Convairiety, Volume 8, Number 10, Wednesday, May 18, 1955 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2
CONVAIRIETY
May 18, 1955
icq CntrieA
Service Emblems
FORT WORTH
The following service emblems are due
during the period May 16 through May
31:
Fifteen-year: Dept. 6, F. W. Davis.
Ten-year: Dept. 22, D. H. Cates, E.
Z. Johnson, B. J. Putteet: Dept. 25, R.
Washington; Dept. 27, C. W. Manasco;
Dept. 64, C. G. Adams; Dept. 81, F. D.
Howe; Dept. 93, L. J. Deaton, R. C.
Stephens; Dept. 94, O. L. Anderson,
☆ ☆
Frank W. Davis,
FW chief engi-
neer, who is latest
at Fort Worth to
receive a 15-year
service emblem.
☆ ☆
C. C. Norris; Dept. 99, L. E. Stokes.
Five-year: Dept. 4, B. W. Hall, M.
W. Peck, G. G. Stieber; Dept. 6, J. H.
Bonk, R. A. Gray, M. R. Hinshaw, J.
S. Knaur Jr., K. E. Kouder. H. Skem-
bare. J. C. Ward, R. S. West, L. H.
Weth, J. D. White.
Dept. 9, J. K. Daniels: Dept. 14, C.
A. Kimbrough Jr. ; Dept. 15, W. M.
Bright, W. L. Zent; Dept. 20, J. H.
Shook; Dept. 22, J. A. Billingsley, J.
T. Blanton Jr. ; Dept. 24, J. T. Elliott,
F. C. Kohler, G. W. Moreland.
Dept. 25, R. C. Bridges, R. R. Samsill;
Dept. 31, E. Tracy; Dept. 74, V. O.
Coggins; Dept. 75. H. L, Watkins: Dept.
82, P. Branscome : Dept. 99, A. R. Fulps.
DA1NGERFIELD
Five-year: Dept. 2, F. C. Russell.
Promotions
FORT WORTH
Promotions to and within supervision
and professional and administrative ef-
fective April 26, 1955 are:
Dept. 6, Engineering: to project aero-
physics engineer, H. O. Ankenbruck; to
structures engineer, A. E. Fisher; to
senior aerophysics engineer, B. R.
Greene; to senior service engineer, J.
A. Hillaker; to engineering writer, G.
A. Lindsey, R. R. Stilwell: to senior
design engineer, H. L. Panner; to pro-
ject nuclear engineer, H. E. Stern.
Dept. 74, Finishing: to assistant fore-
man, J. H. McGregor.
Dept. 81, Tool Room and Fixtures: to
tool manufacturing assistant foreman,
J. E. Cranford: to tool manufacturing
foreman, B. W. Lytle.
Births
FORT WORTH
CURTIS—Son, W. M. IV, 7 lbs. 11
oz.. born April 28 to Mr. and Mi*. W.
M. Curtis, Dept. 6-1.
LOWRY—Twin sons ; Glen Robert and^
Greg Raymond, 5 lbs. 12ti oz., born
April 25 to Mr. and Mrs. Milton Lowry,
Dept. 41.
NORMAN—Daughter, Mary Beth. 7
lbs. 10*4 oz., born April 29 to Mr. and
Mrs. R. G. Norman, Dept. 25-3.
POLOVKAS—Daughter, Karen Eliza-
beth, 7 lbs. 14 oz., born April 29 to
Mr. and Mrs. Vincent G. Polovkas,
Dept. 6-2.
Class to Boost
Reading Skill
Improved skill in reading is the
aim of a developmental reading
course announced this week by
W. H. Knight, chairman of the
personal development committee
of the Convair Fort Worth Man-
agement Club.
The course, offered in coopera-
tion with Texas Christian Univer-
sity, will start late in June. Exact
dates will be announced later.
“Most club members spend a
good portion of their time read-
ing,” said Knight. “So the better
they’re able to do it, the more
time they have for other aspects
of the job.”
The course concentrates on five
skills: comprehension, rate, read-
ing in thought units, vocabulary
and directed reading.
Cost of the three-hour course
is $39, but a portion of this may
be refunded by Convair if the
employee qualifies.
NAVY PILOTS—Pictured at seaplane ramp, San Diego, are
members of Navy team that tried out Sea-Dart recently. Left to
right: Lt. Cdr. R. N. Decallies, flight test engineer; Lt. Cdr. E. R.
Horrell, pilot; Cdr. H. C. Weart, pilot and team leader; F. H.
Sharp, Convair project engineer for XF2Y-I; Cdr. U. L. Fretwell,
pilot; Lt. Cdr. P. R. Beck, BuAer representative.
HH
Weight Engineers at Fort Worth
Hear Talks by Convair Experts
Engineers representing major
aircraft companies throughout
the country met in Fort Worth
this month to discuss the prob-
lem of weight in modern high-
speed aircraft.
The occasion was the annual
national conference of the So-
ciety of Aeronautical Weight En-
gineers held in Fort Worth May
2 through May 5.
The men heard discussions on
technical and classified matters
directly related with weight
problems.
One of these was a talk by J.
M. Frost, senior design engineer
CHECKOUT—Cdr. H
Weart, a few minutes after this
picture was taken, became first
Navy pilot to fly Copvair Sea-
Dart. At right is John Zimmer-
man of inspection.
Two ’First Flights'
Scored at San Diego
By Different Pilots
Cdr. H. C. Weart, USN, re-
cently became the first Navy
pilot to fly the Sea-Dart and
shortly afterwards John Knebel,
Convair engineering test pilot,
became the second pilot to fly
the XFY-1, world’s first vertical
takeoff plane.
Both events were at San Diego.
Weart was in San Diego with
a team of visiting Navy pilots,
all of whom later checked out in
the delta wing Navy fighter that,
uses skis for landing and taking
off on water (Pictures on Page
2.)
Knebel now joins J. F.
(Skeets) Coleman as the only
men to fly the XFY-1. After
several weeks of training, he
took the ship to a vertical posi-
tion over Lindbergh Field last
week. He is expected to make
several more vertical flights be-
fore making the transition to
horizontal flight.
SD Will Build New
Transport Series
Convair SD will build a new
series of Convair-Liners, desig-
nated the model 340-B.
The new planes will incor-
porate sound and speed improve-
ments and early delivery posi-
tions have been earmarked for
Continental Air Lines, REAL (of
Brazil) and the U.S. Air Force.
Con-Trib Five Month
Gifts Total $72,300
(Continued from Page 1)
Tuberculosis Society, $3,-
893.38.
Fort Worth Foundation for
Visually Handicapped Children,
$778.68.
Children’s Opportunity Cen-
ter (for mentally retarded chil-
dren), $778.68.
Outstanding pledges still sub-
ject to collection totaled $106,100.
Total participation was 88 per
cent of all employees. Three de-
partments were 100 per cent:
division manager’s office, budget
administration and B-58 forward
fuselage.
AF Test Pilots
Inspect B-58
(For picture, see page 5.)
A group of experimental test
pilots got a look at the B-58
project on a recent visit to Con-
vair Fort Worth.
Twenty-four members of the
staff and student body of the Air
Force Experimental Test Pilots
School, Edwards Air Force Base,
Cal., toured Convair early this
month.
They looked in on the B-58
project and other classified work
now under way at Convair.
Pilots were accompanied on
the tour at FW by B. A. Erick- i
son, manager of flight; A. S. |
Witchell, Jr., chief pilot; Ray j
Fitzgerald, flight captain.
College Scholarships
Awarded to Five Sons
(Continued from Page 1)
and baseball teams and was an
outstanding student. He plans to
major in aeronautical engineering
in college. His father has been a
Convair employee for 12 years.
Kenneth Whitt is a senior at
North Side High School where
he’s a member of National Honor
Society, a three-year member ol
the Spur Club, local scholastic
honorary society, and has an A
average in his high school work.
Kenneth plans to major in me-
chanical engineering in college.
His father has been a Convair
employee for more than 11 years.
Young Davis, a senior at Dain-
gerfield High and president of
his class, will enter the Univer-
sity of Texas this fall to study
aeronautical engineering. An
athlete (center on the basketball
team) besides being a scholar in
high school, his interests have
been in building model airplanes.
“We are pleased to name these
young men who have demon-
strated outstanding scholastic ac-
complishments and leadership
qualities as our scholarship win-
ners,” said Esenwein. “We hope
that they will consider employ-
ment with Convair after comple-
tion of their studies.
“The choice of these scholar-
ship winners was a difficult deci-
sion to make since there were so
many excellently qualified and
deserving applicants.”
+ Ccntiairietq★
Founded Sept. 1, 1948. Published in three editions (Fort Worth-Daingerfield,
San Diego, Pomona) by Convair Industrial Relations. General Offices, San Diego,
Calif,, Logan Jenkins, editor.
Approximate current total circulation, 45,000. News items and letters to the
editor are solicited, but no advertising can be accepted.
FW Editorial Offices, Industrial Relations Dept., ext. 5290; FW staff: Bob
Vollmer, news editor; Sally Abey.
Esenwein Tells
Weapon System
Concept Results
(Continued from Page 1)
facturing pieces of airframe out-
side the plant, IV2 cents is spent
with vendors manufacturing spe-
cial or standard equipment, 11
cents is spent with vendors of
standard and special ground han-
dling equipment, test equipment
and training aids, and 2 cents is
spent for shop supplies.
“That means,” said Esenwein,
“that Convair Fort Worth gets
only 37 V2 cents of the total pro-
curement dollar for its airframe
design, development, testing and
manufacture, and for its system
integration, installation and
evolvement for its weapon sys-
tem management effort.”
These dollars flow to many
concerns in 48 states. They go
to seven vendors of major sub-
systems who employ 30 second-
level vendors. They go to nine
vendors of minor subsystems
who employ 19 second-level
vendors directly, to 1206 vendors
of raw material, off-shelf hard-
warefVtandard and mm-standard
items and normal Convair-fur-
nished equipment items, and to
2312 vendors of operating sup-
plies, special test equipment and
facilities items.
“Beyond this, second- and
third-tier Subcontracting is re-
sorted to by our subcontractors
and vendors,” said Esenwein.
“That means approximately 15,-
000 people, as suppliers or as
vendors on any level, are sup-
porting the B-58 systems.”
In another breakdown, Esen-
wein pointed out that of the
1,920 engineers- working on B-58
systems in vendors plants, more
than 80 per cent are electronics
engineers.
“This new concept is develop-
ing a special type of engineer,”
said Esenwein, “one who is con-
scious of overall systems and the
effect of these systems on over-
all weapon performance.
“We seem, because of the
greater interdependence of ef-
forts enforced by the weapon
system concept, as well as the
complexity of the system, to be
preventing fires rather than put-
ting them out.”
“As we see it,” he said, “the
most significant worry of air-
frame and electronics industries
about the equipment we produce
is reliability, ruggedness, com-
plexity, size and weight, stand-
ardization and cost of product.”
at Convair Fort Worth. His sub-
ject was “How the Single Prime
Contractor Policy Is Reducing
Equipment Weight on the B-58.”
Frost pointed out that by us-
ing tailor-made parts for the su-
personic bomber, more space can
be better utilized for equipment
with a bigger weight saving.
F. C. Hopton-Jones, project
structures engineer, spoke to the
group on “A Practical Approach
to the Problem of Structural
Weight Estimating for Prelimi-
nary Design.”
Other talks centered around
the use of plastics and titanium
in aircraft; bonded sandwich
structure; and various machine
methods used in production.
At the banquet held May 4,
Henry Growald, chief of engi-
neering tests, told the group of
amusing incidents encountered
by a young engineer in a talk
called “Some Take the High
Road.”
One hundred and twenty-four
engineers were registered for the
four-day meet. About 25 attend-
ed from Convair Fort Worth. T.
Moffett, C. Truex and Ed Benson
represented Convair San Diego.
Frank Meyer, society presi-
dent, at the close of the sessions
named San Diego as the 1956
convention site.
Convair Fort Worth personnel
who are officers in the organiza-
tion are J. V. Ray, weight group
engineer, chairman of the Texas
chapter; and R. F. Pence, weight
design group engineer, director
of the Texas chapter.
B-36 Commanders Among Guests
For FW Club's Air Force Program
(Continued from Page 1)
mental craft, and the XB-43, the
AF’s first jet bomber.
In flying the X-1A last August,
Murray exceeded 90,000 feet.
Murray was the first pilot to
make a fighter-to-bomber hook-
up in mid-air. It was this experi-
mental work which led to the
GRB-36, the mother ship which
can land and launch F-84 jet
fighters in mid-air.
It will be a luncheon meeting
starting at 12:30 p.m. in Fort
Worth’s new Ridglea Country
Club.
Tickets, $2 each, will be on sale
until 3:45 p.m., May 25. None
will be sold after that time.
The menu: jellied consomme,
smoked ham steak, Duchesse po-
tatoes, string beans lyonnaise,
tossed salad, sliced peaches and
coffee.
Louise Martell will provide the
lighter side of the entertainment
with several vocal numbers. She
has recently completed an en-
gagement with the Moulin Rouge
in Hollywood.
FW Establishes
New B-58 Dept.
A new department to handle
mechanical subsystems on the
new B-58 supersonic bomber was
set up at Convair Fort Worth
last week.
The new department—No. 77
—is called mechanical subsys-
tems. Systems it will handle in-
clude air conditioning and the
like.
The department will be the re-
sponsibility of C. B. Clark, a
superintendent who also has
Depts. 75 and 76.
Dept. 75 — electronics — will
have prime responsibility to
bench check, install, perform
operational checkout and
troubleshoot the electronic sub-
systems. These include:
Auto-pilot and power control,
navigation and bombing, com-
munications, civil navigation
aids, military navigation aids
and central power supply, and
others.
Overall responsibility for B-58
manufacture remains with the
B-58 assembly departments
under Manager K. A. Day. This
includes the co-ordinating of
operations performed by special-
ized crews from factory, sub-
systems and development field
operations departments.
Responsibility for field opera-
tions and flight test preparation
is assigned to development field
operations department. This in-
cludes co-ordinating the work of
specialized crews and furnishing
line support to the flight test
program.
“Dear Herb—I didn’t have time
to fix your lunch today. Here’s
50 cents to buy it with. Love,
Mary.”
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 8, Number 10, Wednesday, May 18, 1955, periodical, May 18, 1955; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth777362/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.