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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1269.PDF
JUNE 5TH, 1941 3«7 patient search to establish contact once more. It is there- fore essential that the first burst of fire shall be the killing burst. Day fighting Spitfires, also, perform on moonlight nights when " cat's-eyes " can work unaided. The vapour trial is one of the most useful guides to visual interception of high raiders. It is a tribute to the efficiency of our system to note that German bombers operating over this country at night now have their markings almost obliterated. Undoubtedly they are difficult to see and that is why the pilots on duty wear c '' adaptation glasses'' while they wait in the pilots' jg for it takes no less than 45 minutes for the eyes to s~j maximum efficiency of night vision. It is for this reason that the searchlights are not frightfully popular with the pilots. They—the searchlights—are also efficient and NIGHT INTERCEPTION it is no joke to find oneself in a sudden glare just when a dim and shadowy enemy is perceived. Another phase of night-fighting which is very successful is the employment of Douglas Havocs (D.B. 7s or Bostons modified for night fighting) over enemy aerodromes on the Continent. Here they fly around waiting for German bombers to take off or land. Usually the attacks are made at such a height that parachutes cannot be used, and the German crews are eliminated just as certain] ' as if they were shot down over this country. The Havoc has quite an exceptional performance and is popular with the pilots, who take them on midnight jaunts. DOUGLAS, FORD AND CONSOLIDATED Huge Plants for Line Assembly of Liberators CONSOLIDATED four-engined Liberators will bebuilt at two new plants to be erected in the UnitedStates at Fort Worth, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The arrangement under which the factories will be built and operated is reminiscent of the "shadow factory" scheme in this country, but there are important differences. The Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, has retained the Con- solidated Company as design consultants for the layout, and when completed the company will operate the Fort Worth plant. The Douglas Company will operate the other, of an identical design except in so far as ground topography dictates otherwise. The number of operatives to be employed will be about 10,000. Both plants will be supplied with parts and sub-assemblies from a new factory to be erected by the Ford Motor Company at Ypsilanti, Michigan. Military strategy has probably dictated the location of the two assembly factories in the south-west, as this keeps them away from California and the eastern States, the only two areas of aircraft manufacture in the United States. The factories will be windowless, for black-out reasons, and therefore, as well as for the hot southern climate, will be air-conditioned. The Moving Line iEach plant consists of three buildings. The largest of lese' is the main assembly plant, a building 4,000ft. fcmg and 320ft. wide. This will contain a continuous assembly line operated on the principle used for many years in the motor car industry, whereby the line has an intermittently timed movement, each aeroplane progress ing from station to station at regular intervals until the completely assembled machine is discharged at the end of the building. The assembly line will start with as many as three rows in line, finishing with a single line of bombers having outer wings in place. The line will be operated on one side of the building in the main assembly bay, which is 200ft. wide and runs the entire length of the building. The feeder bay, which is adjacent to the main assembly bay, is 120ft. wide. It contains a double railroad siding with cross-over tracks permitting the car- loads of parts and component assemblies from Ford to be delivered at the point in the line where they are to be used. Alongside the railroad siding in this 120ft. bay and next to the assembly line is a large working space where the parts and sub-assemblies received will be un- loaded and made up into assemblies such as tail units, undercarriages, and wings with flaps and ailerons in place. From this location they will be forwarded directly into the final assembly line. The clear height of 40ft. inside the building, the wide assembly bay of 200ft., and the various dimensions of the feeder bays will permit the construction not only of the B-24 type of heavy bombers, but also much larger ones of as much as 195ft. span, weigh- ing up to 2oo,ooolb. each. The craft will progress in the line from crew to crew. Each crew will be specialised in its particular work, and will be continuously supplied with all the necessary parts, materials and component assemblies at each station with the work so timed as to produce Liberators at the rate of 50 per month. The line will be moved by mechanical means, and will be operated at longer timed intervals be- tween movements when the plant first starts operating. As the work speeds up, so will the line be speeded up to meet the increased efficiency of the operators. Mr. C. A. Yan Dusen, Consolidated vice-president and co-ordinator of plants, has stated that his company is particularly pleased with the arrangement between the three companies whereby Consolidated will be required to furnish all designs for the aeroplane itself and will co- operate with Ford and Douglas. He stated that his com- pany expected to contribute the specialised knowledge of the manufacture of this bomber and to co-operate with Ford with his great experience of line production methods. Plastic Progress HTHE use of wood strengthened by plastic processes for pro--*- ductioh of major components and stressed parts of aircraft is the aim of the British Plywood Manufacturers, Ltd., who,with this ultimate object in view, have appointed Mr. E. P. King, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., to the board as director in charge oftheir new Aircraft Plastics Division. • Mr. King is well known for the research which he has con-ducted in the development of plastic materials and their practical application to aircraft construction and has taken an importantpart in the development of De Havilland aircraft over a long period of years. In the last few years his most important con- tribution to aeronautical development has been in the sphere of plastics where the moulded hollow wood blade is among his achievements. He is one of the earliest pioneers of plastics for aircraft, and the value of his work is emphasised by the degree of interest which it has aroused not only in Great Britain but throughout the world. In addition to his unrivalled knowledge of plastics, Mr. King also has considerable experience as an aircraft designer, which provides an ideal combination for the particular work he is now undertaking.
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