Douglas Production Lines

[spookyboss]

I am looking for any DC-3 or C-47 production line photo's and if any one knows of someone who worked on the line. Also anyone know how the lines ran it looks like the tires were on a rail and moved the planes down the line. Did the line start and stop on a timed setting or did it just keep going unless there was a problem?
Thanks,
Spookyboss

[The Inspector]

A quick GOOGLE check shows Oak City airframes rolling nose to tail down final and on your suggested rail system (hard to really tell) but an LGB production line photo shows them @ a 45 degree angle going down the line, guess it depended on how wide the building and assembly bays were. Older facilities like LGB would be more crowded than new, purpose built for speed assembly buildings.
MCD used the moving line concept on the MD-80/90 line and when Boeing took over (debatable as Boeing now seems to be flooded with upper mid level 'can't do' drones from LGB and STL who keep popping up in critical jobs, we had a former LGB 'charts and graphs' wizard running part of the training program for the 787 really nice guy, but he couldn't pour syrup on pancakes reliably) , they implemented it for the 737 and 777 lines.

[Dan Newcomb]

I worked on the DC-8 final assembly line for three years in building 80. The DC-9/ MD-80 line was next door in building 84. Both building were built after the war and were the largest at Long Beach before the C-17. I don’t remember a moving assembly line when I worked there. The planes were joined by cables and the line would move every few days or so. Are you saying that at some point the MD line moved at a continuous rate like an auto assembly plant?

[The Inspector]

bdk can probably verify approximately when they started the moving line but I'm pretty sure it was when the MD-95/717 started up because I know Boeing made a really big deal out of adapting it for the '37 and 'trip' (777) in all the local Seattle area media. And it sometimes leads to issues in using 'JIT', the airplane rolls to 'here' but the semi carrying the seats that go in 'here' is stuck in a snowstorm in Wyoming, making for extra, out of sequence work later or elsewhere, BADWRENCH made lots of money doing post deivery 'seat tosses', a good crew of 10 people working steadily could 'pitch' a cabin including dividers and a bin shuffle and two forward closets, in just under 7 hours on a '37. big, easy money for the MRO.

During the war, didn't most fighters move down the line on carts or trolleys? I know I've seen photos of F4U's and SBD's and P-38's on trolleys moving through the various buildings and put on the cement @ the door to roll away to the pre run or final checks ramp.

Nice to know you worked on the Diesel 8, a great airplane!! and tougher than Martian algebra

[CAPFlyer]

I worked on the DC-8 final assembly line for three years in building 80.

As long as you weren't the one responsible for installing the single-point fueling manifold and bayonet, I thank you for your small part in building a great airplane.

Anyone who's fueled a MacDac product will know what I'm talking about.

[The Inspector]

Like uploading fuel in the reverse of how you plan to burn it off (hopefully with the F.E. there to open/close xfr valves)? Stuck surge tank shutoff floats, bad NASH pumps? or having an F.E. from a certain brown box hauler dump all the fuel loaded on a -73 @ the gate in ANC when she spun the 'pencil sharpener' and deployed the dump chutes? (the fuel jettison control is a little crank @ the very far aft edge of the F.E's table set back and out of the way, turn it just a little and unlatch the big dump chutes that then drop out of the bottom of the wings and that weenie little 1/8 in. cable won't obercome the weight of the fuel in the airplane no matter how fast you spin the crank!)

[CAPFlyer]

There's that, but there's also the Douglas Piss. You know, that annoying habit for the poppit valve to not properly re-seat and piss out any fuel left trapped in the refueling manifold as you disconnect the hose, leading to a couple pints of fuel getting all over your arm (and clothes if it's windy). I found out about it the hard way, but every Douglas and MacDac product I ever fueled single-point did it and I confirmed it with other long-time employees and mechanics that it was a MacDac characteristic. Boeings only release a few drops, Airbus less than a cup, BAe almost nothing, most of the regionals might give out a few drops to a cup, but no one pissed like the Doug's.

BTW, I liked fueling the DC-8. All I had to do was hold the deadman when the FE or mechanic flashed the beacon and then let go when he flashed it again. If it was uploaded wrong, it was his fault, not mine.