The Eagle, Volume 2, Number 36, Thursday, January 6, 1944 Page: 3 of 4
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January 6, 1944
THE EAGLE
Page Three
Air Force Vet Lauds Libs,
Debunks "13" Superstition
87 Promotions
Are Announced
Thirteen new foremen and 74
new assistant foremen were named
in a list of departmental promotions
and changes announced today by
Works Manager S. J. Powell.
Promoted to foremen are these
men: A. R. Osburn, Miscellaneous
Parts; D. D. Dawson, Drop Ham-
mer; E. P. Petrash, Tube Bending;
H. L. Daniel, B-32 Fuselage; A. Slet-
tedal, Pattern Shop; W. M. Combs,
mechanical maintenance section of
Plant Engineering; J. B. Soule, me-
chanical maintenance section of
Plant Engineering, Second shift;
E. L. Manire, electrical maintenance
section of Plant Engineering; R. A.
Norman, wood mill section of Plant
Engineering; F. H. Denby, wood
mill section of Plant Engineering,
Second shift; O. S. Jones, Jr., sanita-
tion section of Plant Engineering;
R. L. Rodgers, sanitation section of
Plant Engineering, Second shift;
and R. B. Jones, sanitation section
of Plant Engineering, Third shift.
New assistant foremen include:
C. E. Daugherty, Sheet Metal; E. C. Walters,
Sheet Metal, Second shift; D. O. Burch and
E. E. Clark, Miscellaneous Parts; R. L. Root
and J. H. Shetter, Miscellaneous Parts, Second
shift; J. N. Hunter, W. J. Nelson and O. L.
Corley, Drop Hammer; W. E. Mitchell, Jr.,
G. E. Jackson and C. A. Fink, Drop Hammer,
Second shift; G. E. Fowler, Finishing, Second
shift; J. E. Conner, G. A. Vaughan, M. E.
Nellis, W. C. Carnes and J. W. Giles, B-32
Fuselage; E. J. Quillan, H. D. May and D.
Williams, B-32 Fuselage, Second shift;
M. E. Latham, Wing Flats and Mating, Sec-
ond shift; T. R. Hall, Wing Verticals, Second
shift; W. N. Coleman, Fuselage Sub-Assembly;
E. H. Quisenberry and C. L. Cole, Fuselage
Sub-Assembly, Second shift; A. C. Luedtke,
Covering and Upholstery, Second shift; T. B.
Scott, Wing Sub-Assembly, Second shift; F. M.
Killian, Field Operations, Second shift; R. L.
Wright, Pattern Shop; L. A. Napps, mechani-
cal maintenance section of Plant Engineering;
J. T. Osburn, Second shift, and L. H. Atkin-
son, Third shift, mechanical maintenance sec-
tion of Plaht Engineering, Second shift; W. B.
Whisenant, T. R. Warriner, Jr., and T. H.
Payne, electrical maintenance section of Plant
Engineering;
G. D. Cotten and R. E. Moore, wood mill
section of Plant Engineering; F. F. Reynolds,
wood mill section of Plant Engineering, Second
shift; B. Ludwig, wood mill section of Plant
Engineering, Third shift; R. V. Wade, H. H.
Brady, B. E. Bagby and R. R. Lewis, sanitation
section of Plant Engineering; J. L. Wilder,
J W. Theobald and J. Hall, sanitation section
of Plant Engineering, Second shift; D. Craver,
J. P. Crowder and E. Steed, sanitation section
of Plant Engineering, Third shift; E. L. Falk-
ner, D. Y. Steph, H. W. Greer, Jr., W. H.
Sprinkle and L. G. Hewett, Final Assembly—
C-87; E. H. Robertson, J. R. Ganner, J. W.
Reeves and P. E. Means, Unit 4, Final Assem-
bly; R. G. Dickerson and R. E. Wesley, Jr.,
Unit 4, Final Assembly, Second shift;
E. G. Duff and B. R. Eason, Unit 2. Final
Assembly; D. L. McCoy, Unit 2, Find Assem-
bly, Second shift; H. K. Stone, R. A. G-'igling,
R. B. Cozby, L. A. Orrell and W. A. Butter-
field, Unit 3, Final Assembly; C. G. Center
and G. W. Stewart, Unit 5, Final Assembly;
D. T. Dean, instruments section of Final As-
sembly; R. W. Hill, Final Assembly, Second
shift; J. G. Wilkins, Final Assembly—Engines
and Props.
B-24's Bomb Ballbearing
Plant in Occupied France
American Liberators and Fort-
resses struck at two important
Nazi ballbearing plants near Paris
and two airfields in France Friday,
losing 29 bombers and three es-
corting fighters. Nazi losses in-
cluded 28 confirmed and several
probables.
Nineteen Liberators of the Solo-
mons Air Force hit Rabaul Friday
with 39 tons of high explosives.
Of between 80 and 90 intercepting
fighters, the Libs downed at least
20, the communique stated.
Rehearsals Slated
Rehearsals of the Convair concert
orchestra are held at 7:30 p. m. ev-
ery Tuesday at the Recreation build-
ing, Asa Short, recreation director,
reminded this week. Persons inter-
ested in playing with the group
were asked to attend the next re-
hearsal session.
Despite 10 momentous occasions
of a drama-packed six months in the
Army Air Forces falling on the 13th
day of a month, 1st Lt. Joe Henry
visited Consolidated Vultee’s Fort
Worth plant Monday firm in his
conviction that superstition "is all
the bunk.”
Lieutenant Henry, a Fort Worth
boy who has flown Fort Worth-built
Liberators on 35 missions in the
South Pacific, received a "tremen-
dous kick” in viewing the gigantic
plant in which B-24’s and C-87’s
are built.
"It’s a great layout and the men
and women of Convair are building
a great plane,” he enthused. "Just
keep those planes coming and we’ll
get this war over with in a hurry.”
Succession of 13's
Married on Oct. 13 to Margaret
Patterson, who lives in Fort Worth,
Lieutenant Henry, wearer of the
Air Medal with two clusters and the
Purple Heart, was called to duty the
13th of the following August and
soloed on Oct. 13, his wedding an-
niversary. Graduated the 13 th of
April, 1943, he received orders for
overseas duty the 13 th of the next
month—with the 13th Air Force.
After 13 missions as a co-pilot, he
was made a captain and had his
third Lib shot out from under him
on his 13th mission—on Aug. 13.
After spending three months in a
hospital, he crossed the equator on
the trip home and joined the Shell-
backs’ Club—yeah, on the 13th day
of the month.
Longest raid for the youthful
pilot was against Jap-held Nauru, a
round trip of 2,100 miles.
Five Hours in Water
His first Lib, Miss Maryland II,
was demolished by fire, and his sec-
ond, Scrap Iron, made a water land-
ing when fog closed in the home
base. After five hours in the water,
Henry and his crew made an island,
signaled bombers flying overhead
and were picked up five days later
by navy PBY’s.
He likes Liberators, calls them the
"finest four-engined airplane flying
today.” That extra horsepower,
bomb load and flying range, coupled
with more room for the crew and
a tricycle landing gear, spell out
eventual victory against the Japs,
opines the lieutenant.
10,000th Valiant Leaves
Convair's Vultee Plant
Completion of the 10,000th Val-
iant Basic Trainer at Vultee Field
Division of Consolidated Vultee
was hailed as the establishment of
a record in airplane production by
The Vultair, plant newspaper. A
commemorative ceremony was held,
with Tom M. Girdler, chairman of
the board of Consolidated Vultee,
Harry Woodhead, president; and
Carl W. Coslow, division manager,
participating.
TENSION TESTER—Determining just how far a sample of steel will stretch before breaking is R. A. Eck
of Metallurgical Control, a section of Engineering test laboratory. The hydraulically-actuated machine tests
loads up to 60,000 pounds on any one of several types of metal used in aircraft construction.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ *---
Steel Abets Aluminum in
Production of Liberators
22 Foremen to Hold
Three-Day Meet Here
Two foremen representa-
tives of each Convair division
will gather in Fort Worth
Sunday for a three-day confer-
ence on related problems. The
Fort Worth Division will be
represented by A. L. Crossley
and Fred Buehler.
Other divisions represented
will be San Diego, Downey,
Tucson, New Orleans, Nash-
ville, Louisville, Miami, Allen-
town, Wayne, and Elizabeth
City.
Work-to-Win Plan
(Continued from Page 1)
missed a day’s work in almost a
year, both feel the advantages of
being eligible to participate in
Work-to-Win will make them
doubly certain of being at work,
on time, every day.
T. D. Stiles, 17-year-old employe
in Wing flats, thinks its "a good
idea — I know it’ll help me try
harder to get here all the time.”
Possibility of having a chance to
collect one of the War Bond prizes
given in Work-to-Win drawings
also appeals to J. Wardlaw, an in-
spector in Fuselage Nose, First shift,
and to Joe H. Smith, who works on
hydraulics operations in Final As-
sembly, Second shift. Both agreed
they are "for the plan 100 per cent.”
Our Fighting Men Need Your Blood
AMERICAN RED CROSS
Blood Donor Service
APPOINTMENT BLANK
Last Name
First Name
Dept.—Clock No.
Residence Address
Residence Phone
Preference Date
Day
Hour of Appointment
Have You Donated Before?
How Many Times?
* Although aluminum is the prin-
cipal metal used in the aircraft in-
dustry, eight different kinds of steel
embracing 41 groups are used in
Liberators and in constructing jigs
and fixtures in Convair’s Fort Worth
plant. In addition, 30 commercial
steels are used to fabricate special
machine tools.
Steel received here usually is soft,
or annealed, and requires heat treat-
ing before final use. Because it
cannot be machined to close toler-
ance in a hard state, however, work
on tools and parts is completed
prior to the hardening, quenching
and tempering operations.
To follow the entire process of
heat treating steel, the first step is
assigning a metallurgical control
number to a sample ground and
analyzed by the chemical labora-
tory. This operation insures that
the metal furnished meets specifi-
cations.
Then it is machined to proper
size, allowing for slight deformity
during the heat treating process.
Placed in a gas-heated furnace, the
steel is baked like a cake in an
oven—but at temperatures ranging
up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. The
tremendous heat produces a solid
solution within the metal which
causes all its chemical components
to blend evenly throughout.
This is followed by quenching
through one of four methods: oil or
water baths, lowering of the fur-
nace’s temperature slowly, and in
the open air. The first two meth-
ods prod dee hard steels, while the
furnace generally is used for an-
nealing or softening, and the open
air for normalizing or relief of
machining strains.
Following the quenching proce-
dure, the steel again is heated, this
time to a temperature below 1,300
degrees Fahrenheit. This is called
tempering and determines the hard-
ness and elasticity of the finished
product.
Metallurgical control is the func-
tion of the metallurgical section of
the Engineering Test laboratory.
This same group also checks tensile
strength of aluminum castings,
brass, bronze, magnesium and
stainless steels. It conducts tests for
Convair’s engineers, especially in
connection with experimental and
research developments.
New Blueprint
Course Slated
Classes of a new detailed course
in Advanced Blueprint Reading are
scheduled to open Monday and
Tuesday at the Will Rogers Air-
craft Technical Training School, the
Convair Industrial Training de-
partment announced.
A series of prints of each of the
B-32 major assemblies will be
studied by personnel of correspond-
ing departments.
A basic knowledge of blueprint
reading is a prerequisite to enroll-
ing in the 45-hour advanced course.
Such a 30-hour basic course will be
offered both First and Second shift
employes, after which they should
be prepared to enroll in the ad-
vanced class. Starting dates and
class meeting hours for both courses
will be the same.
Second shift employes may en-
roll for a B-32 Fuselage Assembly
advanced blueprint reading course
which will start at 1 p. m. Mon-
day. Each class meeting will be
three hours. First shift employes’
classes will begin at 6 p. m. Mon-
day. Classes in B-32 Wing Assem-
bly Blueprint Reading are sched-
uled to begin Tuesday at 1 and 6
p. m.
Belly Turret Operation
Explained in Broadcast
Operation of the deadly belly tur-
ret now being installed on Libera-
tor bombers highlighted a pick-up
from Convair’s San Diego plant on
the AAF Training Command’s radio
show Monday. B-24’s of the China-
based 14th Air Force also were sa-
luted during the program, which
emanates from the Will Rogers
Coliseum in Fort Worth. Lt. David
W. Holder, 23, Liberator pilot, re-
lated how he escaped from the Japs
after being shot down near Hankow.
Weekly Movie Series Opens
At Liberator Village Hall
First of a scheduled series of
movies was shown at Liberator Vil-
lage Recreation building Tuesday
and Wednesday nights.
Sponsored by the Village Com-
munity Council, the shows are
slated to be presented at 6:30 and
8:30 p. m. every Tuesday and
Wednesday nights.
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Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. The Eagle, Volume 2, Number 36, Thursday, January 6, 1944, periodical, January 6, 1944; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth777569/m1/3/?q=+date%3A1941-1945: 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.