will continue on F-
106B nose sections. These —
roughly two-thirds the length of
the fuselage—go to Convair San
Diego where they are completed
as tandem versions of the single-
seat jet interceptor.
Work also will go ahead on an
undisclosed number of tail fins
and outboard wing assemblies for
the B-52 jet bomber. Convair
ships these to Boeing Airplane
Co.’s plant at Wichita, Kan.
Also carrying over into the new
year is production of TF-102A
nose sections for the combat pro-
ficiency trainer built at Convair
San Diego, and components for
the F-102 built there.
As the year started, new work
was getting under way on an
“inspect and repair as necessary”
program on Air Force F-102s
and TF-102s. About six ships a
month are due to go through the
program.
Modernization work performed
earlier in 1957 on F-102s was be-
lieved to have been an assist in
helping Convair get the new
work.
Convair in the new year also
continues its research work under
an Air Force contract to develop
an airframe for a nuclear-pow-
ered airplane.
In 1957 employees completed
the first phase of a nuclear radia-
tion effects program that in-
volved 47 flights of the world’s
first airborne nuclear reactor.
The reactor was carried aloft by
a B-36 modified for the purpose
and given the designation NB-
36H.
Other highlights of 1957 in-
cluded start of work on a $1,500,-
000 research and development
contract for manufacturing tech-
niques with the “glamor metal”
titanium.
Completed and checked off as
“mission accomplished” in 1957
was a four-year program in which
Convair had performed mainte-
nance and modernization work on
the Air Force’s fleet of 383 Con-
vair-built B-36 bombers.
TAPE RECORDED—J. B. Rankin, senior tool engineer at Convair
Fort Worth, holds roll of magnetic tape which will be used in new
milling machine to perform I I major operations on B-58 wing slug.
When machined, part looks like that held by E. C. Smith. Tape
operates machine somewhat in fashion of a player piano.
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 11, Number 1, January 8, 1958, periodical, January 8, 1958; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1118011/m1/6/?q=%22~1~1%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.