Convairiety, Volume 10, Number 25, Wednesday, December 11, 1957 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
CONVAIRIETY
Wednesday, December II, 1957
Even Though B-58 Panels Are Frozen,
It Takes Power Chisel to Peel 'em
A group of employees at Con-
vair Fort Worth is dedicated to
tearing up bonded parts of Con-
var’s B-58 to see just what makes
the supersonic plane tick—and to
discover ways to make it click
even better.
New bonded sandwich panel
construction and the wide use of
adhesives in the Hustler make it
essential to assure quality of the
new processes.
To do this, the destruction test
group literally tears the Hustler
apart, panel by panel. And it’s
not a simple job, even though
the panels are deliberately froz-
Five From SD Confer
On Flight Safety
Five Convair San Diego men
were on hand at Palm Springs,
Calif, last month for the 31st
Air Force Aircraft Industry Con-
ference dealing with aircraft
safety features.
Representatives included 180
men concerned with flight safety
from 22 states.
Attending from Convair SD
were: Paul M. Benner, chief of
inspection at Plant 2; George
Cole, William P. Easley, J. G.
Hawkins and George A. Lemke,
all of engineering.
en in an effort to make them
brittle and thus more easily
broken up.
Panels marked for destructive
test are placed in a freezer or
under a blanket of dry ice until
the temperature is many degrees
below zero. Still, power chisels
are needed by Dept. 33 men to
peel the skin from the frozen
panel’s honeycomb core.
H. A. Dyck of process con-
trol said exposed surfaces show
how improvements can be made
in the adhesive process, in tools
or in a panel’s detail.
Also operating in the test area
are Harry Brennan of production
development and G. D. Ray of in-
spection. The three cooperate ful-
ly to gather information that will
lead to a better product.
Their findings on each panel—
and their recommendations—are
included in a report that is wide-
ly circulated among departments
concerned.
Each panel marked for testing
is manufactured as any other
B-58 component. The panel is
given ultra-sonic tests to detect
voids as in any other panel. When
it reaches the destructive test
stage, a portion is cut away and
sent to a laboratory for tests of
tensile strength. Remainder of
the panel is put to bed under
blocks of dry ice.
“The panel gets a lot colder
than any temperature in which
the airplane is expected to oper-
ate,” Ray explained.
Destructive tests already have
indicated numerous improvements
incorporated in the Hustler’s
bonded structure, and findings of
the small crew continually point
the way to better quality.
Among other things, destruc-
tive tests have proved that Con-
vair’s method of void repair is
satisfactory. Voids are repaired
by injection of adhesives into a
panel with a hypodermic needle.
(Convairiety, May 29, 1957).
Altitude Test
Construction at
FW Progresses
Work is in progress on con-
trol and equipment buildings
near the new altitude tempera-
ture chambers at Convair Fort
Worth, and preliminary structur-
al tests on the chambers them-
selves are under way.
“We already have taken the
chambers up to altitudes to
check adequacy of design,” said
G. S. Adams Jr. of plant engi-
neering. “We are checking struc-
ture only, however. Performance
and acceptance tests come later.”
The chambers are designed to
perform tests on Convair B-58
Hustler systems and components
in simulated environmental situ-
ations. The chambers can go to
extreme altitudes and tempera-
tures.
Constiuction of the facility is
unique in that most of the maze
of equipment was installed before
work began on the building which
will cover it.
“Some of the equipment was
so big,” Adams said, “it was
more convenient to do it this
way. We had to use overhead
handling equipment on most
of the work.”
Construction now has begun on
control and equipment buildings.
A huge water cooling tower
adjoining the test cells will be
capable of producing tempera-
tures as low as 100 degrees below
zero. The chamber also will be ca-
pable of high temperatures for
a study of friction heat.
There actually wdll be three
test cells located in two units.
One unit will have a variable
partition to divide it into two
cells.
Use of the facility is expected
to save valuable flight time in
the Hustler. Systems and com-
ponents checked in the chamber
otherwise would have to be
checked out in flight.
Cockpit Trainer
For 880 Ordered;
Delivery in 1958
Pilots, co-pilots and flight en-
gineers wrill be “flying” the Con-
vair 880 jet transport by the
time it is ready to roll off fac-
tory assembly lines at Convair
San Diego late next year.
But they’ll remain on the
ground for the first month or
two!
These “flights” will be made
possible by a $250,000 cockpit
procedure trainer for the 880 or-
dered last week.
W. B. Harwell, manager of pro-
duction flight at SD, indicated
the trainer will be delivered in
November, 1958—the date for
factory completion of the first
880. First flight is now sched-
uled for January, 1959.
Computers and other electronic
devices will make the full-scale
cockpit controls react as in ac-
tual flight. The three-man crews
will be able to simulate the oper-
ation of engines, hydraulic, elec-
trical, cabin pressurization and
anti-icing systems of the air-
craft.
Convair flight crews will share
use of the trainer with customer
airline pilots and ground support
crews.
COLD SANDWICH (PANEL)—Honeycomb sandwich panel is
rugged. To take it apart, it first must be frozen with blocks of dry
ice such as those above. Even then, G. D. Baker (top photo) needs
air chisel to pry it apart. H. L. Hampton is at left. In lower picture
G. D. Ray of inspection checks "peeled" panel.
NO "MUSH"—Samuel Gockley, stationed at cafeteria No. 3
at Convair SD, shown with his dog team. He uses commands that
would baffle an Alaskan team but are clear to these huskies.
Se/F Starting
Five ’Dog-Power' Team Boasts
Top Speed of Nearly 30 mph
A score of years ago Samuel
Gockley owned a lively German
Shepherd dog, so husky and
strong that when he went for a
walk on a leash it was an ex-
hausting experience for whom-
ever was being dragged behind.
“I decided that if he wanted
to pull that hard a wagon would
be more comfortable for me,”
Gockley, an employee of The
Prophet Co., cafeteria operators
at San Diego, recalled last week.
“That was the start of my dog
teams.”
Many teams, harnesses and
buggies later Gockley continues
his hobby. Currently he uses a
five-dog team which includes
three Samoyeds, white Siberian
sled dogs.
“The dogs love it. They can’t
wait to be hooked up and go
for a drive. And it’s a good
way to exercise healthy ani-
mals.”
Gockley’s team of German
Shepherds which he drove some
years back were clocked at 33
miles an hour. His current team,
not quite as heavy, is a few mph
slower when going “all out.”
An Alaskan sled dog would be
baffled by Gockley’s commands.
Instead of “mush!” it is “let’s
go boys.” There is no gee and
haw. Gockley just says “Let’s go
up to the right” and darned if
the dogs don’t do it! And it’s the
same with “Let’s turn around.”
Gockley has no specific lead
dog, preferring not to give any
one dog authority. He thinks it
keeps them all happier to make
this a joint enterprise. Also, the
dogs have the simplest type of
harness, much the same as the
orthodox pet shop variety. Each
is connected to the wagon with
a single line. This makes for a
“quick disconnect” in case a
strange dog dashes out to add
confusion.
The buggy is a lightly built
(but strong) affair and easily
pulled on rubber tires. It has a
good brake system, however, so
that the dogs will not be over-
run on a downhill grade.
“Once we were on a jaunt up
around Campo,” Gockley recall-
ed. “It was up hill, down dale
going, so I thought maybe the
dogs would like to ride for a
change. They did and from then
on we coasted down the hills with
the dogs happily riding behind!
I was surprised that they were
anxious to be harnessed up and
happy to pull again. It didn’t
'spoil’ them.”
Gockley occasionally drives his
team in parades as an attraction
and has picked up a few dollars
using the cart to carry advertis-
ing for dog foods. There is an-
other angle that Gockley is ex-
ploring, involving the wool from
the Samoyeds. It is of fine tex-
ture, can be loomed and knitted
into quality sweaters.
“We groom the dogs anyhow,
of course, for it improves their
coats, and lately have started
saving the excess hair from the
Samoyeds. One dog, if combed
regularly, gives off about a
pound of wool a year. Wool sells
for as high as $10 a pound.”
Gockley has a carefully-timed
“retirement” system for the dogs.
When they are 10 years old (or
sooner if deemed advisable) they
are taken out of harness. But so
they won’t feel left out, Gockley
takes them along, riding in the
cart where “they give me in-
structions on driving.”
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 10, Number 25, Wednesday, December 11, 1957, periodical, December 11, 1957; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth777504/m1/4/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.