U.S. AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLED IN SOUTH ISLAND

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23741, 12 September 1942, Page 4

U.S. AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLED IN SOUTH ISLAND

NEW ZEALAND'S AIR STRENGTH

To-day Pilots of the Royal New Zealand Air Force are flying aircraft built for battle —Kittyhawk fighte like those in action over Egyptian desert and New - Gu S v 3U ? g o ckheed the same kind of sturdy Lockheea Hudson bombers used by the R > Air Force for North Sea patrols. T1 fly these aircraft confident m be en knowledge that each one has been assembled by skilled riggers, fibers, and armourers who leave nothing to chance, and then in the test pilots hands has been subjected to evie y strain and stress it might meet C °Much of this assembly and testing is done at a Royal New Zealand Ah Force station somewhere m the Soutn TsHnd There Kitlyhawks arrive m and Hudsons are towed in .wlUjout their wings, airscrews, and em pennage but they are soon ready lo be flown away to operational stations m nfhpr narts of New Zealand by the tomto and%6hter pilots who come Meet them 6 Both tha* types ot aircraft are American-built, - and dit ferent engineering standards a: Stocks conversion of tools, spanneis, s * dies, and equipment ha y e some new assembly P rot, tf^ s ‘. J n thine is done now, however, by men of the RNZA.F, without help from overseas aspects. For this woirk hey are organised into an assembly flig . which includes experienced engine fitters riggers, armourers, instrument S, feetrioiahs, and eQu.pmen <?necialists All the key personnel have specialised on the assembling, checking and testing of new aircraft since the' war* started. A number were Sod r this type of work before the war and have reached a high degree of proficiency. Since the beginning of the war no accident associated with the initial testing of serv ce aaircraft has been recorded, ihis is are markable record in view of the number of service aircraft in service m New Zealand. Complicated Job Putting a Kittyhawk together is a far more complicated job man assembly of a Tiger Moth trainer This trim fighter, by far the newest and fastest aircraft in New Zealand, weighs nearly four tons. Into - lts /S® 1 ® tively small fuselage and wings mu-t be fitted a liquid-cooled enj je' veloping tremendous horse-power, petrol tanks, machine-guns, ammunition containers, instruments, armour plate, radio gear, and a complicated assortment of petrol, oil, and hydraulic pipe lines, and electrical connexions. This task presents no difficulties to the assembly flight, for every man has been through a special course in Wellington, and all are thoroughly experienced in assembly methods. The Allison liquid-cooled engine, which is the power plant of most American fighters, was something entirely new to the R N Z.A.F., but now the fitters know all its workings, for a special group worked on it at a United States Army Air Force base in the Pacific. The airframe of the Kittyhawk a I SO new to the riggers, for some of them were sent to the United States t work on it. As a result the specialised knowledge of the key men in the assembly flight enables them toput both Kittyhawks and Hudsons together as well as the makers, although they work to American standards of engineering and use different tools and dies When the Kittyhawk rolls off the assembly line in the United States the fuselage is complete with the engine, which has done its running on the test bench before installation. This.reduces to some extent the time of assembly Fuselage and engine are packed m one huge crate, and the wings, undercarriage, and equipment come in others. All are carefully packed and treated to prevent damage or corrosion by the sea air on the voyage to New Zealand, and generally everything arrives in first-class condition. When they are landed the Kittyhawks come to the R.N.Z.A.F, station at a time when road traffic is slack, for each crate weighs several tons, and is carried on special trucks, First Stage* Inside the big hangar at the station where the assembly work goes on day, and night—there is no 40-hour week in the R.N.Z.A.F.—the fuselage and engine are unpacked first and carefully examined to see that nothing has been damaged. Then the crate is converted into a cradle to hold the fuselage until wings and undercarriage have been fitted. Next operation is to check the equipment lists to see that everything has been sent b.v the makers. The man who does this job has to know every part by sight as well as by name, for the lists he has may occupy anything up to 20 closely typed pages. By this time the assembly proper Can begin. The flight is divided into groups, so many to each aircraft, and the parts

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are issued to the men. * Fitters go i? work on the engine, riggers deal wS the airframe, armourers work on'S machine-guns, and various specials! concentrate on their particular seS of the assembly. Progressive meffl are used so that at one end of them, there is a Kittyhawk waiting f or tJ! test pilot, and at the other machine is being uncrated. AppnJ mately 100 men are engaged, and S, can have a machine ready on the aeS drome in the minimum of time. - When the wings and undercarriss, have been mounted, and the tail SS fitted, the Kittyhawk becomes w like an aircraft, and can be Awy about more handily. The next stajfS to install the fuel pipe lines; elecffiw gear, and other equipment. All gauges and instruments have to hhl their calibration and adjutfnS checked, and they are not flight Mu before they leave the United Slktop The machine-guns, which packed solidly in grease, have S cleaned before the firing gear cin lJ checked. In action the pilot iwl? presses a button, but there is coaSSt cated mechanism to be installed befini this simple operation can be caSSS out. There are several guns on iS Kittyhawk—the exact number is , secret—and all must be synchronised i! that they fire together in one dead? burst. They are harmonised to convaa at a point so many yards distant? front of the aircraft. “ Systematic Check ; All this time as the Kittyhawk grow under the skilled hands of the assemM, groups there is a careful and systemts. check on every part put into Ml? craft. Each part has an to itself, and this is signed by thetaa responsible and the non-commissloß* officer in charge of the group. a triple check by the senior n.c.o ifto flight. ’.“s' With the self-sealing petrol tint, and armour plate fitted! and thd ffiS bladed airscrew in position, the fat? hawk is ready for ground teiHMfSiS engine is primed, the petrol ttnlfflta filled with high octane fuel, and at ft same time the fuel gauges are caS brated. Then the airscrew turns ofe in New Zealand air for the first The blade pitch angles of the airscrew are checked while the engine Is k motion, and then the engine is m steadily until everything has been adjusted in conformity with the manufac. turers’ specifications. Finally befon the Kittyhawk is handed over to 1 test' and dispatch section, {he M of each group makes a thproii inspection of all the assembly I 'ahStti The flight commander . check! ova everything again, and the done except for the minor aajustwjmS that may be necessary after, the I*3 flights* The assembly of the Hudsons Ipiliw much the same lines, althouga-train towed in without their wings,’, to screws, and empennage which':™ crated separately. The main diflEWld is that the Hudson has two engines,™) also that there is a considerable of specialised equipment to stalled. Instead of unpacking the, Hudson the assembly flight has to'rolil some time in uncovering it, for ft iiways comes as deck cargo welt™ # its size, and the manufacturers takeib chances of corrosion or damage'by. water or sea air. Every opening $ taped or covered with paper,-aRd tin! sealed by spraying with a wax'Mbstance. -- ■ . Varied Equipment - V VB,» Some of the equipment that hasto it' installed in the Hudson basnpostmte, part in the Kittyhawk.; massive ‘Boulton Paul gun Urtet’ipctl weighs flewt, and what the; : fidyfip| Force knows as “George, M . the:jniv» lous Sperry automatic pilotiipp' takes complete charge of th&iMram. correcting ’ the slightest ■ course or altitude without thefjap aid/ Other special equipment;-indpl oxygen installation, more : maepl! guns, the inter-communication snK' navigational equipment, and:>jjßtp installation, and a rubber- itimfm the crew which is inflated auSSp ally on release. Also to bp fifiepT auxiliary long-range ,fuel'.t«|w|i|.;: electrical bomb release gear, £ Two types of engines are Hudsons, Wright Cyclones and:-;™; and Whitney twin row WaspS, which develops over 1000 per engine. They were new-MralS Royal New Zealand Air makers at first sent their ; ewn'eapap,, to New Zealand for inatruptiwatoWS poses. The Lockheed w helped the assembly flight over top MS liminary hurdles, and the Sperry automatic pilot to explain its workings. ~ !■’A'S The recent announcement Chief of the Air Staff (Air GommojMa R. V. Goddard) that the, number! New Zealand operational JgUMfwl has increased sevenfold since ■ J*PJ| entered the war, indicates the ance and the amount of work the assembly flight. 1 • ' *1