My Dad at work 1944 NAA Dallas

[Ztex]

Wanted to share a picture.

This is my dad @ 1944 at the North American plant in Dallas.
He started in 1942 on the AT-6 line, moved to the B-24 line then onto the P-51 line. They sent a memo out stating there would be company photos taken with the airplane of your choice. There is no clue as to the identity of the airplane in the photo or on the back, but it is a company photo. It would be fun to know if it still exists...

Z

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[Swiss Mustangs]

Ztex:

highly interesting photo !!!

- this due to the fact that I own 14 almost identical photos of other NAA Dallas employees taken at the same time [sometimes one gets lucky on e(vil)-bay]

the aircraft in the photo is 44-12311 c/n 111-30444 which became RAF KM188 - not a survivor for sure.

HTH
Martin

[Ztex]

WOW! how do you know the SN for this airplane?

you have some merlin blood? or is it that you have pictures of the same day with differnt angles?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[Swiss Mustangs]

same a/c taken on the same day with a slightly different angle - so one can see the 3-number code on the tail [applied during production at Dallas - Inglewood had a different numbering system] which identifies the a/c..... -

Martin

[Ztex]

Very interesting.

Thank you so much for the information. I feel a let down in knowing that this airplane is not among the survivors...I would have been great to see it.

Thanks
Zane

PS
Maritn, PM sent....

[RobertWC]

Oh, This thread was a very welcome surprise to me this morning. My grandfather worked at North American Dallas during the war, as did my grandmother.. As I understand it he was a foreman of some sort on the P-51 line but sadly.. My mother and her brothers know next to NOTHING about his time there. The only thing we really have is a picture similar to yours, It hangs in our living room actually.

I've long wanted to know more about his time out there, and about the NAA Dallas Plant Period. Ztex, Is your father still alive? Or did he ever tell you much about his time there or the people he worked with? Because if he did work on the P-51 line there is a chance he atleast knew my grandfather in passing, and I'd love to know anything you could tell me about NAA Dallas period. That goes for anyone, I'd be curious to know if their would be any chance at recovering employee records, I mean North America has changed hands time and time again, I suppose the chances that such records have been kept this long are next to zero.

But anyway, if anyone knows something it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks kindly.

[Swiss Mustangs]

Robert

I do have quite some information on NAA P-51 production, and as stated earlier, many photographs of other employees in front of Mustangs (some with names and addresses of those persons on the back); I also own a complete collection of the NAA Journal "Skyline Magazine" through the war years; they give a lot of insight into the daily life at the NAA plants (I also have some spare copies ).

A future project of mine is to scan these Journals in high quality and make them available on CD for interested parties (no commercial venture, though).

I am willing to share the photos with you (and you Ztex); so please send me a PM with your e-mail-address.

I naturally would be happy to receive a scan of the photo you mentioned as welcome addition to my collection.

Cordially
Martin

http://www.swissmustangs.ch

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Brilliant - great photo mate -

your dad built our T-6!

www.beechrestorations.com

All the best

TT

[Ztex]

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

[Django]

Thanks for sharing Zane.

How did the draft work and how did that affect people working in defense plants? Sounds like they were exempt?

I was watching the Waltons on TV the other day and Ben was exempt because of their war contract at the mill, but they never really went into that.

[B-29 Super Fort]

Thanks for sharing Zane.

How did the draft work and how did that affect people working in defense plants? Sounds like they were exempt?

I was watching the Waltons on TV the other day and Ben was exempt because of their war contract at the mill, but they never really went into that.

I know in the case of my uncle he was the oldest head of the household since my grandmother was widowed and my father and his 3 other brothers served in WWII. Therefore this case he worked in a defense plant.

[ww2John]

A number of factors were considered by the local draft boards (and they really were local: composed of/run by local citizens).

For example, my father's age at the start of the war, coupled with his marital status and his job in an "essential industry" (he was a machinist - a Tool & Die guy) were the reasons given for his non-drafted status.

He did serve as a air raid warden and an observer; both were voluntary civilian jobs.

[Glyn]

I live in Dallas but have to go to Grand Prairie for business once a month or so and always find myself going down Belt Line Road near the old Hensley Field where the plant was located. There are lots of smaller houses that were clearly built as homes for plant workers and all of the street names are aviation themed - Waco, Fairchild, Douglas, Martin etc. - the folks that live there probably have no idea where the names came from.

Hensley has been through so many name changes over the years it's tough to know what to call it this week though most Dallasites will always just call it Hensley. Below is a pretty cool site with history and pictures of the field today:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Dallas_S.htm#dallas

[jkspencer]

My grandfather worked at the Dallas (Grand Prairie) NAA plant during WWII and I was wondering if there are other photos available or if you know where I might find any. He worked as a mechanic on the P-51 line (post production, giving the final systems check and go-ahead prior to test-flights). His name was Jack Poindexter. Any information would be helpful. My direct email address: jks@nmsmail.com
Thank you!
Jace Spencer

[Mark Allen M]

You will find thousands of photos and documents (and how to access them and who to contact) here regarding Dallas (Grand Prairie) NAA plant
http://www.airlinereporter.com/2010/09/ ... -archives/