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Show Radii iSbiDairDeBa rami ent Keeps 'Emlking u u W T ICJ .a..a.U T Gimicks and 1TXU11 T .BUr They Design Test Equipment I A Time-Saver- s Pilot, does your radio sound different? Not if you have it repaired at' the Ogden Air Service Command radio repair section. Efficient radio mechanics and machinists there have turned out enough gimicks and g devices in the six months to compensate for a good part of the time past lost during the "too little too late" days of the war. time-savin- - Of the approximately 141 em- r 34 are women, but they're ment for testing signal instru- turning out more radios and other ments lo be found anywhere. signal equipment than a much Most of them, understandably greater number last year at this time. enough, have college backgrounds. In this windowless, yellow frame Any one of them can tear down a building located just north . of- radio and put it together again bombsight repair, radios, com- with less trouble than the layman Basses, dynamotors and other sig-- i has lacing up his. shoes in the nal accoutrements are mended morning. With them it's a recipro with meticulous attention to de cal proposition. Hill Field pro tail. Ingenuity is manifest at every vides them with the opportunity to turn. Hardly a week passes with- further their own knowledge and out some new development in the develop superior craftsmanship; technique of signal repair and in turn, they are rendering vital, testing. indispensable service to the field To the novice a radio is a be- - and to the war effort wildering maze of wires, tiny nuts hey Are Ingenious co And bolts, and iragne-iooKin- g Recently, several of them tofigurations or metal ana gia devised a blueprint that Tet, each wire has its own special gether not only the detailed contains function, each nut and bolt its drawings of 'a certain instrument, own purpose. but also actual photographs, right How to Fix 'Em on the blueprint. Radio engineers To the novice it would seem nexl there say that now when a piece to impossible that such an intrir of equipment is being repaired the cate and complex mass of delicatf mechanic also has the actual picwhei ture to assist him in putting it machinery could be fixedsurprisl-inback together, thus further elim trouble ocurred. It's not to learn that over sevea inating the possibility of error. November, radio engineer months of intensive instruction tart necessary before a beginner can John Rugar designed a special work in the department That type of radio transceiver for use training is provided right on the in airplane crash rescue work. res-It field in the signal training unit at will greatly facilitate future cue operations both on the field post schools. Chief civilian in the repair sec- and within a radius of 30 miles or tion is General Foreman William more. Aiding in its construction, W. York, here since October; 1941, and installation in a jeep, were when he transferred from San An- radio engineer Franklin R. Smith tonio as a senior radio'mechanic. and machinist Grant Olsen. While the transceiver principle York is key man over four main units in the radio repair branch: is not new, a workable adaptation radio repair unit, radar unit, dyna-mot- for use here had not been successunit and test equipment fully constructed until Rugar's inunit. Kach has its own super- vention. Overall supervision of the radio visor, each its own particular rerepair section falls on the shoulsponsibility. In addition, there is a small ma- ders of Capt. R. C. Kimball, assistchine shop capable of producing ed by Capt. William F. Brown, L. M. precision parts and tools for the Lieutenants H. C. Mattingly, Dam-mert repair of radio. Supervisor is Jeffers, John Stanko, L. H. and Marshall MacDonald. John Price, already the recipient of two cash awards for novel deAssistant general foremen under vices and acknowledgements from York are M. E. Thelen and Clarthe sugegstion committee of four ence Fix. Chief engineer is C. H. others. Manning. All these men are experts in In the northwest corner of the building is a small roomful of en- their own right They have had gineers, about seven or eight of years of training and experience them, who have designed and built anrl liavo Via? Anlv fsi aifanf tViAn some of the most efficient equip- - selves to the particular kind of - ployes, j . . or They Build Testing Equipment '"' in i irT rry'i'Li ... ,M J ! ( Tl'- - new-fangl- ed radio equipment used in aircraft Supervisors of the radio repair unit are Lester Price and Warren J. Rush. Radar unit supervisor is Walter E. Bell. In the dynamotor unit it is Ralph Gibby, and in test equipment, Philip B. Stone. Main repair area in the build ing, windowless to avoid dust damage to sensitive radio and compass components, occupies nearly the entire west side. About six or seven . long rows of high work tables almost fill up the area, receivers and transmitters lie about here and there, partially dismantled, and revealing a network of thin wires, each one in sulated with a brightly-colore- d jacket They Look Complicated At intervals small, complicated- looking testing instruments, many of them designed and built by the engineers, are placed conveniently for the mechanics, most of whom are intent on some small part of a radio. A low partition runs the length of each work table. Other testing boards are set in these partitions. They appear compact and are imbedded with small dials. For testing highly sensitive receivers and compasses a small room lined with copper for elimina tion oz radio interference, opens off to one side of the large repair area. One or the most Interesting phases of radio repair is the over haul of dynamotors. Dynamotors are used to change low voltage to high voltage. Among other things the employes rewind the arma tures in the dynamotors. One of these employes, Henry C. Hanson, recently devised a small machine for rewinding these armatures. It does it in 40 hours less time than it during his spare time the swing shift Then the machinists took over and John Price built another model with im provements. Maintenance officials are considering the possibility of Dunoing a similar macnine for use in aircraft engine armatures. Price has also developed a coil winder for winding meter coils, a carbon tetrachloride distil which Is now saving about 75 per cent of all this chemical used in the ree pair section, and a drive for transmitters. Many, Many Ideas But Price isn't the only machinist with ideas. Chester Ashby and Herman Bell rigged up a new method of machining the commutator on dynamotor armatures which a child can operate. Wood-roEdstrom is another machinist with ideas. r""An air of seriousness pervades me radio repair section. Perhaps It's because the are aware of their partemployes in this war. Perhaps it's due to their In the work, because, likeinterest York ays, you either like radio work or you don't If you do, it's usually your whole life. Be that as it may. thf know what they're doln.n.i.i. jnt seem to know they're doing it It a one of the why safest places on the rield as there have been no e accidents to Foreman York's ' t' t" To explain here, but th ese radle engineers of the radio repair section ... IT'S TOO TECHNICAL device for te sting radio equipment. Left to right: Don C. Schorh intent on finagling some and Robert O. Clark. Most testing equipm ent used in the section is thought out here. formerly. He built while on " itii ii " Blue Streak, Famous Bomber, Leaves for War Bond Tours After three weeks of swift, In- tensive repair which included over separate items, 1500 the skies, capable of spitting right In Tojo's eye if need be. But the Streak, after a most the ume career in the Mediter. spectacular 4 heavy ranean which included 1058 bomb, Streak, renowned bomber with 110 combat missions to its credit, left Hill Field's giant repair shop and headed down thea long concrete runway to begin bond tour of war in stallations. Included in the tour will De Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Remaining members of the original gallant crew were at the controls of the old battler. None of the rips and tears in fuselage and wings from nazi bullets and flak was patched, none of the unique and colorful markings made by the crew was removed. Ail guns were mounted in full battle array. Skilled Hill Field maintenance men took over what they call a In the airplane. comparatively short space of about three weeks they transformed it into a trim, deadly dreadnaught of B-2- three-mont- "war-wear- hs y" ing hours that took it on 110 bombing missions over enemy territory, is not to see any more co- mbat Rather, it is to serve as a monto the courage of American airmen and the genius of American industry. Crew members have received many decorations and the Streak itself has a presidential citation for gallantry in action. Participating in the first formation of U, S. heavies to bomb the Ploesti oil refineries from high altitude, the Streak later dove through a roaring inferno of flame and smoke to bomb them from low level., It was a member of the oldest bombardment group operating over Europe. ument HOI Jills Slate post not operating under such an arrangement The work is so highly technical that the person the Hill Jills Club, Members who commences the job usually and other of Hii Fielden feminine has to finish it It's a situation who are interested, will have a bi cooks where too spoil Bicycling Party many might the broth. Almost 100 per cent of the workers have received some specialized training since commencing work there. Many, have been sent to signal training schools in the east Many others have attended the classes offered on the post There are plenty of other employes in the radio repair section who have made valuable contributions to shop procedures, others about whom there is insufficient space to tell of their achievements. But the important thing is that such employes are on the job which in turn is so important to American airmen fighting all over the world. brief cycling party, followingcluba room the business session in of the Oeden USO at 7 o'clock Fririav evenlne. Anril 7. Additional entertainment besidei Vi hfavlificr tartv has been invitation ii planned, and a cordial who wish extended to all girls, naeflnl nat sa The Jills spent the evening oi Marcfi 24th bowling at the inalleys in Ogden. Further parti future formation regarding exten may be learned by phoning sion 8316. How VOW ftAtE . . . Maple-wa- y Two-bediw- 111 Colonial StrMt, Lsrton. UUh. Skyline SubdifsM One, Two, Three, Testing new-typ- - w " " i v '"ft I .ft xiik ABILITY ... AND THE FACILITY For 1uP-- nt used in the JLionU machines' department In the above DlcturTthA'M r,yki?d.,J't,nir . -" WVB uPr-r, W A. rlow ) . Md Chester Ahby. ts I A' , - the radios, radio comother navigational in- struments come from the planes arriving here for overhaul nH re pair. A sizable percent romM from in the area. The work of radio renal la ma done on an assembly-lin- e basis-o- ne of the few departments on the sub-depo- - : lost-tim- knowledge. Most of passes and '4X A , if ir a LUIWN but wtn J Willi" TKANHMITEIl . . . Doesn for trlrls do that and plenty more besides. Above, they W. York, radio repair seoUcn general foreman, looks on wime Beam, foreground, and Manna Lea McEntlra test one. ?Z)aH aairo been d and are doing an excellent Job iiMri iiiu highly-traine- futpmeat. |