For Robert,
I’m sorry to say my dad passed away 2 years ago. He talked quite a bit about his time in Grand Prairie with North American. This is condensed version of what he talked about.
He was living in Lubbock when the war started, and was a member of the Texas State Guard. He had 3 children at that time and his wife (not my mother…this was his first marriage) told him “Your not going off to war and leaving me with 3 kids.” A fourth child was born during the war. So… he and his brother-in-law, Jim, applied at the Consolidated plant in Ft. Worth and at NAA. He got the NAA job and Jim went to work for Convair. They lived in a small house in a community called Avion Village. Built by the government to house the plant workers. It still exists today and his house is still standing at 101 Wright Place. He rode a bicycle to the plant.
http://www.gptx.org/documents/avionvillage.pdf
The plant ran three eight hour shifts. He started as a riveter on the AT-6 line with the minimum training. The wing box was his area. He worked the second shift. When they started building the B-24 he moved to that line being more qualified to do some of the more complex sheet metal work on the wings. He moved to the P-51 line for the same reasons. He was on the line when they changed the tail and started building the “greatest airplane ever built” the D model Mustang. He always said “you couldn’t pull the wings off the P-51 with a Mack Truck.” As a kid, every time we saw a T-6 or P-51 he would crawl underneath and show me “his” rivets.
He used to tell me about how many airplanes they produced, I can’t remember but it went something like 1-2 B-24’s, 5-7 P-51’s and 10 AT-6’s a day. These numbers may not be right but they were his recollection.
Dad also went to school during the day. The plant run school was for workers who wanted to move up in the company. He took advanced math (trig) and lofting classes.
By the end of the war he was off the line and into the lofting department. He considered this rewarding work.
http://www.melmoth2.com/texts/Lofting.htm
In the days after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan all new work stopped and only airplanes 50% finished were allowed to continue on the line. On VJ Day dad was laid off with no hope of returning, he had worked “for the duration”. They moved back to Lubbock to work in the family business.
Dad considered his work at North American the best way to do his duty to the nation in its greatest time of need. It was a worthwhile endeavor and a great adventure to boot.
Hope this wasn’t too long winded and will answer some of your questions.
Zane
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