What's new
What's new

Was: "Engines for superbombers" chrysler plant video.

One of my jobs as a Navy lad was to ride around in the sky behind a bellowing 3350 and work the Electronic Counter Measures black boxes
 

Attachments

  • johnny.jpg
    johnny.jpg
    48 KB · Views: 273
It is hard to imagine 500 acres just for one engine. My parents lived through the Dirty Thirties and everyone was unemployed then six months later it was a reverse. My Mother talked about seeing teen age boys with wads of cash at the bowling alley. They were too young to join up but not too young to work in the shipyards. My old print reading instructor starved and decided to join up. Did his basic training and was kicked out of the Canadian Air Force and sent back to the shipyards to work 7 days a week if he wanted.
That engine was the basis of the Wright Turbo Compound that had the equivalent efficiency of a diesel engine. I am sure the gas turbine had some influence in shutting down that plant.
I recently saw a graph of factory production in multiple countries. The number of people has been going downward but when you look at actual production it has gone up. It is much like what happened to farming. Less farms and farmers but increased food production.
 
The other thread was taken down? That's too bad, plenty of old manufacturing details in that video.

If that sort of video can't be placed in Antiques, where can it?

No, but all the post's that were "slightly divergent" from the OP were removed.

as I posted in the "other thread" I have the matching book.

In the first few pages it talks of problems in hiring, some people left because
of low pay.

Several steps were taken to increase employment, but the pay was still low.
 
That engine was the basis of the Wright Turbo Compound that had the equivalent efficiency of a diesel engine. I am sure the gas turbine had some influence in shutting down that plant.

I recon the need of 130 or so Octane Avgas and tendency to catch fire or otherwise call off sick had a little bit to do with it as well.

Last leg of my return home from 'nam, August of '68, I'm off military wings and onto a voucher, Untied Airfines. Time to depart Orchard Road, we're a quarter hour overdue, then a half hour, then an hour and long-since all dripping sweat. Guys in white coveralls periodically wandering in and out of the crockpit at intervals, wheeled scaffolding under one engine nacelle.

What's afoot?

Chief Stew finally comes on the horn with an announcement:

"We apologize for the delay. Captain Anderson is trying to determine if the aircraft is safe to fly."

Commendable of the man. Not exactly comforting, regardless.

Few minutes later, scaffolding is wheeled away, he starts winding up the rubber bands.
Over-age-in-grade Super-G Connie climbs out on four of those turbo-compounded ce-ment mixers, pulls its feet up, shuts down number four at the same time.

Long final, Pittsburgh, drops the gear, fired it up again with a great belch of smoke and a bit of flames, just in case he needed it for a go-around.

Wasn't Wright's fault. Nor Lockheed.

We called them "Untied" Airlines for damned good reason. Never seemed to have a klew where the money for maintenance had gotten off to.

IRRC, Untied have done three or four bankruptcies since, elected to make that their primary line of business rather than running an airline, and the maintenance has never improved.

:(
 
The P&W R-3350 soldiered on in the AH-1 Skyraider, (formerly the AD series) until the US Air Force ran out of airframes in the mid-seventies. As a young lieutenant, I assisted a real mechanic in changing a failed cylinder on a large radial engine in the field on a hot, humid day in Vietnam. Regards, Clark
 
The P&W R-3350 soldiered on in the AH-1 Skyraider, (formerly the AD series) until the US Air Force ran out of airframes in the mid-seventies. As a young lieutenant, I assisted a real mechanic in changing a failed cylinder on a large radial engine in the field on a hot, humid day in Vietnam. Regards, Clark

My Medical Examiner when I was flying had served 50 years as ME for the unmentionable airline. The jug he kept on his desk was from an earlier tasking that paid for medical school.

Tigercat jock. Doing proof after proof that they damned well could, too operate off a carrier deck. Just not the 'little" ones.

His view?

"The ONLY thing wrong with the Tigercat was that the war ended too soon!"

"Confederate Air Force" Colonel had one at Manassas a long while back.

Take-off, for a twin R-2800 radial heavy "air superiority" fighter?

Pee-bringing!
 
The 1947 Chicago Machine Tool Show

The first post WWII machine tool show was held in a portion of the Dodge Chicago building:

Having held three successful machine tool shows in Cleveland (1927, 1929, 1935) the Association reserved space in the Cleveland Public Auditorium for the period of September 24th to October 21st, 1939, for a fourth machine tool show. However, within weeks of the planned opening, history intervened. A vote of the membership (by telegram on September 5th) canceled the show because of the outbreak of war in Europe.

The following years saw U.S. industry shift all of its output to military production. No shows were scheduled during World War II, although in late 1944 tentative plans were made to return to Cleveland's Public Auditorium in September 1946.

In the end, the first post-war show was scheduled for Chicago, based on the fact that it had the largest amount of potential exhibit space, and the best facilities for visitors. The Association's first choice for their first exhibit in 12 years was the Dodge Tucker Plant, occupied by the Tucker Corporation. The backup choice was the Navy Pier, which was to be turned over to the city of Chicago on Oct. 1, 1946.

The backup was not necessary. An agreement was reached with the Tucker Corporation to lease 500,000 square feet of space located in the Dodge Plant at 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago.

Show dates were Sept. 17 - 26, 1947. Dismantling of the "world's greatest machine tool show" continued through October 29th. The final report confirmed that it was "a great show - a success in which every Association member can justifiably share credit."

Mike
 
The first post WWII machine tool show was held in a portion of the Dodge Chicago building:

Having held three successful machine tool shows in Cleveland (1927, 1929, 1935) the Association reserved space in the Cleveland Public Auditorium for the period of September 24th to October 21st, 1939, for a fourth machine tool show. However, within weeks of the planned opening, history intervened. A vote of the membership (by telegram on September 5th) canceled the show because of the outbreak of war in Europe.

The following years saw U.S. industry shift all of its output to military production. No shows were scheduled during World War II, although in late 1944 tentative plans were made to return to Cleveland's Public Auditorium in September 1946.

In the end, the first post-war show was scheduled for Chicago, based on the fact that it had the largest amount of potential exhibit space, and the best facilities for visitors. The Association's first choice for their first exhibit in 12 years was the Dodge Tucker Plant, occupied by the Tucker Corporation. The backup choice was the Navy Pier, which was to be turned over to the city of Chicago on Oct. 1, 1946.

The backup was not necessary. An agreement was reached with the Tucker Corporation to lease 500,000 square feet of space located in the Dodge Plant at 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago.

Show dates were Sept. 17 - 26, 1947. Dismantling of the "world's greatest machine tool show" continued through October 29th. The final report confirmed that it was "a great show - a success in which every Association member can justifiably share credit."

Mike

7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago.

Present day?

Tootsie Roll Industries. 60 million a day, worldwide, of those little demi-turds.

Impressive numbers, but Oy!

What a nation of candy asses we have morphed into!

:(
 
Copied from the original thread, as he'll take it down soon:

Further discussion on the topic, not subject to posting rules on the Antique Machinery forum;

Was: "Engines for superbombers" chrysler plant video.

So a comment on the content of the video isn't OK? You've got an interesting view on what's on topic and what's not...
 
A few years ago GSA closed the nuke plant in Kansas City. It was originally built by P & W during the war to build radial engines for the B-29. I forget the size of the place but it was 1 or 2 million square feet. I thought the coolest part were row of huge testing room to suspend the engines and rev them to their limits. These room had reinforced concrete walls thick enough to contain a faulty engine that might explode. I just can’t imagine the noise that would cause.

It was so cool. It would neat if such a place survived to this day intact with machinery, etc. I wonder if the Soviet’s factory to make copies of this plane still exist?
 
I just can’t imagine the noise that would cause.
.
.
It was so cool. It would neat if such a place survived to this day intact with machinery, etc. I wonder if the Soviet’s factory to make copies of this plane still exist?

AFAIK they - or the Ukrainians if not the Poles or Chinese - still have "some" capability for maintaining, if not also producing, some rather decent radials with Arctic shutters not entirely copied from Western designs. There's one on an Antonov "Colt" biplane some among us have checked out on in Hong Kong.

Not my privilege, that of close mates. I settled for being cleared up Hong Kong harbour, 1200 AGL, Cesspool 172.

As to "noise"

Beg your pardon? Pratt & Whitney "stinging insects" never made "noise" in their long lives.

Music, rather! Lycomings as well.

"Noise" was the rice-bowl of Curtiss-Wright and Contin-mental!

A Kinner five, Fleet "mailwing" motive choice - was just.... sorta odd...

Ex blanket-sharer:

"Is it safe to go up in that old thing?"

"Well, dear, it ain't crashed yet, 1927 to present-day, odds are it'll do another 20 minutes, OK, too."

:)
 
....and just downstream:
Industrial History: Seneca Landing Craft Shipyard

" It required 880,000 man hours (actually, probably some women hours) to construct the first ship which was launched Dec. 13, 1942. The last ship was built with 280,000 person hours."

and:
"39 gallons of champagne were used to launch the 157 ships. The initial plan was to launch a ship each week, but CBI achieved a launch rate of 7 per month"
 

Attachments

  • WeldingLSTBoats-5.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-5.jpg
    14.9 KB · Views: 52
  • WeldingLSTBoats-4.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-4.jpg
    17.3 KB · Views: 53
  • WeldingLSTBoats-3.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-3.jpg
    15.1 KB · Views: 56
  • WeldingLSTBoats-2.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-2.jpg
    16.3 KB · Views: 79
  • WeldingLSTBoats-1.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-1.jpg
    18.3 KB · Views: 73
Last of the article:
 

Attachments

  • WeldingLSTBoats-6.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-6.jpg
    19.4 KB · Views: 42
  • WeldingLSTBoats-7.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-7.jpg
    18.1 KB · Views: 47
  • WeldingLSTBoats-8.jpg
    WeldingLSTBoats-8.jpg
    18.4 KB · Views: 66
It would be interesting to find if these boats suffered the same failures
as the Kaiser built ones.
 
7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago.

Present day?

Tootsie Roll Industries. 60 million a day, worldwide, of those little demi-turds.

Impressive numbers, but Oy!

What a nation of candy asses we have morphed into!

:(

Thermite, I'm surprised you knew the Tootsie Roll plant end. I live about 4 miles from the old plant. The concrete test cells still stand. Impressive sight. Just north and west of the plant is a neighborhood called Chrysler Village, town/row houses that were built for the workers. My Dad worked for Ford Aircraft at that location after Ford took it over in their gear department. To give you an idea how big this place was he told me many times that he remembers working on a machine and a cement would pass him in the aisle. Now the location is called Ford City, yep it's a mall. 7401 South Cicero was the Chrysler plant but on the south side of the city airports were plentiful. About 8-10 years ago there was an explosion on the east side of Cicero Ave. Come to find out it was a gas leak in a tunnel that terminated at an airport that was located 10 blocks south of the old plant at 84th and Cicero now long gone. If you google the location of the plant it's about 11 blocks south of Midway Airport with a rail yard between them. I've always and many others believe there is a tunnel from the old plant to Midway. Can't confirm it though. We figured if they developed a new engine they would be able to get to the airport mount it on a plane and try it under real circumstances away from prying eyes. I knew some contractors who were working in the old plant and went into the basement. Said they took flash lights and went exploring. Said they came across a large kitchen with hanging utensils pots pans etc. Said it looked like someone just turned off the lights at the end of the day and went home. Chicago was alive during the war. There was a boat yard on the north branch called (I know I'm going to screw up the spelling) called Greibes. Now that's all condos. The made wooden mine sweeps. Just south of me is what was called "The Clearing Industrial Corridor." In the stone work of the older buildings you can see the logo. Never figured how to post pictures if I knew I'd post an image of this. This area goes from Harlem 7200 west to Cicero 4800 west. 8 blocks to the mile, do the math it was a big area. Cracker Jack used to have a plant in the area too. Can anyone guess what's there now? If you guessed hotels you guessed right. I wish I could go back in time to the war era and see what Chicago was like.
 








 
Back
Top