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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1957)
SIXTEEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE W4ntfdar. April 17, 19S7 Passenger Airliners Undergo Regular Inspection for Assurance of Safety Editor'! note: This U tht third in a ir traffic safety and congestion in the United States. By ROBERT J. SERLING United Piesi Correspondent Washington (U.R) The old est commercial airliner in serv ice today is mechanically as new as an automobile with only 6,000 miles on its speedometer. That fact exemplifies the care that goes into the construction and maintenance of America's 1,600-plane commercial air fleet. New planes are tested for thousands of hours before they are officially certified as safe for carrying passengers. Airlines al" ready In service are subjected to regular and frequent inspection. After every 8,000 hours of flight time, they literally are rebuilt. All these safety measures, however, have never completely eliminated the "bugs" that seem to plague all types of aircraft. Almost every transport plane used by U. S. airlines since 1946 has suffered some kind of major mechanical malfunction that was undetected in all the pre-certification testing. And some of these difficulties have caused fatal crashes. Tape Tore Loose For example: DC-4 The nation's first four ngined airliner was flown for hundreds of thousands of hours as a wartime transport. Yet all this operational experience fail ed to uncover a small but vital weakness a piece of bonding tape on the tail which, when worked loose, ballooned into the wind and created what amount ed to a giant air brake. This de fect sent one Eastern Airlines DC4 to its death, killing 50 per sons. The Eastern crash, on May 30, 1948, was an unsolved mys tery until another DC4, almost three years later, went into a sudden dive and recovered only a few hundred feet from the ground. Examination of this air craft revealed the culprit the ripped bonding tape. Constellation This sleek, triple tailed beauty was ground ed temporarily a few years ago when a mid-air fire and subse quent crash revealed inherent weaknesses in the plane's elec trical system. Fuel Transfer Blamed DC6 In 1947. a United Air lines DC6 caught fire over Utah and crashed. Cause of the blaze was unknown until an Ameri can DC6 also caught fire but managed to land safely. Investi gators found a flaw in the plane's system for transferring fuel from one wing tank to another. Under certain conditions, over flowing gas would leak into the ducts of the cabin heater and ieinite. Every DC6 was grounded for modification of the fuel tank system. Martin 202 In 1943, one of these twin-engined transports op erated by Northwest Airlines fell apart in a thunderstorm near Winona, Minn. One wing was found some distance from the rest of the wreckage and investi gators suspected structural fail ure which had not occurred on a scheduled airliner since 1931. Examination of North west's entire 202 fleet revealed fatigue cracks in the wings of five planes. The 202 was ground ed until the weakness, an inade quate wing "flange," was cor rected. Stratocruiser Several crashes involving this Boeing-built giant were blamed on failure of a new type of propeller. DC7 In its early months of service, this fastest of piston engined transports suffered an embarrassing number of in-flight engine failures until technicians solved a fuel mixture problem. Bolls Were Faulty Viscount A few weeks ago, one of these British-made turbo prop planes crashed in England. The accident was - caused by faulty bolts in the wing flaps. Later models of the airliner, used in this eountry by Capital Airlines, were immediately in spected to make sure they did not have a similar flaw. They didn't. "We could test every new type of plane for 200,000 hours or more to see what bugs develop," a Civil Aeronautics Administra-' tion official said. "But such lengthy testing would be the eco nomic ruin of every airplane manufacturer who has millions tied up in tooling. Every certi fied plane must pass difficult tests and meet or surpass rigid performance specifications such as ability to climb safely even when an engine fails on takeoff. The public never hears about the hundreds of so-called bugs that are eliminated by these tests." J In addition to this elaborate 1 pre-certification testing, the gov ernment requires every carrier to follow certain maintenance standards. These include: Plane Taken Apart Visual inspection of a plane after every landing, with empha sis on correcting complaints re ported by crews. Basic inspections performed every 130 hours' or sooner, in cluding installation of new spark plugs and opening up engine nacelles for a closer check than in step 1. 4 CLUB NEWS Busy Bees Sewing Club The Busy Bees Sewing club held their Mothers Tea Friday in the Methodist church. Miss Marge Hatton, county extension agent, was present as well as all the mothers; the fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Stabler and Mrs. Jacobson; Mrs. Throne and Mrs. Thompson from the school cafe eteria; Mrs. Jones, our 4-H lead er; and two grandmothers, Mrs. Robert Pugh and Mrs. Joe Lewis. The girls will took part in the program, demonstrating the things they have learned to do. After the program '.he girls ser ved mothers and visitors refresh ments. Peggy Dye, Reporter WHICH CAME FIRST? Denver, Colo. (U.R) State Rep. Palmer Burch admits he is stumped when it comes to taxing turkeys. "On assessment day, Feb. 1, the turkey isn't even an egg," Burch said. "And at the end of the year, when taxes are due, he's hash." Regular overhaul of engines Newer types must be pulled out and overhauled after every 800 hours of operation. 'Older, more proven engines may go as long as 1,900 hours between over hauls. Every 8,000 hours, an air liner is taken completely apart and literally rebuilt. This in volves not only brand-new en gines, but may even mean new wings, new fuselage and other major parts. , That is why the CAA can say "There is no such thing as an old airplane." Tomorrow Jet planes will be safer. Grange Notes Shady Cove Grange The regular monthly business meeting of Shady Cove Grange was held Wednesday, April 10, in the school music room. Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Segessen man were voted into the Grange by demit from the Upper Rogue Grange. Reports were given from the following committees: HEC, leg islative, youth, fire, roads, flood control, safety and insurance. Those attending the lectur er's school in Ashland were Mrs. T. M. Littlefield; lecturer; Mrs. C. Kee, secretary, and Mrs. Ed Houston, HEC chairman. The lecturer's . program was puttn by the agriculture chair' man, Mrs. Ed Stothers. Attendance pins were pre sented to seven members. The next regular meeting will be April 24 with a potluck sup per at 6:30 p.m. in the Shady Cove school cafeteria. D. A. 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What else from. the car that outclassed America's top performers in the toughest grind the California Highway Fatrol could devise to select its new fleet? You're ahead any way you figure it! You've piloted the, most spirited four wheels that ever hit the highway and you've put yourself in good order to have this eye-opener parked in your driveway for free! How can you lose? v1" HERE'S ALL YOU DO: 1 2 Go to your authorized Pontiae dealer during April and test drive the 1957 Pontiae. Fill out the official entry blank and deposit H with your dealer. That's all there is to ill euejter to LoctLi tti wis mtui Kguurm SEE YOUR AUTHORIZED PONTIAC DEALER Field Day Demonstration of the Gardner's Best Friend PRIM POWERED GARDEN AND LAWN EQUIPMENT D ALL DAY SATURDAY, APRIL 20 Imagine! One Power Tool that plows, pulverizes and weeds both narrow and wide rows IT'S GOODBYE GARDEN DRUDGERY WHEN YOU PUT A raw dotorv Tilleir ON THE JOB BIG 3 h.p. ENGINE! 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