Convairiety, Volume 2, Number 3, February 2, 1949 Page: 8 of 8
8 p. : ill. ; 44 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 8
CONVAIRIETY
Feb. 2, 1949
30 Seconds Over Capital'
Offers Thrill of Lifetime
(Continued from page 1)
east of Ft. Worth, you’re still
climbing.
At 5:27 a.m., Capt. Warner
levels off at 11,000 feet and
pulls the throttles to cruising.
Only two scanners are required
now. The two others—Sgt. Eu-
gene Harris and Staff Sgt. Floyd
0. Johnson—pile into two of the
six bunks to sack out. You’re
too curious to sleep. You don
one of the headsets, and hear:
“Navigator to pilot. Are we pres-
surized? Pilot to navigator, Yes,
we’re at 11,000 feet. Navigator
to pilot, What is our pressurized
altitude ? Pilot to navigator,
LIGHT FEET —In-
spection Dept, dance at
FW paid off for ex-
cellence. Top: T. E.
Hoffman, H. Hj Hart,
J. Y. McClure, M. R.
Jackson and E. E. Dur-
bin prepare to judge
dancers. Center: Mr.
and Mrs. Joe Domin-
quez (Dept. 27-9) re-
ceive waltz award. Be-
low : Mary Lanzarotti
(27) and J. F. Day
(43) are best jitter-
bugs.
1943
D. v
AIR MAIL
-FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
rHEWB:OH.T £}f?OTHKnS
AT KITTY I-AVJA.N C
0u
O'
Cent
-IX
AIR MAIL STAMP
77 V. /?
3Q2J T7L-f^/X:X
A 'FIRST1 FOR B-36—This cover, postmarked on first day of issue
of new six cent air mail stamp, carries picture of Convair B-36. It
belongs to J. N. Cariola (Dept. 6 SD), whose hobby is stamp
collecting.
Camera Club Meeting Set For Feb. 7 at FW
of portrait
Convair FW Camera Club
members will meet at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 7 at a new location, the
Crown Machine and Tool Co.
club room, 2800 W. Lancaster.
A demonstration
lighting is planned, according to
George Radway, commissioner.
Members are asked to bring their
cameras to the meeting.
We’re pressurized down to 7,900
feet . . .”
This is all pretty dull stuff
to Cpl. Richard H. Rose at the
lower left blister. For excite-
ment he’s reading a murder
mystery!
At 7 a.m. the eastern sky is
pre-dawn gold as you pass over
Memphis. Tenn. and the Missis-
sippi. All bunks are full of
sleepers. At an upper blister is
Fred E. Carlile, Convair FW pho-
tography supervisor, reading a
magazine.
Restless, you face the rigors
of riding the “scooter” to the
front end of the ship. It’s about
80 feet from the aft to the for-
ward compartment. The only
way from one to the other when
you’re pressurized is through a
cylindrical tunnel just big enough
for a man’s body to slide through
lying down.
Through the tunnel runs a pair
of tracks. On the tracks rides a
four-wheel scooter. You lie on
the scooter on your back, and
pull yourself by means of an
overhead rope. It’s pitch dark.
You come out the other end next
to the radio operator’s table
where red-haired Tech. Sgt. E.
W. McLemore and Cpl. Armando
Villareal maintain radio com-
munication.
Forward and up, the pilots
are relaxed but watchful. The
ship “flies itself” on the auto-
matic pilot. You go below. In
the tip of the nose where he can
look straight down at the tree-
covered Tennessee hills is the
bombardier, Lt. L. A. Tallman.
With his bombsight, he’s com-
puting drift. Back of him are
Capt. P. H. Wolford, navigator,
and Lt. R. H. Sikes, radar op-
erator.
It’s now 8:07 a.m., and Chat-
tanooga is on the radar scope.
The navigator reports a tail-wind
and a ground speed of 248 m.p.h.
Through the haze you spot the
first B-36 you’ve seen since leav-
ing Ft. Worth. It is the lead
plane with Col. Alan D. Clark,
commander of Carswell’s 7th
Bomb Wing.
At 9:10 a.m., the navigator
reports we are one hour and 15
minutes from Langley Field, Va.,
where we rendezvous with other
B-36’s.
The pilot starts letting her
down, and you’re at 5,000 feet
when you first sight Chesa-
peake Bay. Your B-36 falls in
line behind and above Col.
Clark’s ship, and the two loaf
in a lazy circle for 30 minutes
before the other three planes
show up and take formation.
The lead ship lowers to 1,500
feet, the altitude at which you
will go over the “target,” which,
of course, is the procession in
front of the capitol dome where
Harry S. Truman is being sworn
in as president.
The outskirts of Washington
come in view. You spot Penn-
sylvania avenue and Capitol Hill
in the distance. Over the radio
you hear Col. Clark crackle:
Tighten up formation. The Chief
of the Air Force is down there!”
At last you’re over the target.
No, you can’t spot President
Truman in person, but you can
see the Capitol dome, and the
thousands lining Pennsylvania
avenue. You can see the huge
“H” and “T” in the procession.
Whatever else is happening be-
low. you know that the five
B-36’s have the spotlight.
It’s your first view of an
inaugural.' It does n’t last
nearly as long as it takes to
tell. In 30 seconds it’s over
and you’re on your way home.
Several miles behind are for-
mation upon formation of B-29’s
stacked up and down the sky like
so many boxes. Your B-36 for-
mation has finished leading the
largest flotilla of aircraft ever
seen over the nation’s capitol,
700 planes of every type. But
yours was the biggest. And, al-
though you admit you’re preju-
diced, you know it’s the best.
You’re proud of the 8th Air
Force, you’re proud of Convair
and the Convair folks who are
building B-36’s, and you’re proud
to have even a small part in
“Operations Inauguration.”
Now that you’re on the way
home, thoughts turn to chow.
Not a banquet, but plenty of
sandwiches, in addition to “K”
rations which include hot soup,
meat, fruit and dessert.
It’s 2 p.m. and you’ve been
flying 13 hours. You climb into a
bunk and let those six Wasp
engines lull you to sleep.
Awakening hours later near
Texarkana, you find the sun-
shine has gone. Low-flying clouds
close in all around. You can’t see
a thing. So you go back to sleep.
At 7:29 p.m., the plane circles
the field. The pilot makes one
pass through the low clouds, then
goes back up for another circle.
On the second try, he sets the
B-36 down with a confident
touch. You’re home again.
LEGION LEADERS — Shown
inspecting one of 10 wheels on
landing gear of B-36 at Convair
FW is S. Perry Brown, (center)
of Beaumont, Tex., national
American Legion commander.
Guiding Brown on a tour of plant
were Ben E. Roberts, of Inspec-
tion (27) at left, and Milton
Stewart, of Tooling (24-8). Rob-
erts is past commander of Globe
Post, while Stewart is 12th Dis-
trict commander.
'Green Thumbs' Join
Garden Club at FW
All men with “green thumbs”
are invited to join a men’s gar-
den club now being organized at
Convair FW. Affiliated with the
Men’s Garden Club of Ft. Worth,
the gardeners meet the second
Monday in every month to talk
over their current flower and
garden problems and listen to
experts on the subject.
“Purpose of the club is to pro-
mote interest in gardens and
civic beauty,” according to C. L.
Rothacker, Material (4-2), one
of the Convair FW organizers.
Spring projects will include the
planting of a rose garden at
the Ft. Worth Botanical Gar-
dens and a flower show.
“I’d say the front one is Ed-
wards. He was always a bit
quicker on his feet than Davis.”
Other Convair FW members
include: R. Churchill, Engineer-
ing (6-4); M. V. Fry, Inspec-
tion (27-5) and Warren D. John-
son (27-6).
The next meeting of the club
will be at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 at the
First Christian Church, the Tay-
lor Street entrance. For further
information contact Rothacker at
Ext. 5166.
SCHOTT TO REPRESENT
UNIVERSITY AT SD
Dr. W. F. Schott, UCLA, has
been appointed university repre-
sentative to coordinate off-cam-
pus graduate work at Convair
SD. He will spend one or more
days a week at SD with offices
in Engineering and will inter-
view those wishing to continue
studies through the extension
service.
PRINCIPAL SPEAKERS—More than 400 Convair FW Foremen's
Club members heard Ray O. Ryan (left), division manager, and
Dr. R. E. Jackson at the Jan. 22 meeting. They are shown with
Jackson's son, Robert.
“As a friend of both of you I
suggest you shake hands and for-
get the whole thing. However,
failing that, suppose you drop
around to the office tomorrow,
Ed. I think you’ve got a pretty
sweet case here.”
INTERNATIONAL ROMANCE — Ralph Mabry, Convair F^X
Outer Wings and Engines (47), shown with bride, former Mis
Martha Ort of Schweinfurt, Germany. Mrs. Mabry met her hus
band when he was stationed with the Air Force in Germany. The^
were married Jan. 12 in Ft. Worth, three hours after Mrs. Mabr
arrived from Germany.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Convairiety, Volume 2, Number 3, February 2, 1949, periodical, February 2, 1949; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117974/m1/8/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.