Description

Vol. I No. 10
Cover: Master Sergeant Durward W. Fesmire, of Portales, N. M.. whose portrait appears on the front cover, is a member of the famed 19th Bombardment Group which battled the Japs while retreating from the Philippines to Java and then to Australia. There, the flying Yanks went on the offensive. Personnel of the 19th have been decorated many times. This official Army Air Forces portrait is the work of Captain Charles Baskerville. It will eventually hang in A.A.F. headquarters at Washington. Sgt. Fesmire is typical of our airmen. ……. Articles Inside: … Vega Streamlines the Hiring Line – Prospective employees are interviewed, tested, recorded and hired in record time at Vega, completing the entire process in 58 minutes. Ralph B. Smith, personnel manager tells how mass-production methods are applied to hiring, reducing hours of waiting and shuttling between interviewers. A series of pictures carries a typical man and girl through the line, from their application to a final tour of the factory where they will work. By Ralph B. Smith ….. Housing, Transportation Inadequate – Transportation and housing present increasing difficulties to the aircraft industry as manpower needs grow with production requirements. The inadequacy of housing facilities in almost half the production areas combines with tire and gasoline shortages to create a serious problem. A survey conducted by Wings gives an overall picture of what is being done by the industry, its employees, and various transportation and housing agencies to solve the problem. ….. Seeing Models Beats Visualizing Drawings ….. Handicapped Workers Doing Their Share – In this war of the people, all the people are doing their part. The physically handicapped have offered their skills to the aircraft industry, and are helping in plants all over the country to turn out planes to win the war. Pictures of these men and women at their jobs show the wide variety of work they are doing. The nation and the industry agree that they are doing it as well at home as those in uniform are doing it overseas. ….. Is It Necessary? – A new feature makes its bow in Wings this month. ”Is It Necessary?” is a question that must be asked and answered promptly if we are to win the war and exact from the enemy that “unconditional surrender” demanded by the President. Planes must be built faster, substitutes used wherever possible, and better methods developed. We hope our readers will give us the benefit of their own experience so that we may pass it on to others. And there are prizes, too. By E. I. Tangerman ….. Production Shortcuts ….. Airframes Production Shortcuts: [ How Fairchild Fabricates Plywood Structures – Opening the airframes section for April is a story on how Fairchild fabricates plywood structures, written by Herbert Chase. Skin for fuselage and wing sections is molded by the Duramold process, using phenolic Tego film as adhesive for poplar, mahogany and birch plies. Such structures, used in the construction of training planes, conserve metal for fighters and bombers, and permit rapid fabrication. ….. Band Saw Saves Slow Milling ….. Hoist on Fixture Lifts Cabin ….. Refinements Save Time in Hardness Testing ….. Broomstick Helps in Drilling Rivet Holes ….. Burring Tool Made From Kitchen Knife Sharpener ….. Portable Shear Saves Time, Fatigue ….. Cuts 20-Hour Job to 10 Minutes ….. Traveling Drill Covers Worktable Top ….. Sketches Aid Inexperienced Welders ….. Mirror with Light Aids Inspection ….. Tap-grinding Head Adapted for Countersinks ….. Production Multiplied Five Times by Feed Change ….. Wood Shapers Now Form Aluminum ] ….. Powerplants Production Shortcuts: [ Pyramid Spacer Simplifies Machine Clamping ….. How to Tilt Cutter to Mill Larger Radius ….. Cuts Burring Time 95 Percent ….. Marine-engine Flywheel Makes Airplane Jig ….. Polishing Safely Under Glass ….. Cylinders Sprayed Faster When Turned ….. Checks Ten Dimensions Simultaneously ….. Inserting, Staking Time Cut 75 Percent ….. Jig Aids Precise Marking of Housing ….. Cuts Blade-profiling Time One-fourth ….. Helps Polish Engine Part ] ….. Accessories Production Shortcuts: [ Back Spot-facer Which Speeds Seat Job ….. Doubles Extruding-post Life ….. Combination Aids Pivoting ….. Small-part Burrs Removed by Polishing ….. Simple 2-Way Indexing Fixture ….. Router Rapidly Cuts Tubes Before Welding ] ….. Book Reviews ….. Ninth Wings Bond Award ….. Wings Shop Suggestion Contest