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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0497.PDF
FEBRUARY 25 FLIGHT. that affects the output of British factories. I understand that when one of the German factories invents a new pro cess that accelerates production and the Air Ministry says it must be employed by other firms for the benefit of the State, the companies concerned are allowed to get together and conclude their own commercial arrangements. Frcm all I saw I believe that the alleged repression of Nazism is mythical so far as the aircraft industry is concerned, if it were true, how is it that Germany has forged ahead with her aircraft and air force while we (with our demo cratic freedom) have reached a state which a friend of mine suggested would require two years in which to "dis organise the organised muddle"? Sheet'Ttietal Working In the Henschel sheet-metal shop only light alloys are worked, so steel tools and dies are not required. Zinc is the material fashioned by the tool-makers, lhe zinc blocks are easier to work than steel, cheaper, just as effective, and when finished with can be readily melted down to provide new blocks. Some of the parts for the cross-members of wings, fuse lage, tanks and bulkheads are made by drop-hammers. The metal sheet is placed above the die on the hammer bed and a sheet of heavy rubber laid on top. The hammer falls, its blow resounds throughout the shop, and after a brief series of blows the shape reauired has been created ; the rubber prevents the soft metal from being over- extruded. Next, let us look at a specially devised Henschel process for forming large rounded surfaces, such as those for cowlings and tanks. In the past it has been often neces- the machine is mounted inner form of the shape The Administration Building Note the observation room on the roof. The square- ended part of the building on the left houses the execu tive and the staff canteen. The drawing office runs the whole length of the second floor of the long wing to the right of the executive end. The shops at the tar end include the central material test and inspection depart ments, the machine shop and the sheet-metal shop. sary to have these spun or hand - beaten. Henschel designed an hydraulic ma chine to do this work. The hydraulic mechanism lies b2- neath the floor. On top of a wood pattern, cut to the required. The sheet to be worked is passed over tne pattern block and clamped at either end to the fixed frame of the machine. The mechanic in charge operates the power control, the hydraulic ram extends, and the sheet metal seems to flow into shape before one's eyes under the upward pressure of the ram. The speed with which this operation is carried out is astonishing, while universal adjustments of the moving portion of the machine tool allow for wide varia tions in design. This tool has been adopted by other German firms. We leave this shop and walk along a concrete road that runs through garden-like surroundings to the corrosion- proofing plant. The parts we have just seen being made in the machine and sheet-metal shops for internal details are suspended in electric baths charged with chemicals. They emerge a beautiful golden colour, with a perfectly smooth surface, proofed against corrosion. Colour can be varied by changing the chemicals. Thus, when required, wing parts or fuselage parts can be given a different colour for rapid identification. The bath adds a skin finish, not an impregnation. I was told this finish does not flake or wear off. The chemicals used are secret. Thence we pass over another roadway to the assembly One of the factory units. Each unit is a self-contained factory with its own heating and lighting plants, coal and water supplies. There are bomb-proof cellars fitted with gas filters under each building. The structure is designed on a " cut girder " principle so that a bomb bursting within will not bring down the whole roof. .'1 I p-..—»- r**i-V" £$.' ''."" I
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