FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1315.PDF
JULY 2isr, 1949 FLIGHT 79 Mass-Production Maintenance Eight test and calibration cells, built of light alloy and screened with copper, are available for the overhaul of radio equipment. ' schedule and the method of washing and cleaning engines. Partof the increase, however, was due to a rise in the number of maintenance men from 1,400 to the present 2,100. From thestandpoint of man-hours, an engine could now be cleaned in 11 man-hours compared to 66 required by the old methods. Inthe Gabin-overhaul department, in spite of an' increase of 50 per cent of work, the general efficiency had been 15 per centhigher. The vice-president's figures for engine overhauls are particu-larly interesting. In amplification, it can be said that there have been three engines in service on United routes, the Prattand Whitney R-1830 of 1,200 h.p., the R-2000 of 1,350 h.p., and the R-2800 of 2,100 h.p. Towards the end of 1948, whenthe Stratocruisers went into operation, another model, the 3,500 h.p. TSB3-G Wasp Major, was added to the inventory. At San Francisco many innovations have been made in thenormal procedure for engine overhaul. A i6oft-long tank, shaped like a hairpin, is provided for the complete washing ofthe engines. Once the engine is removed from the aircraft it is blasted with high-pressure steam and solvent and then mountedon a trolley ready for removal to the '' tear-down '' section. During this process the electrical equipment is removed andsent to a special electrical department on the second floor. All the various sections of the dismantled unit are then attachedto an overhead conveyor which carries them through a five- hour series of sprayings and washings in a hairpin-shaped tank160ft in length, the tank contains 30,000 gallons df strong detergent solution which removes every particle of dust, greaseand oil. When parts emerge, they are dry, clean and ready for inspection in another section of the shop; here they are checkedfor wear, in certain cases to limits of .oooiin. Certain parts, Control-panel adjoining one of the six engine-test ceils. Engines are ran for about 4^ hours ofter reassembly. incidentally, after removal from the bath, are taken to anenclosed chamber where they are blasted with air pressure carrying a compound consisting of finely ground nut-shells,which removes the last particles of embedded carbon or dirt but does not damage the metal.* After inspection the engine parts are taken to the build-upshop, where they are reassembled on what might be termed a continuous moving line assembly. Meanwhile airscrews havebeen undergoing a similar type of cleaning, inspection and re- pair process and are ready to be balanced and fitted to theengines. After a final shop check the engines are transferred to one of six concrete enclosed test-l>eds, where they are putthrough tests simulating all types of flight conditions. Tests amount to four-and-a-half to five hours. Adjoining the enginetest-beds is the huge fuel-metering equipment weighing a total of some 80 tons. Final assembly of the engine in the aircraft and a four-hourtest flight completes the overhaul process. It is interesting to note that after every five or six major overhauls of this nature,so many new parts have been added to the engine that it is virtually new throughout. Additional operations at the base, taking place while theengines go through their own processes, include the overhaul and testing procedures carried out on the instruments, radio,electrical equipment, brakes, controls and external surfaces on the aircraft. The instrument department is fuliy air conditionedand the radio department is carefully insulated. . * This process is not altogether novel: foi some years past, at B.O.A.i'.'»engine and airscrew overhaul base at Tre forest. South Wales, light-alloy parts which carry hard carbon or impacted sand have been air-blastedwith an abrasive consisting of ground apricot-stones.—ED. DEATH OF RODNEY DRYLAND AS the result of an accident while testing a Meteor 4 atMoreton Valence, on July 13th, F/L. Rodney Dryland, D.F.C., acting chief test pilot of the Gloster Aircraft Co., lost his life. Although Dryland had been with Glosters tor rather less than three years, his charm of ___ manner, enthusiasm and skill had en- deared him to a host of friends in the industry and abroad. He was quite ex- ceptional in many ways. At the time of his death he was 27 and had been flying for some nine years. After finishing" his flying training in Rhodesia in 1041, he did a year's ferry- ing in the Middle East before going to No. 3 Squadron in 1943. While with the squadron Dryland shot 'down four enemy aircraft and 21 flying bombs and was himself shot down in December, 1944. To Mrs. Dryland and her young daughter we offer sincere sympathy. * 23 . t-fLM. Dryland, D.F.C NEW BRITISH GAS TURBTNESO F primary interest among British power plants justannounced is the Sapphire AS Sa. 1 turbojet, the proto- type of which was designed and built by Metropolitan-Vickers,though development has been transferred to Armstrong Siddeley Motors, Ltd. Any Sapphire production which mightbe authorized would be an Armstrong Siddeley commitment, and in this connection, the firm's rapidly mounting experiencewith axial-flow gas turbines may be significant. Full details of the 3,650 s.h.p. Python ASP. 3 are shortly to be published. From de Havillands comes news that the Goblin DGn 4turbojet of 3,600 lb static thrust differs from earlier Goblir.s in having turbine blades of Nimonic 80A, instead of Nimonic 80 :improved air-feed cooling for the turbine wheel; flame tubes of a new pattern, to permit higher working temperatures; asingle-unit fuel pump; and a smaller tailpipe nozzle. A similar Goblin—thf» Mk36—is being submitted for civil-typeapproval. Of 2,970 s.h.p.., the Napier Coupled Naiad N NaC. 1 has notyet run as a complete unit, though considerable experience with individual Naiad units and the common gearbox has l»eenbuilt up during recent months.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
