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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1956)
G O 0 o G o c. C o OO G& ; o 0 o 0 o cOQ O . c o crV? O oo. 0 o o OO O ':. 1 o: f B'sfeit - ' o rotra medford (orecowi mail tribune G G O O 0 5o o o O c C Co o G O c O o cz s tmi Time' To iake Airplanes Hinges on Q O . . .Air Force asked eonvir to de-.eept slso entered the picture "dogs." They failed to meet one , Seven V Bring F1 2 fl!d"A"' "t: ThU i the tklrC t a rlV 4x article Joruanntln( a fi-ious Situation ia military sirrraft wfeuch Imperils our national Mcuruy.) o B ROBERT S. BIRD and TOM LAMBERT New Yrk Herald Tribune New Service T Washington The making of modern Owarp!anes rr.ore than any othej irSusVy in existence today, (pi a business of making decsinn countless thousands of jfcem. O All the h?ic arid rost of the other,- critical decisions about warrIanes speed, altitude raftgeare made in the Penta Eon and by the Air Force; the r manufacturer is -bound by them. C Allfcisecisions on manufactur ing0 details, which also are rr,y?iad must he approved by the official agencies. Thjrf. he "lead time" to make C a warplarjp,cfrom first study to completion of the first produc Q tion model, ohinees to a very Preat extent on .he quality and timeliness-Q-esperially the time liness of official decisions. Theio Ht0t'nc pace for each -phase of the design, development and production of the airplane, anK they0 speed or retard the whole flw of detailed manufac turing operations. No Count cf Decisions u There is no count of the hun dreds of decision made over a seMi-yean lead time period to bring into production this year this country's newest and finest supersonic, all-weather fighter- Interceptor, the F102. (3"hi hit? rlplta-winiy Ipt flpritpr Mvhjeh Can hit up to 1,000 miles arvjhour and can streak to alti tudeseever 60,000 feet was a long, time emerging, and the Air 0 JSrce chiefs breathed easier this summer when It finally began 0 movinjpinto squadrons. GtTntil the F102 materialized, tfils country's fighter had trou- jile climbing to or fighting at the Altitude of 50,000 feet credited to the Soviet's high-flying, inter continental jet bomber, the Bi- 0 JThe latest-known Russian all weather fighter interceptor, the flashlight, is inferior in perform c3 anco the P102. The Flashlight is not believed to be supersonic T to be able to fly as high as thi country's B52 or B47 bomb- ersr although it probably can jnatch their speed.) U "But thnucEi it took seven years O towering' the F10Z into opera OtionQ it' stilt1 is not the plane which the Air Force in 1949 had Sloped to have by 1954. Dream Plane in 1959 -TbeCFlO?, is an "Interim" TiIlour Lasker wifJ 1 OK MARKET'S coanj, choice 3q FED BEEF SPECIAL PRICES NOW! " O Phone 3-4462 v. ;- J O EAR-E0 oNEWd o o o HOOVER HOOVER NEW, O ro C " NEW WESTINGHOUSE PORTA-YAC CO o o STARX XAIR REBUTLT ffo STARK REBUILT AIRWAY. GQODHOUSEKEEPER VACUUM CLEANER o 3 oo .39.95 VALUE O0 c ; g Free Home Demonstrations u - -9 Open Till 9:00 Until Cc. 51 Used To Into Air plane. The 1949 rlream plane scheduled for use in 1954 may not be operational until 1959 t the earliest. The 1949 dream (the F1QS), instead of taking to the air two years ago may fly only in prototype model later this year. , It is the history of the "in terim" F102 that will be exam ined here in the framework of two major reasons outlined by aircraft producers and some top Pentagon officials to explain this country's perilously long lead tjme in making warplanes to meet the Soviet air threat. Those reasons are: 1. It takes the Pentagon and Air Force too long to make up their minds on what kind of combat planes they want. And when they finally do reach go- ahead decisions they continue to slow action by engulfing manu facturers in red tape and exces sive paper work. 2. New-type warplanes are so complex and precise that it takes longer to build them. (This prob lem doesn't seem to bpther the Russian military brass too much.) Manufacturers admit they make mistakes building planes beyond the frontiers of technology lose time correcting errors.- But of ficial indecision and red tape, they say, only lengthens already lengthening lead time. In the F102, both of these rea sons contributed to stretching out lead time.' This was danger ous, because in the same, period the Soviets were making the Bi son, a high-flying jet bomber which can carry the hydrogen bomb to this country. The F102's supersonic delta wing (a nearly perfect triangle with the base toward the tail and the apex near the needle nose) was foreshadowed in stud ies going back to 1930,. in Ger man reports captured in World War II and in government wind tunnel and laboratory tests in 1947. Research Plana Built Also, preceding the first for mal studies for the F102 proper, an experimental delta wing re search plane was built - from which, in an aerodynamic sense, the F102 was largely derived. For the sake of convenience, this research plane and the F102 are considered in arbitrarily-se lected time spans. Both the re search plane and the F102 were projects assigned to Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp., which in 1952 became the Convair divis ion of General Dynamics Corp. First Time Span (56 months): In April. 1946, the (then) Army OK MARKET t I 1202 Ncrtfc ftivanife OPEN 1VIRY SALE MODEL 14 MODEL 63 Just tha CUaner for Your TraiUrhoui MODEL 13 ' 66 Nothing fk' NIGHT TIL Jj Thursday. December 9. 1958 sign a high-speed interceptor with a delta wing. It was to be used for aerodynamic studies and would not include weapons. Designated the XF92, the re search plane was built and made its first flight on Sept. 18, 1948. Extensive test information was studied by the Air Force and other agencies through 1950 when a decision was made to go ahead with the new airplane that became the present F102. Second Time Span (15 months) The Air Force invited aircraft companies to submit designs for the new plane and in January, 1951, several manufacturers en tered their suggestions. Some aircraft company execu tives, including Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, (U.S.A.F., Ret.) presi dent of Convair, feel that such design competitions are one of the unnecessary time-consuming procedures in getting out urgently-needed combat planes. Would Say Time . Nobody knows better than the Air Force the capabilities and re sponsibility of each major air craft manufacturer, they assert, and . the Air Force would save time and move aircraft programs faster if it would give a project to an aircraft maker of its own selection and let him go ahead. Or at least, they say, limit the competition to the manufacturers best qualified for the particular project in mind. Aircraft makers also point out that Air Force design competi tions which formerly cost about S25.000 now cost up to $500,000 a heavy penalty for a loser to bear. In this case, the Air Force seven months later authorized Convair to start design on the airplane: And here again lead time lengthened. Numerous boards, committees, report groups, and individuals scruti nized each step of the F102 pro gram under the Pentagon "sys tem" for such procedure, a pro cess which leads to delay because it is so difficult to obtain unanim ity of view from all the partici pants. Fifteen months elapsed before authorization came in March, 1952, to build an F102 prototype. . Third Time Span (33 months): The Air Force had developed a logical, new concept for this plane. It was to be a "weapons system," In which the supersonic airframe, jet engine and almost the entire automatic assembly of radar; fire-control apparatus and missiles were "married"-to each other from the very start of the design. The Hughes Airplane Co. was to make the electronics system and the six-foot-long Falcon guided missiles for the F102. Pratt & Whitney was to provide the J57 jet engine with about 10,000 pounds thrust. Convair, as prime contractor and airframe manufacturer, was to see that all these elements meshed together as precisely as possible. 'Densest' Plane Ever Built Up to this time, no combat plane had been so designed from the beginning. One result was that the F102 ended up as the "densest" plane ever builtj the most tightly packed for its size of any aircraft. The "fit" of the components is literally "skin tight" with the thickness of the airframe's aluminum hide held in manv nlaces to five or ten one- j thousandths of an inch. ' Another, recent Air Force con PRICES SLASHED ORMItlY $89.95 FORMERLY 5124.95 IIOUIAR $49.95 tWUlAB $39.95 II9ULAI $59.95 To Bt GIVEN to Buy Ask here. Under former programs, only a couple of prototype planes were ordered, then flight-tested extensively, perhaps for two years, before production was speeded up. That method, of course, greatly stretched out lead time. On the F102, the Air Force tried the so-called Cook-Craigie plan ordering a larger number of early models on which more testing could .be done more quickly. This called for earlier tooling in the aircraft plant, highly de sirable' from a lead time view point but not without risk that the plane to be made may turn out to be a failure.' The Soviets take this risk in their effort to surpass this country in advanced type planes. It turned out in the case of the F102 that the first 14 pro duction planes were, in fact. A Nichol's Worth of . Comment On y HARMAN Unitarf Presi Washington (U.R) The ladies in my house love Mamie. So they thought they would try out the formula M r s. Ike calls- mil lion dollar SS p-J fudge." I . was f j an unwilling ' f 1 witness. Til The first lady iK of our house X3P"A.4 first saw the recipe for the armaa Nicbola brown ffoo'die in the National Women's Press Club cook book. That fine little periodical ran a dizzy gamut from apple pan dowdy to Missis sippi river catfish. So my first lady and -her s sistant, our 17-year-old relative, ran around the neighborhood stores gathering . the wherewith al. Some of the stuff they had. Some they didn't the German sweet chocolate, for one, and we were out of nutmeats. Veronica, the first lady, fig ured that if Mamie could sweeten the future for Ike with a pan full of fudge 40 years ago when he was a shavetail, maybe she could make me sit up and fly right. Bev, the 17 -year-old, agreed. So the two gals went to work, despite my advice to aban don the project. The Recipe The recipe went something like this, with arguments all along the line between Mom and daughter: ' First, 4V4 cups of sugar. "Isn't that an awful lot of sugar?" Bev said. "If Mamie likes that much sugar," Mom said, "we'd better go along. Want us to get thrown out of the party?" So 4Vi cups of sugar went into the bowl. A pinch of salt. Then two tablespoons of butter. Examinations Announced For Civil Service Jobs The civil service commission has announced examinations for geologist, social worker, public welfare adviser, public welfare research analysis, public assist ant and equipment specialist. Applications and additional information may be obtained from Chester W. Silliman at the Medford post office. - $EgS8 for Free Tickets rt s09 53J88 $2488 SgQ88 Bissell Sweeper Reg. Price 13.95 $4 1 88 of the F102 requirements, as will be seen. The F102 production contract came in Augus';, 1952. Within a few months, while the prototype was being hastened to comple tion, production tooling and pro duction was-started on planes scheduled for operational serv ice. : In October, 1953, the F102 pro totype took to the air. It would not go through the sonic bar rier as it was supposed to do. This was a tremendous setback to the engineers, to Convair, to the Air Force. Convair says it had miscalculated the perform ance of the jet engine which was to have pushed the plane beyond the speed of sound the point at which air streams and shock waves cause erratic behavior which was imperfectly under stood then and not fully under stood now. This and That W. NICHOLS Feature WriUr. Also one tall can of condensed milk. Things were boiled for six minutes. Things then were put into a mixing bowl. : "Twelve ounces of semi-sweet chocolate bits. That's a bit too much," Bev said. "And what about this? It says here 12 ounces of German sweet choco late?" She lost. It all went into the hopper. Plus a pint of marshmallow cream and two cups of nutmeats. Something Colossal "Mom," Bev said, "I think this will simmer into something co lossal." "Oh no," said our first lady, "it will simmer down." Plain facts are it didn't sim mer any place but up. And when well, we'd better give you the end of the recipe. According to Mrs. Eisenhower: After you' have done all of the above you are supposed to pour boiling syrup over the stuff in the bowl. Beat until chocolate is all melted and then pour in the pan. Let it stand a few hours before cutting. Store in a tin box. My two ladies did all. of that. The result was fine. But by following Mrs. Eisen hower's formula we wound up with more than three people could handle. We have been passing it around the neighbors. It sure is good. "' mlUmiim V .lifMtWMMy,.pJ!Walt. ? ialaaaaaitaaMapwaMwaMaagaa '8 " i ' ' zkfr' r"- You btiy refrigerator only two or, tine times in your lifetime. " ."'' Yet you don't heeitate.to buy one without getting to mueb as a look at the intricate "works" that make it run. ' . ' ' How. do yqu dare 'make such -an important purchase without having an expert check it over for you? What makes you so sure .you're getting" your money's worth when you say, "I'll take that one"? " The answer's obvious. You Ipok for the brand name on the refrigerator your "guarantee."'.. You've learned to fellow" this first rulff'of safe and sound buying: ' A food brand is your best guarantee . . No matter what kind of product you wajit to . Timeline Problem! Under Study But the problems of supersonic flight were under intensive study and in 1952 the government's Na tional Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had made a tremen dously important technological discovery. Through wind tunnel and other tests, a mathematical formula known as the "area rule" gave engineers new knowl- edge of how to fashion super-! sonic shapes. The F102 was redesigned, with ! the "area rule" which pinches i the fuselage waist in "Coke bot tle" style. Certain that this new shape would solve the' F102's troubles, Convair in April, 1954, started up a new production line. ! By December, the new model , F102 was zooming past the sound barrier even on the climb. Pro duction rales and numbers of: F102's in. squadrons are secret but it is estimated we have over 200 of them and are turning out , more than 10 weekly. . j The F102 was late in arriving i in combat units for as the read-! er has seen several different reasons: Pentagon and Air Force sluggishness in decisions, a ma-! jor technological mystery, manu-1 facturing mistakes and difficul-1 ties. Competent authorities un doubtedly will, argue over how i to assess the blame for this tardi- j ness. ' . But the cold fact is, after seven years lead time the F102 squeak-, ed into operational use only this year, perhaps just in the nick of time considering, that is, the surprise appearance in the air two years ago of the Soviet inter continental jet carrier of ' the hydrogen bombs, their Bisons. . ! Tomorrow: "Dream plans" survives Pentagon indecision. (Copyright, 1958. New York , Herald Tribune, Inc.) : g ' . ' m''-'yziw ,,ys 'fosp.. - tick's 7tCiif "pieti. braacU are as cloSe as Vbur grocer" 1 ------ . , u p- Ian yeu find the "guaraittee" . e fur . o o in this picfur?, - o C 0 LABBY' AT AL'S 838 WEST McAHSMWS ft? FLOUR o o f 9 f9 SHORTSmNO inx 3 ib, con B9j MARGARINE 5 I a o DOG FOOD Bonn!, c 2 Can, 23' jlWsiiAfT ' WE FEATURE GOVERNMENT INSPECTED MEATS Money Back0 Guarantee n Every Purchase VEIL CUTLETS T-B0XE- r(Vo Eislern e (U STEAKS Jyib. StdBsconJ'LV n ( " FAMILY BUDGET MEAT ORDER 24 lbs. S1000 s SPECIALS FRIDAY Open Sundays I Weekday Store Hours.' c8 'A., to 7 P.M. ft buy, you know a good brand Yau fcnaw the maertandifi back ctf it guar-? . n tees jf And o, when you kiry a gdbd brand e y5 knejw you'roright Read this newspaper to find out which are the good brandf (and the stoteg that selfcthem.) e Q The more good 6rand yoxi knw?the sueryqu are aBout ail you snopping. Q gfcAND NAMES FOUNDATION o IncorpAatod A Non-P&fit Educational Fmndation "37 West 57th Street, J?ew York 19, Nyr Yor Hgaa-istssylila S MWM ! MARKET0 o y SATURDAY 10 AM. te 6 P.M. - e o vfon't let you doQa. ft 69 o O li ) Medford Mail Tribune 1109 NORTH RIVERSIDE ? o o o u o o0 rp o o o I 1
