F4U Production in Indiana?

[Shortround6]

Don't bother me with facts.

Can I interest you in a Martin Caidin book?
Gently used.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I sat at Point 1 in a KC-135 at Kadena Air Base (Okinawa) in the 70s. There was a wing of them there. The 71 took off in front of us and half way down he rotated to true vertical and just disappeared like a doggone rocket. The JP6 had such a high flash point you could flip a cigarette into a puddle (plane leaked like crazy due to thermal effects when cool) and it would not ignite. Some KC-135s had separate tanks for the JP6, different tanks than regular tanker. They learned the hard way that the tail tank should be emptied every flight of the few pounds of JP7 in there, else it would grow alge.

JP7 I think now.

I never got out on the line, just rebuilt components that were stored for a long time in the desert.

Security used to come around and inspect our tools, making sure they weren't Cad-plated. Cad-plated tools causes titanium to corrode.

Got to work on the AG330 which was fun.

6 years ago, I found one at the The Museum of Flight in Seattle.

 

[Tankerdude]

Somehow it seems that discussion doesn't fit with a discussion of WWII aircraft. I got the answer I was looking for, now I think I should look for a forum that is a better match to my experience and interest. Thanks to all.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Ok............

 

[hawkeye2an]

Somehow it seems that discussion doesn't fit with a discussion of WWII aircraft. I got the answer I was looking for, now I think I should look for a forum that is a better match to my experience and interest.

So many GREAT contributors here, check out the OTHER ERAs section before you go.

 

[GrauGeist]

Somehow it seems that discussion doesn't fit with a discussion of WWII aircraft. I got the answer I was looking for, now I think I should look for a forum that is a better match to my experience and interest. Thanks to all.

It's not uncommon for a discussion to drift (in forum parlance, referred to as "thread drift") and there is some great memories and information being shared here.
Keep it up and welcome aboard!

 

[WARSPITER]

Just looked up the definition of fact. Interesting concept but it could get in the way of a good debate.

 

[BillS]

I was born in 1947 in Evansville, Indiana. I believe my parents lived there from 1942 or so; my older sister was born there. My mother once told me that she sewed the fabric on F4U planes. My father mentioned being injured when an engine fell off a fork lift and injured him. It is common now for an aircraft to be made comprising a lot of subsystems made by various companies, but all of the pictures I see of F4U assembly appears to be the entire aircraft was build in one place. Of course the F4U had fabric folding wings, which she would have only known if she had been involved, so always assumed there was a factory in Evansville, but cannot find any evidence of that. Maybe Terra Haute, but that is 100 miles from Evansville and I really doubt they have 200 miles a day commute.

Would greatly appreciate anything regarding any WWII aircraft production in Evansville.

Sorry late to the party.
This might be of interest to you in your quest about F4U production Briggs Manufacturing in World War Two
Briggs was a subcontractor that built wings for the F4U.

"Briggs Indiana Corporation: This body plant in Evansville, IN did final assembly on wings for several Navy aircraft. Many, if not all of the components were fabricated in the Detroit plant and shipped to Evansville for final assembly. At the end of the war the Evansville plant had 4,000 employees making wings for the FG-1 Corsair."

 

[pinehilljoe]

Tried to see if I had anything on the suppliers to Vought for the Corsair but nothing, the WWII US aviation production system was quite dispersed. Things like supplying the Willow Run B-24 plant were 965 subcontractors located in 287 cities in 38 states gives an idea of the complexity involved in making World War II aircraft, and that what are often termed aircraft factories were mostly assembly plants. Most aircraft had fabric covered control surfaces and the Corsair had fabric covered outer wing panels. Republic had a major P-47 assembly plant at Evansville.

Unfortunately most subcontractors tend to be only mentioned in government reports when they do something good or bad. Like for example Vultee in Nashville, Tennessee reporting the failure of Intercontinental Aircraft of Miami, Florida to deliver inner wings on schedule will retard deliveries over the next sixty days. It is quite possible your mother worked for a subcontractor to Vought or even a supplier to the subcontractor and your father worked for Republic or someone shipping the engines.

Chance Vought at Stratford 45 to 50% of total worker hours per aircraft was by subcontractors. Goodyear slightly higher. Evansville was 65%

when you read about the dispersed production, and how quickly production ramped up its incredible it was all done without even a fax machine. Just long distance telephone, courier and face to face meetings. Drawings all done on the board, with ammonia blue prints couriered around the Country. I'm old enough, when I first graduated as an Aerospace Engineer in '84, drawings were done on vellum, you would take them down to print crib, an attendant would run off copies on ammonia blue print paper. CAD started replacing the board completely around 1990 in our facility.