Where do they all come from?

[CoastieJohn]

Nice pics as usual!!

It's great to see the ladies in there doing their thing on the assembly lines. The one Corsair assembly line pic with the wings folded up did catch my eye. Why did only one airframe have "Navy" on the underside of the left wing while the others did not? Could it be the other Corsairs are USMC bound??

[hang the expense]

when you look at those pics it pops into your head.......... where did the American work ethic go?? just the scope of those pics is staggering. hard to believe that curtiss was so mismanaged during the war, & buried right after. great pics of the kingfisher under construction. 1 of the more rare & obscure birds, & 1 of my favorites, among other long ignored warbirds.

There is a paperback that tells what killed Curtiss.When the war ended the company had 100,000,000 in cash on hand when the war ended.The management was taken over by wall street screws forcing out the airplane people.We see it all the time these days with the airlines and the people who run them.Curtiss was a victum of their own success it would seem.

[WIX_Archive]

A lot of shiny tin ... so put your shades on!

Boeing aircraft plant, Seattle, Washington. Production of B-17F Flying Fortresses.

[WIX_Archive]

Consolidated TB-32 production line

[WIX_Archive]

And some Grumman Hellcat production which armyjunk posted a while ago in his great thread.

[WIX_Archive]

Nashville, Tennessee. Vultee Aircraft Company. assembly of the Vultee Vengeance c 1942-43

[Dan Jones]

Great pics! I've seen factory pictures like these taken in Germany during the war, but I've never ever seen any Japanese pictures.

Dan

[Obergrafeter]

Not a lot of wasted floor space!!

[WIX_Archive]

Nope! no wasted space


The tail and rudder of a mighty B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber near completion at the Boeing plant in Seattle.


A nearly complete B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber at the Boeing's production line in the Seattle plant


North American Aviation's P-51 fuselage overhead conveyor line Inglewood CA Oct 1942


A North American P-51 fighter is given final inspection before its first test flight


F4U-1 Corsairs being assembled on the Vought-Sikorsky final assembly line


F4U-1 Corsairs being assembled on the Vought-Sikorsky final assembly line


F4U-1 Corsairs being assembled on the Vought-Sikorsky final assembly line


New York, New York. Grumman Wildcat airplane exhibited at Columbus Circle for bond selling purposes Sept 1942

[Ken]

A couple pages back there was a photo of a B-29 in Omaha. The floor has a look like brick, however, I recall from a visit to the Lockheed plant in Marietta, that the factory floor was actually made up of slices of 2x4 lumber; arranged in a brick-like pattern. Any chance that photo was taken in Atlanta?

[chuckcravens]

Thanks Mark and Rob! Your suggestions were very helpful.

Chuck

[Mark Allen M]

Willow Run ... Some good stuff here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/elovaloaz ... 344684250/

[tom d. friedman]

when you see the massive mileage of factory space in those pics, it's no wonder how our country lost it's work ethic to off shore competition. a sad commentary.

[T-28mike]

A couple pages back there was a photo of a B-29 in Omaha. The floor has a look like brick, however, I recall from a visit to the Lockheed plant in Marietta, that the factory floor was actually made up of slices of 2x4 lumber; arranged in a brick-like pattern. Any chance that photo was taken in Atlanta?

That is the Martin Omaha plant. They used wood "bricks" in the floor there as well, it was a common practice at the time.

It seems strange to me how the Omaha plant was chosen to assemble the B-29 as it was, with no new building addition (like the one for the cancelled B-29 contract at North American, Kansas City) The low ceiling, cramped space and the Omaha factory's very small size compared to other B-29 production sites makes it seem almost the opposite of what was thought necessary at all of the other B-29 assembly sites, whether used or not (i.e. Cleveland).

[seabee1526]

http://heritage.com/articles/2014/04/04/ypsilanti_courier/news/doc53397a875ce8b026950106.txt