Convairiety, Volume 10, Number 15, July 24, 1957 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
CONVAIRIETY
Wednesday, July 24, 1957
TWICE HONORED—Lovely Svlvia Sears of Convair Astro-
nautics' base at Cocoa Beacn, Fla., became the holder of two
crowns recently. She was named "Miss Mercy" in a hospital fund
drive and "Miss Satellite" at the suggestion of a Life magazine
photographer on hand to cover missile topics. She has also been
nominated for the title "Miss Countdown" at the Missile Test
Center.
Two Father-Son Teams Conquer Mt. Whitney,
Brave Deep Snow Drifts and Mosquitoes
Two Convair SD men and their
sons battled snow, mosquitoes,
and chipmunks early in July in
their climb to the 14,496-foot
summit of Mt. Whitney, highest
peak in the United States.
Mike Alianelli, Dept. 223, his
son Richard, 14; Wayne Zook,
Dept. 95, and son Johnny, 13,
composed the father-son team
which made it to the summit July
3. The whole families went as far
as Whitney Portal, above Lone
Pine on U. S. 395, and established
camp there, at 8,500-foot level on
Friday, June 28. Sunday Zook
and Alianelli hiked to base camp
at Mirror Lake, 11,000 feet high,
taking food and some gear, and
returned to the family camp the
same night.
Tuesday morning the four
packed the rest of the food and
climbing gear to base camp and
spent the night there — amid
clouds of mosquitoes.
“We hit snow at 10,000 feet,”
Alianelli reported, “but right be-
low snow line everything was
real wet and sloppy. That’s where
all the mosquitoes came from.”
Wednesday morning the fathers
and sons arose at 3:30 a.m.,
packed up, and moved out while
it was still dark. By 10:30 they
had reached the summit. There
is a good trail most of the way,
but snow had covered it deep in
spots.
“We’d planned to spend the
night at basecamp,” Alianelli
said, “but the chipmunks had
looted our food stores. So we
came on back down to the family
camp that night. It was a 26-
mile round trip.”
CONVAIR SD COUPLE
BRIDE AND GROOM
Martha Silliman (Dept. 93-8)
and Patrick McEachern (Dept.
93-2), both Convair SD, were
married at San Diego July 13.
Convair Reservists
Drill on Weekends
An opportunity for Convair re-
servists at San Diego to meet
training requirements on week-
ends is now being offered by
Naval Reserve Surface Division
11-41 (L), according to LCdr. G.
Darwin Cunningham, USNR, of
Dept. 706.
The division meets the second
Saturday and Sunday of each
month at the Naval Reserve
Training Center.
Reservists with previous Navy
training are eligible. Training is
also available to men in the 17
to 18% age bracket with no
previous training and to WAVES.
Information is available by con-
tacting Chief T. R. Bounds at
AC-2-6411.
Air Vacation Ahead
For Convair SD Trio
A week-long, 3,600-mile flying
vacation is being planned for next
month by three Convair SD em-
ployees. Budd Love of Dept. 6,
preliminary design, a licensed
commercial pilot, is in charge of
arrangements.
Love, Ben Youngberg, also of
Dept. 6, and Lillian Poltere, Dept.
706, will be accompanied by Dr.
Wallace Lockwood, San Diego
psychologist. The group, flying a
Cessna 172 owned by the San Di-
ego Flying Club, will cover a
circle route from San Diego
through Grand Canyon, Yellow-
stone, and Glacier National Parks,
Banff, Canada, Mt. Rainier,
Crater Lake, San Francisco, and
back home.
Actual flying time will be un-
der five days, Love said, allowing
some time for stopovers and short
side trips.
There may be room for one or
possibly two more “flying vaca-
tioners,” he added. Convair per-
sons interested may call Love at
ext. 626, Plant 1.
Astro Man Guides
Explorers on Trip
Tom Spencer, Dept. 706, Con-
vair Astronautics, returned to
San Diego July 1 from a week of
rugged adventure.
A student at Carnegie Institute
of Technology and Convair sum-
mer employee in engineering, he
guided a nine-man party from the
Explorers’ Club of Pittsburgh,
Pa., on a rubber raft trip down
the Colorado River through Grand
Canyon.
Spencer has made several trips
down the Grand Canyon.
Once he suffered a broken leg
when dashed against a rock.
Walter Jason New
Patent Law Prexy
Walter J. Jason, Convair patent
director, was installed last Thurs-
day (July 18) as president of the
San Diego Patent Law Associa-
tion. He also was principal speak-
er at the installation dinner meet-
ing in the University Club.
E. W. Muller, general counsel
for Stromberg-Carlson, a division
of General Dynamics Corporation,
was installed as vice president of
the patent law group.
Diploma Climaxes
Four Years Effort
Joseph M. Morales, Dept.
401, has gone on night shift.
Morales, who started work
at Convair Aug. 27, 1940, has
been on straight days, with the
cooperation of his supervisors,
for the last four years while
he attended Hoover Evening
High School five nights a week.
In June he completed the full
four-year course and received
his diploma.
Joseph’s brother, Richard M.
Morales (Convairiety, June 26),
managed his education the oth-
er way around. He worked
nights, attended Midway Adult
High days.
Two other Morales brothers,
Ralph M. and Raoul M., also
work at Convair, and Joseph’s
son, Joe Robert, works in the
same department as his dad,
Dept. 401, at Plant 2.
TOUR—Members of "net evaluation sub-committee" of National
Security Council toured Astronautics facilities at San Diego recently.
They are shown being conducted about Sycamore base by J. R.
Dempsey, division manager. At right is Gen. G. C. Thomas,
USMC (Ret.).
Flight Simulator Used
For B-58 Forecasting
Test pilots at Convair Fort
Worth know pretty well what the
supersonic B-58 will do before it
does it—thanks to flight simula-
tion used to predict the ship’s
performance.
The flight information is gained
through use of the B-58 flight
simulator in the computing labor-
atory.
An instrumented cockpit mock-
up and a battery of electronic
computers make up the simulator.
It is “flown” by a pilot in the
cockpit mock-up.
The facility is for closed-loop
dynamic studies to determine per-
formance characteristics of the
airframe’s control system.
“You can learn, for instance,”
J. W. Rankin, aerophysics engi-
neer, said, “whether the air-
frame and control system will
be stable in a given maneuver
at a specified altitude and
speed.”
To perform a test, the computer
uses information such as mach
number, thrust, altitude, angle of
attack and—to add a touch of
realism—-a few gusts of wind in-
formation.
The information is worked out
by mathematical equations for
almost any set of conditions.
Once the pilot in the cockpit
simulator is “airborne”—the air-
plane’s performance registers on
his instruments.
The “pilot,” by correcting with
elevator, rudder and aileron, sends
impulses back to the computer,
which interprets them.
“There probably was more
learned about the B-58—before
it ever flew—than any airplane
ever built,” Rankin said.
Though primarly installed as a
“tool” for engineers, the mock-up
was a popular spot for test pilots
before the B-58 was flown. They
“flew” the simulator to become
familiar with the new airplane.
Sonic Booms Boom
Every Hour in Show
A different approach to the
difficult public relations problem
of the “sonic boom” was tried
with considerable success by Lt.
Col. Thomas M. Tilley, command-
er of the 438th fighter-interceptor
squadron, and Col. Robert W.
Holmes, who heads the 50th
fighter group at Kinross (Mich.)
AFB. The 438th recently was
equipped with Convair’s F-102As.
On Armed Forces Day an open
house was held at the base, and
the program included a sonic
boom over the base every hour
on the hour!
Those attending the show were
thrilled by the demonstration, got
accustomed to the noise, and the
general reaction was: “Why all
the concern ? That’s not so bad.”
READY FOR 'SPIN'—J. W. Rankin, aerophysics engineer at
Convair Fort Worth, checks B-58 flight simulator in computing
laboratory. The instrumented cabin mock-up checks performance
characteristics of ship's control surfaces.
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 10, Number 15, July 24, 1957, periodical, July 24, 1957; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1118035/m1/4/?q=war: 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.