BUSY ASSEMBLY LINES

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 22934, 3 July 1944, Page 3

BUSY ASSEMBLY LINES

Mass Production Methods R.N.Z.A.F. Engine Repair Section (Special) WELLINGTON, June 30. Like jigsaw puzzles, assembly lines are fascinating things. Mount the foundation of the product to be manufactured on a trolley, have the trolley drawn slowly down the line, add a piece here, a nut and a bolt there, and almost before you realise it the finished article has grown before your eyes. That sort of thing is going on in New Zealand at the R.N.Z.A.F. Engine Repair Section in the Waikato district. In July of last year, a mass production system was introduced by the R.N.Z.A.F’. to deal with major engine repairs and overhauls, and the new idea has been such a success that times for the stripping, overhauling', and reassembling of aero engines have been cut down to less than half. Even m the United States, home of mass production and assembly lines, times set by the R.N.Z.A.F. Engine Repair Section have not been bettered. Engines due for a complete overhaul or requiring major repairs arrive at the section in crates. They are swiftly stripped and cleaned by means of steam jets and, for some parts, by sand-blasting, then polished and sent into the “view bay.” Here all the parts are inspected by experts, and passed as serviceable, repairable, or—in some cases—are written off. The engine block is then mounted on a trolley and begins its journey down the assembly line. Function of Bays Alongside the line, in order of assembly, are various bays, each dealing with a small section of the engine only. The trolley halts beside each bay in turn, -which adds its particular contribution to the engine being rebuilt. The power section, reduction gear, cylinders, and rear cover all issue from their own bays in turn, each part as good as new, and are swiftly but carefully assembled by men who are experts in their own particular sphere. In the electrical bay, magnetos are stripped, cleaned, tested, armatures rewound on an automatic winder designed and constructed by Air Force personnel, and ignition checked over. Opposite is the carburettor bay where the huge aero engir. e carburettors—themselves almost as large as the engine in a small car —are stripped, viewed, reassembled and run for several hours on a “flow bench” for adjustment. Close by, vacuum pumps, hydraulic pumps, starts, and oil fitters are dealt with. Finally, the engine reaches the end of the assembly line and is run on the test bench for several hours. It is closely inspected after the run, given a final run, and then crated and sent away—a new engine or as nearly such as human mechanical ingenuity can make it. Two Assembly Lines Two assembly lines are maintained by the section —one for liquid-cooled engines and the other for air-cooled engines. Although only three makes of engines are dealt with, almost a dozen different models of the same makes are handled. Provision is now being made for the overhaul and repair of huge 2000-horsepower engines from Ventura reconnaissancc-bombers and Corsair fighters. That is something of the picture of one of the busiest assembly lines in Australia and New Zealand to-day. At one end of the building a. crated damaged engine is being lifted off a truck by an overhead crane. It may have come from anywhere in New Zealand or from the Pacific. At the other end of the building another crated engine is being loaded on to another truck by another overhead crane. This engine has passed through the building and is bound for an R.N.Z.A.F. station where an airframe awaits it. In a few hours it will take to the air—and it will nut fail.