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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 0641.PDF
314 FLIGHT Missiles and Spaceflight . . . (Right) Parallel assembly of Jupi- ter s on the left and Red stones on the right at the U.S. Army Michi- gan Missile Plant at Detroit, operated by Chrysler (Below) Rocketdyne MB-3 motors, some installed in their power packages, await assembly to Thor airframes at Douglas Santa Monica production runs are relatively small; andmodifications and new methods have to be incorporated in production weapons almostimmediately they become available. A permanent staff of production engineersassigned to the various design departments has greatly facilitated such changes. The Thor airframe is a relatively con-ventional assembly of stressed skin or integrally stiffened skin panels, but Atlasis based on butt-welded steel panels measuring 3ft wide by 6ft long and O.Olinthick, stretch-formed at —90 deg F and butt-welded. Completely new machineryand techniques have been developed and special control tools have been applied toensure dimensional accuracy of the assemblies in order to achieve the requiredinterchangeability. Convair state that auto- matic control of machines is a necessity insuch procedures and that the manpower employed is considerably less than for con-ventional airframes of similar size. The U.S. Army's Jupiter, which is toremain in production for a further year by the Chrysler Corporation, equally in-volves the use of extensive and complex jigs in which large curved panels may beautomatically aligned and welded. An 80ft-long Atlas, bearing the U.S.A.F. emblem and the star-spangled band of S.A.C., being moved at Vandenberg A.F.B., California. Only the two booster motors are in position. A look-out is posted forward and the rear bogie is steered by a man sitting within the girder framework at the rear
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