News Letter 1941 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office

8pecialized training for their particular
Job8. The idea of keeping the 8ame men
continual17 on the 8ame Job will not onl7
re8ul t in a coneiderable improvementin the
quali t7 of work but will prove a time-8aTing
factor.
Thi8 accelerated maintenance 878temwill
be run on a 24-hour baai. in three eighthour
shitt8. The night and d.q cre". will
al ternate veekl7. An improved lighting 87'-
tem will be in.talled to eliminate the 87e
8train heretofore encountered b7 mechanic.
wo1'kingat night.
Before airplane8 are returned to the hangar
line. the7 will be careful17 in8pected
b7 trained technicians and sent up for a
flight test.
With the inauguration of this maintenance
878tem,squadrons at Gunter Field will have
an increased number of plane8 in commiseion,
airplanes rarely being absent from the f17-
ing line longer than four hours.
Someof the time-saTing deTices to beutilized
in thi8 s7stemwill be electrical te8t
benches for checking booster coil., 8olenoid
switches and magnets, and aportable qdrauJ.-
ic brake servicing stand. consisting of a
drum ot compressed air andbrake fluid, pressure
gauges, bleed lines, etc.
Lieut. Col. Aubrey Hornsby, Commandant
of the Basic Flying School at Gunter Field,
an engineering officer of wide experience,
feels that this new arrangement will not
only relieve the pressure of maintenance in
the squadrons and keep a greater numberot
planes in the air at all times, but will
prove the meansof giving specialized training
and actual experience to the new officers
and enlisted menwhowill be aasigned
to the miscellaneous crews. The7 willleam
the process of maintenance 8tep by step.
Class room lectures will also be given for
their benefit.
Thetrained specialists and noncc.d8e10ned
officers will Comefrom the Seventy-Second
Materiel Squadron, but each squadron
at the field will furnish officers and men
to learn the process.
A representative of the Vultee Aircraft,
Inc., at Gunter Field. Mr. John Harris,
hal aided in the establishment of the
streamlined maintenance system. Capt. H.
F. Muenter will be the executive technical
supervisor of the system, with Lieut. ~E.
G-ree.l'as officer in charge of the maintenance.
In view of the tremendous amountot
maintenance required in order for this station
to continue its schedule of 750 fly-
ing hours a d.q, or an average of from 10
to 12 hours for each assigned plane, a
rough idea mq be
.....
gained of just howbeneficial
this new maintenance system ~
prove to be.
A redesigned portable work shelter has
proved exceptionally valuable at Goodfellow
Field, San Angelo, Texas, in protecting mechanics
against both excessive heat and
bitter cold while working on aircraft at
the Texas air station.
The new shelters are steel frames covered
over with waterproof canvas, wi th flaps on
the sides which may be raised or lowered.
Mounted on wheels, the shelters may be
quickly moved from one place to another.
The floor is mounted in the shelter at a
posi tion where all parts of the engine are
accessible without muchreaching or stooping.
Immediately beneath the engine the
floor is cut awq and a detachable oil pan
may be suspended there to catch oil or
dropped parts. The floor is also cut a~
beneath the propeller, so that it may be
rotated as it is worked on.
During the cold winter months before
Goodfellow Field was opened, Lieut. Col.
George M. Palmer, post commander.who was
at that time doing his ownoffice work in
an unheated building, sitting on a nail
keg with a typewriter on his knees, decided
that his men, whowould soon be coming to
the new post to work on airplanes on the
outside, were going to need someprotection
against the iC7 wind and blistering sun ~
the '(est Texas plain.
The Colonel mentioned to his men the work
shelter he had seen at Duncan Field, but
could not forget that they werecomplicated
and required muchtime to build. Mr. Sgt.
H. V. Johnson came forth with a plan for a
smaller and simpler shelter that could be
built with civil service labor at the San
Antonio Air Depot. In addition to being
cheaper. the new shelter could be built
quickly in relatively large numbers.
The shelters are proving to be more
valuable than anticipated. The7 not onl7
protect the men from severe sunburn, but
also prevent the ship from becoming so hot
as to burn oneIs hand when touching it.
In cold weather the flaps maybe fastened
downto form a copy and dry workroom.When
the rain does not fall the shelters also
keep out dust.
Maj. Gen. Arnold and Robert A. Lovett,
Asst. Secret&r7 of Warfor Air, reviewed 700
aviation cadets Augu.st1 at Randolph Field.
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