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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2210.PDF
FLIGHT International, 6 August 1964 225 facturers. His object is to progress a prospect from non-user/non- interested to non-user/interested, to user/non-owner and thence to user/owner. His preparatory work must be aimed always at bettering the odds that a personal call on the potential client will lead to a sale. It sounds rather unnecessarily detailed at first, but the method does give a clear step-by-step progression and positive guidance in what can easily become an expensive and unproductive activity. With a fleet frequently of more than 30 Beech aircraft in their own transport and test pool, most Beech executives normally travel by aircraft, thereby not only demonstrating their faith in their product—and in the source of their livelihood—but appreciating exactly the nature of their products, actively spreading the business aircraft gospel and achieving just what the brochures say the business owner should achieve. Manufacturing Methods To anyone accustomed to European light aircraft manufacturing, the Beechcraft Plant 2 operation at Beech field outside Wichita is an astonishing sight. The building itself is a former dance-hall, used in the early i930s for dance marathons and similar functions. Now, its floors are crammed with machinery and fittings, amongst which embryonic aircraft structures take shape and are progressed with almost split-second timing in a really press-on working atmosphere. By contrast with Plant 2, the production and assembly of the big twins in Plant 1 is a more conventional and staid operation, partly masked by the presence in the final-assembly hangar of the "house fleet," of completed Queen Airs and Super 18s awaiting delivery and of the various aircraft being used for development testing. Plant 1, too, houses the production of McDonnell F-4 flaps, for which Beech have a sub-contract. Some years ago, Beech made 1,300 pairs of T-33 wings. Plant 3 is devoted entirely to development and fabrication of bonded structures, in which Beech have established very consider- able know-how. The honeycomb flaps, ailerons and spoilers for the C-141 and many similar structures are made here. A most surprising fact is that the assembly of the bonded wing for the Musketeer, at the rate of one per day, employs only three men, and there is little evidence of the work to be seen at a casual glance across the big work hall. Plant 2, devoted to the real volume production work, turns out an average of 4.2 aircraft per working day, comprised at present mostly of Barons, but including also the Debonair, Bonanza, and Travel Air. From metal stock to finished airframe, and from fabric to finished interiors, virtually all the work is done in this factory. Floor-space is so restricted that, if a hold-up occurs some where in the process the whole factory may come to a virtual stand- still. This is particularly true of the fine paint-shop where major sub-assemblies enter and leave the 140°F drying shop and spray bays along the same track. Traffic rules have to be carefully observed to avoid jams. Once the individual pieces have been formed, they are placed in open jigs to be fitted and pinned by a few rivets or skin clips. They are then removed from jig and flush-riveted on Erco automatic machines, the worker holding the piece in his hands and using little heels and toes on the riveting foot to locate the rivets along black guide spots on the metal. Often, a single jig is used to make parts of half a dozen differ- ent wings and one jig has been used for 13 different types. The main rigid jig frame is simply fitted with a variety of hinged locating points, the correct locating fittings being hinged into place for each component. This technique gives great flexibility in de- ciding the number of each type to make at any given time. Groups of sub-assemblies of ribs and skin placed in the main jig to form the section of wing aft of the main spar, remain in jig for only 4|hr. The wing ahead of the leading-edge spends only 2hr in its final jig, though its total manufacturing time is 47hr. Completed front and rear wing sections are then attached to the main spar by the simple expedient of piano-hinge wires, each wire taking only 25min to insert. The spars are made separately, but once again, different spars are made up on the same jigs. All this interchange- ability is possible because the individual structures are very similar, differing often only in cross-section or thickness of materials. Fuselages are similarly built-up into progressively larger assem- blies, with very little in-jig time, until a virtually complete fuselage starts down the final assembly line, receiving wings, tail surfaces, engines and all its equipment and furnishing. Separate lines for single- and multi-engined types run side-by-side down the front of the building, with 14 or 15 single-engined stations moving every 3Jhr, and 13 multi-engined stations moving every 5hr lO.iiin. Beech paint fuselage and flying surfaces separately before final assembly, so that the aircraft first flies fully painted—and there is some paint between metal surfaces and under fillets. It is this intensity of manufacture, and the close organization of factory space and resources which dictates the apparent con- servatism of the designs produced. The structural similarity between the whole Beech range from Debonair to Baron is more than skin-deep. In view of this, the Musketeer is a much bolder departure than might appear. Test flying becomes a fairly major task, with each aircraft requiring about three flights, mostly for the purpose of bedding-in electronics and accessory equipment, and Beech employ half a dozen production test pilots. Finally, the aircraft are handed over to the delivery centre at Plant 1, where the sight of dozens of Beechcrafts of all types, most of them now largely painted pure white—and many also wearing the expensive prestige extra of three-bladed propeller, which Beech call schmaltz—is a sight to gladden the eye. The delivery centre itself is provided for final handing-over formalities, but also contains a display of all manner of accessories and a full flight planning and weather reporting section. The customer is made to feel welcome when he comes to collect his aeroplane. C.M.L. The assembly and pre-flight shed at Plant I, with pre-production King Airs in foreground and at far left. Other aircraft belong to Beech's own test and transport fleet, which often totals more than 30 aircraft
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