Convairiety, Volume 2, Number 12, June 8, 1949 Page: 5 of 8
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8, 1949
CONVAIRIETY
Page 5
Given a Breeze, L-1 3 Needs Scarcely More Than Backyard to Land or Takeoff
WHAT'S THIS? A LOOP?—It is all in the way you look at the lower strip
photo. Actually, Cameraman Tom Fitch shown at left is the one who did the
loop, not the plane. Fitch, shown above with special K-21 electrically powered
camera that takes a picture a second, posed himself in plane's path during takeoff.
He kept firing as plane approached and soared easily over his head. Tom, mean-
while, rolled over backwards following plane's flight with clicking shutter. Pictures
in lower strip are what he took. The L-13, which Convair builds for the Air Force
for liaison and rescue tasks, does some remarkable stunts. When there is a brisk
wind blowing, is the time that landings and takeoffs are out of this world. One
time at Muroc, so the story goes, Convair Pilot Phil Prophett faced a 30 to 35
mph. wind. A man held down each wing. When they let go, Phil was airborne!
Landings with a 10-foot run are not uncommon, given a nice wind. The L-13
weighs about 3200 pounds, less than an average automobile. It's not built for
speed—though it can do over 100—but for getting in and out of tight places.
In a matter of a few minutes the wings can be folded back for storage or towing.
Incidentally, when wings fold back the wheels can be adjusted to automobile
width tread, for ease in towing behind a car or truck. Its rate of climb is about
935 feet a minute and altitude is in the neighborhood of 17,000 feet.
TEN-YEAR MAN —GEORGE
Cook, Convair FW foreman in
Sub-Assembly, (73), recently re-
ceived his ten-year pin for service
at both SD and FW divisions.
Cook started his Convair career
at SD and transferred to FW in
1942.
Cohu Selected For
Study on Security
LaMotte T. Cohu, Convair
president, recently was named to
a subcommittee of the Munitions
Board Aircraft Industry Advisory
■committee to study security in
plane plants. Serving with him
.are L. C. Goad, vice-president of
General Motors Corp., and C. E.
Wilson, president of General
Electric Co.
Cohu also was appointed re-
cently as a member of the Indus-
trial Relations committee of the
National Association of Manufac-
turers.
Former Piano Prodigy, Opera Singer (With Time Out
To Captain a Warship) Directs Choral Group at SD
When members of Convair
SB’s Choral Club blend their
voices at regular Monday eve-
ning rehearsals, it is a safe bet
that few know that their court-
ly, courteous director was a
piano prodigy at 6, an opera
star at 16 and not so many
years ago the captain of a war-
ship.
He is W. A. Neilson of Electric
Bench, sandy-haired and bespec-
tacled and so full of music that
any attempts to draw the conver-
sation away from that subject
must be carefully veiled.
“Our group has made a lot of
progress, despite transfers,” Neil-
son said this week. “We are re-
1 earsing now on such music as
the Riff Song, Blue Moon, Just
Alone and Desert Song . . . not
too classical and old enough that
they are familiar and give us no
copyright problems. ... I wish
we had a few more voices though,
and they don’t have to be trained,
either ... I can take care of
that ...”
In fact, according to Jack
Reynolds, singing commis-
sioner, Neilson is doing more
voice training now than direct-
ing, preparing his group for
public performances later and
at the same time affording club
members an unusual opportun-
ity to gain experience and ex-
pert instruction.
“We are fortunate to have a
director with such a distinguished
background in music,” Reynolds
added.
Neilson, reared in Philadelphia,
can’t remember when he couldn’t
play a piano. He was instructed
from an early age by his mother,
an accomplished pianist, and at 6
played for Adam Geibel, noted
blind composer. A student at the
Coombs Conservatory, Neilson
received a piano teacher’s certifi-
cate at the age of 12. More by
accident than design, he branched
out into singing when he won
irst in a high school voice con-
test. (His first operatic role was
when he was 16, as the sheriff of
Nottingham in Robin Hood, a per-
formance put on by the Philadel-
phia Operatic Society.)
His dual musical career—piano
and voice—continued until 1917
when he joined the Navy. After
the war he settled in Atlantic
City and became prominent in
that city’s musical affairs. For
five years he directed and sang
bass in a male quartet and later
sang for three seasons with the
Cosmopolitan Opera Co., having
leading roles in such perform-
ances as Aida, Carmen, Bohemian
Girl, and Cavaleria Rusticana.
As a reserve Naval officer,
Neilson was called to active duty
in the second World War and
served with distinction, ultimately
as skipper of an LCI and still
later as captain of an attack
cargo vessel. It was off Guadal-
canal in 1943 that an incident oc-
curred which ended part of Neil-
son’s concert career. During an
air raid one of the anti-aircraft
guns jammed with a live shell in
danger of exploding. Neilson got
it out but despite asbestos gloves
one hand was severely burned.
On the surface, Neilson treats the
matter lightly:
“That ended me so far as a
piano concert is concerned . . .
but I can still sing!”
LINERS FEATURED
FROM OPERA TO WARSHIPS—Convair SD’s Choral Club has
a director who has been a man of many roles, both in and out of
opera. A piano prodigy at 6 and a singer at 16, he also has cap-
tained a man-o’-war. Photos show him, left to right, as he looks
today; as he looked aboard Navy ship during war; and as he looked
playing an operatic role.
TAA has initiated a Convair-
Liner non-stop flight from Ade-
laide to Sydney, billed as the
“Cannonball Service,” because it
is flown by the fastest passenger
aircraft in Australia.
Flying time by Convair-Liner
between the two points will be
2 hours, 55 minutes as compared
to former flying time via Mel-
bourne of 5 hours, 45 minutes.
FIRE!—P. W, Leach, of Con-
vair FW Pattern Shop (82),
shows what happens after some-
one has disregarded a safety
warning and used the grinder on
magnesium. Leach subsequently
used steel on the grinder. Sparks
resulted—and the sparks set
the magnesium grindings afire.
Leach, a member of the depart-
ment’s safety committee, only
posed for this photo to emphasize
the danger of starting a fire if
magnesium is used on a grinder.
For the photo phony magnesium
fire was started by Fire Chief
C. H. Jones and Safety Engineer
S. A. Gross—then extinguished.
PINS DISCONTINUED
Discontinuance of the two-year
service emblem for Convair em-
ployees was announced recently
in a move to standardize recog-
nition of company service. Award
of 5, 10, 15 and 20-year pins will
continue as in the past.
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Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Convairiety, Volume 2, Number 12, June 8, 1949, periodical, June 8, 1949; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1118038/m1/5/?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.