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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0071.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 23, 1931 TRACK ASSEMBLY OF AIRCRAFT Blackburn's Latest Time-Saving System A:- i result of careful investigation into production methods,the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Co. have adoptedthe track system of assembly in their factory at Brough, East Yorks, and are probably the first aircraft constructorsin this country to do so since the war. Briefly, the system consists of mounting the bare skeleton fuselage, consistingof a jig-built steel tube centre structure and wooden rear fuselage, on a trolley which is placed on a pair of rails runningthe greater part of the length of the main erection shop. The assembly programme is divided up into a number ofstages which are represented on the track line, and as each stage is completed, each fuselage moves along the trackto the next, and so on, until at the end of the track fJie machine is complete except for main planes, chassis, andfinal adjustments. They then progress down another line on their own chassis without a track and finish up completeat the erection shop doors ready for test and delivery. The layout of the system in thebig main erection shop was started in March. 1930, and the first ex-perimental track was put down in April. In July, the track wasextended to meet greater produc- tion requirements, the floor spacewas marked out by means of white lines, and quantity pro-duction has been continued most successfully by this method eversince. It has been found to make a substantial difference to the costof production and an enormous saving of time, as compared withother methods, as well as regulating the work in the factory in so orderlya fashion that congestion is avoided and adequate space is ensured foreach operation and for the works departments, which are situatedin close proximity to the assembly lines. At the present moment, anAir Ministry contract for a quan- tity of Ripon torpedo 'planes isbeing handled on this system, and the required delivery is being keptpunctually with only one track line in operation ; if required, the rateof delivery could easily be in- creased considerably, either byextending the track still further and increasing the number ofoperations, or by laying down additional lines. The track system adopted foraircraft production by the Black- hurn Co., at the instigation oftheir works manager, Mr. W. P. -Ueeson, whose wide experience ofProduction methods has been gained by association with suchw'ell-known motor firms as Humber *nd Hillman in England, andcuick and Packard in America, is very similar to the early system used for mass production of motor cars, and in fact resembles present-ly car assembly methods, except lt»at the trolleys" are not mechani- ^% propelled from stage to stage,in the case of the " Ripon II," ^Mch as is well known, has a steel,U e C!-'ntre structure and wooden aiT fi:sela#e—Jig-built> Iike a11' er Jnits—the centre structure * mounted on a metal trolley on a traV1 rails wllich constitute thec« .-ad so enters the first stage inriri ; assembly. The trolley ap' nill>* maintains the fuselage arj.d°X ilate'y in flying position,the fiT l convenient height above for all work to be asas possible. The first stage consists of attaching the wooden rearfuselage by its four joints to the steel centre structure, and involves fitting jig extensions to the bottom centre planes,so that measurements may be taken on each side to the sternpost to ensure the alignment of the complete structure.At this stage also, the engine, fireproof bulkhead and rear fuselage fairings are fitted. This completes the first stage,and necessitates a move along the track to the next stage, and so on, as each stage is completed. In all, the trackassembly of the Kipons is divided into eight stages, and all the components for each stage are grouped on benchesopposite each station, so as to ensure that no time is lost, and that each stage is fully completed before moving onto the next. Each stage is, moreover, governed by a time schedule, so that overlapping is avoided, operations are soplanned as to be approximately of equal duration, an even production flow is maintained, and the finished aircraft TRACK ASSEMBLY OF AIRCRAFT : These two photographs show the main sections of a Blackburn " Ripon." Above the central steel tube fuselage structure with petrol tank in place, and below the wooden rear portion of the fuselage. It is chiefly to the " Ripon '' that the system of track assembly has been applied at Brough. 73
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