December 19, 1955

December 19, 1955

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Letters

PRODUCTION

Quality Control, Reliability Plans Bring Dividends to Eclipse-pioneer

By Henry Lefer7 min

MANAGEMENT

Shortage of Maintenance Personnel Curbs F-100’s Operational Capability

By Claude Witze6 min

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4445

Letters

Navy Air Power: Praised … Having just read the editorial in the November 28th issue of AVIATION WEEK, I wish to compliment you on your handling of the Navy’s and especially Secretary Smith’s, mobile nuclear reprisal force activities. I think much more than is said should be said of Secretary Smith’s courage and forthrightness in the handling of a very difficult job.
3435
PRODUCTION

Quality Control, Reliability Plans Bring Dividends to Eclipse-pioneer

Teterboro, N. J.—The Eclipse-Pioneer Division of Bendix Aviation Corp. is beginning to reap the benefits of a three-pronged attack on the problems of reliability and quality control. The new program already has paid off in a sharp reduction in the number of field rejections of the company’s gyros, synchros and instruments, according to Robert Nimitz, director of the division’s quality control.

By Henry Lefer7 min

1415
MANAGEMENT

Shortage of Maintenance Personnel Curbs F-100’s Operational Capability

Foster AFB, Tex.—Operational capability of U. S. Air Force’s first supersonic fighter, the North American F-100 Super Sabre, is seriously handicapped by USAF’s lack of skilled maintenance personnel. At headquarters here of the 450th Fighter Day Wing, AVIATION WEEK learned: Literally millions of dollars worth of our fastest and most potent weapon systems are idle on the runways in “flyable storage” status.

By Claude Witze6 min

1213

U. S. Plans to Launch 12 Earth Satellites

1957-58 launchings probably will be staged in Florida. Satellite observation a major problem.

By Philip J. Klass6 min

2829
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Fairchild Builds Short-take-off Transport

Fairchild Aircraft Division has revived a 40-year-old concept to provide a relatively fast, short-take-off transport designed to meet the needs of nuclear warfare. In the event of such a war, the need for flexible movements of troops and rapid evacuation of civilians would call for a load carrying plane as fast as a modern transport and almost as versatile as a helicopter.

By Robert H. Cushman6 min

9091
AIR TRANSPORT

Continental Buys Jets for New Routes

Four Boeing 707s, 12 Viscounts, five DC-7Bs ordered as western carrier maps plans for services.

By Craig Lewis6 min

5859
AVIONICS

Civil-military Design Differences Laid to Procurement Practices

Baltimore—Where differences exist between civil and military avionics equipment, they are more often the result of different procurement practices than of different mission requirements. Most producers of civil avionics also supply the military, so techniques developed for one are bound to find their way into equipment for the other.

By Philip J. Klass6 min

1617
MANAGEMENT

Wrangle Looms Over Defense Budget

1011
MANAGEMENT

Washington Roundup

Honaman Out R. Karl Honaman has resigned as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, as predicted by AVIATION WEEK (Oct. 3, p. 11). He will return to Bell Laboratories, but the aircraft industry probably will find itself with security review problems that get worse instead of better.

By Washington staff4 min

2021
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

Lockheed Special Projects Group Speeds Airframe, Systems Design

MID-DECEMBER1955 December 261955