Convair, Volume 1, Number 1, September 1, 1948 Page: 8 of 8
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Convair/General Dynamics Newsletters and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.
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Page 8
CONVAIR
Wednesday, Sept. I, 1948
STUDENT ENGINEERS—Scholarship and fellowship keys were awarded this
group recently on completion of engineering training, at Convair San Diego. They
came from 11 different colleges and universities and received instruction in many
different departments. Selected for the privilege by their schools, youths also must
meet Convair employment standards. Left to right: R. Alan Dunlap, Michigan U.,
Irving Michelson, Cal. Tech., C. G. Fanger, Oregon State, James G. Wenzel,
Minnesota U., A. L. Caldwell, Oregon State, R. W. Streed, Purdue, A. D. Riedler,
Minnesota U., J. A. Aseltine, UCLA, Fred Howells, Colorado U., Melvin Brown,
NYU, H. K. Holm, Cal. Tech., W. J. Werback, Michigan U., R. H. Jones, Lehigh U.,
and H. W. Rubottom, Convair education supervisor at San Diego. F. W. Fink, chief
engineer, presented awards. Youths now return to their schools to complete
formal education, fortified by practical experience.
THE WING—Most spectacular of ultra modern bombers, this is the B-49, destined for production
at Convair's Ft. Worth plant, present home of the B-36, our largest bomber. Convair will build 28
of the six-jet wings.
Two Cash In With ‘Skinning9 Idea
Because a pair of sharp-witted
men in Dept. 310 at San Diego
couldn’t see the sense in ripping
apart soundproofing materials
worth $11.80 a yard, they are due
for a substantial windfall.
The men are Howard Rau and
John Bansept, both in fabric and
seat assembly. For them an
award totaling $497.25 has been
authorized in the Suggestion
Award program.
“The soft, spongy material,
which is made out of spun
glass and is used as insulation
in the Convair-Liner, comes
from the manufacturer covered
by a thin, transparent skin
known as V film,” Rau ex-
plained. “This was fine for
some parts of the plane, but
when used in the augmentor
muffs surrounding the augmen-
fcor tubes, the film had to be re-
moved.”
So, some months ago Rau and
Bansept recommended that the
material which ultimately would
go into muffs should be ordered
without the covering. At the same
time they passed the word to the
purchasing department and with-
in a week the recommendation
went into actual practice.
Covered material at that time
cost $11.80 a yard. Without the
covering the cost was $9.45, a
difference of $2.35 per yard.
At first it was estimated that
17 yards of the uncovered variety
went into each Convair-Liner. On
this basis, Rau and Bansept re-
ceived a $140 award, $100 payable
at once as their share of the sav-
ing to the company. Later, how-
ever, when it was evident that
more material was being used for
this purpose, a review was held.
As a result they were notified
that the award had been jumped
to $490 in view of the fact that
between 46 and 47 yards of the
uncovered material is used, thus
greatly increasing the value of
the suggestion.
Rau and Bansept are entitled
to half of the total award now
and the other half will be forth-
coming after six months in case
their suggestion remains in ef-
fect.
What did they do with the
money? Both insisted: “It went
to pay bills and a thousand and
three things.”
UNSCHEDULED — Art Thur-
sam, although not on Manage-
ment Club program, stole show
with impromptu singing of
"Somebody Stole My Gal." He
is pictured here with Herbert
Rubottom's guitar.
When your Convair-Liner lands
at its destination, an integral,
built-in ramp—part of the fuse-
lage itself—swings down as soon
as the airplane stops. No wait-
ing.
WHY HAVE SKIN?—Well, that's what John Bansept, left, and
Howard Rau decided after they had ripped off a few yards from
this insulating material. So, they suggested a way out that earned
them an award of $497.
Outlook Good
For Convair
(Continued from Page 1)
situation, as specific as mili-
tary restrictions permit:
The XB-36 and 15 B-36A’s (in-
cluding the static test model)
have been delivered to the Air
Force. Of these, 11 are at Ft.
Worth, four at Dayton, and one
in Florida. A total of 95 will be
built under present contracts.
XC-99, cargo sister of the B-36,
is off flight status at San Diego
for four-wheel main landing gear
installation and exterior painting
to minimize corrosion.
Convair has delivered 146 of its
L-13, folding-wing liaison planes,
to the Air Force under the initial
contract. None of the supple-
mentary contract for 154 has
been delivered because of engine
difficulties. However, of this sec-
ond order, 97 airplanes have been
accepted as completed. Convair
is not installing engines, but is
storing planes at San Diego until
a “fix” has been reached by AMC
and Aircooled Motors, engine
manufacturers. Of 300 planes
total on order, No. 257 is in mat-
ing and No. 244 is off the final
line.
Convair will build the Northrop
| “Wing” at Ft. Worth. Of. 30 or-
dered, Convair will build 28,
Northrop two.
An experimental jet fighter,
the F-92, is under development
for the Air Force.
First flight of XP5Y-1, ad-
vanced flying boat designed for
the Navy, will probably be early
next year. High hopes are held
for this “dark horse.”
Convair will make a strong bid
for a contract to build two-engine
bombardier trainers and naviga-
tor trainers for the Air Force,
for which the Convair - Liner
would be ideal. The Air Force
has just requested bids.
Several projects highly classi-
fied by the military are in various
stages of development by Con-
vair, and LaMotte T. Cohu, presi-
dent and general manager, was in
the east last week with other of-
ficials on “a fishing trip for
more business.”
THE MAN—who gets "blamed
and sued" i'f things don't go
right. That is the way Floyd
Odium, chairman of the Convair
board, described himself, at
Management Club meeting.
TEAMWORK —LaMotte T.
Cohu, Convair president and
general manager, pictured at
Management Club meeting
sounding call for bettering Con-
vair team.
Better Teamwork Sought
(Continued from Page 1)
vestors think of the corporation,
he recalled:
“When Mr. Odium offered a
new issue of Convair stock it
was oversubscribed twice . . .
We’re not going to let those
investors down!”
BULLETIN
Our company has been and is
going through a critical finan-
cial time. The San Diego Divi-
sion is almost wholly dependent
at the present time and for
some time to come on its com-
mercial business. The prices at
which these airplanes were sold
were made some time ago and
are below the present cost of
production. We are doing our
best to reduce our overhead
and increase our efficiency so
that the financial condition of
our company can be improved.'
It does look materially better
than it did a short time ago but
it is up to us to do everything
we can to keep costs down and
curtail waste in every way.
LaMotte T. 'Cohu
Gasoline Galore
An automobile could circle the
globe 16 times and then tour
every state in the union, with the
21,116 gallons of high-test gaso-
line in the wing tanks of the
B-36.
The Convair-Liner’s cabin is
uniform in temperature from
floor to ceiling because of draft-
less, radiant wall heating.
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Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Convair, Volume 1, Number 1, September 1, 1948, periodical, September 1, 1948; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117962/m1/8/?q=%22~1%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.