Evening star., 1942-04-09
Tanks
Continued From First Page

facture of the Swiss anti-aircraft
gun. This gun, with dozens of tiny
parts, had been made like a Swiss
watch. Here, machine tools do the
most delicate work and it's a mass
production job.
The same methods have been
used in the Detroit tank arsenal
operated by Chrysler. If you set
this vast plant down in Washington.
1t would cover the area bounded by
Fourteenth street, Ninth street, G
street and e street.
The process of building a tank
begins in the machine and forging
shops, where the big and little parts
are turned out. These are ma
chimes which make small bolts and
there are machines which whirl
the tanks heavy turrets around as
easily as you stir coffee.
Weighs 30 Tons Complete.
All the pieces are sent to desig-
mated spots and, as the tank hull
moves along huge conveyor belt,
the parts are fitted on. At one end
of the long line you see a square
tank hull and at the other end Of
the line is the finished product
some 30 tons of it.
In another plant there are rows
Of Pratt & Whitney engines moving
down an assembly line. These are
the most advanced aircraft engines
in mass production in the world
today and they are being used to
power our new planes.
When an engine has been built,
1t is given a terrific test in a spe-
cial room. Then it goes on a dis
assembly line, where it is torn down
entirely. Each part is inspected
and the engine is rebuilt on another
assembly line.
There is practically no use trying
to discuss the Ford Willow Run
bomber plant. This building, still
not completely constructed, will
house the first 100 per cent airplane
assembly line operation in the world
The buildings single room is
three-f1fths of a mile long and is
a quarter of mile wide. There
are several assembly lines along
which will move four Consolidated
four-engined bombers, at one and
the same time. There's en- airport
in the front yard, which is larger
than the National Airport at
Gravelly Point. When the bomb
ers are wheeled off the assembly
lines, they'll take of from this air
port and go on about their busi-
ness-which is pretty brisk, these
days.
Ford Does the "Impossible."
1t was the Ford engineers, who
knew about the kind Of tools you
needed for mass production, who
were able to build this plant for as
sembly line work-after they'd been
told 1t was impossible.
1t was skilled workmen in the auto
plants who introduced spot welding
to augment riveting in planes. BY
use Of spot welding they have been
able to save IS hours in the manu-
facture of a wing part-and IS hours
amt hay in this war.
1t Is almost impossible to find a
standard by which to compare the
output of the automakers today with
their output in the salad days of
convertible coupes. Their dollar vol
ume Of business in the old days
touched three billion a year. This
month, they will be doing war busi-
ness on about that scale.
The Ford people say they are en-
ploying as many men as they did in
the days Of automobile making. The
Chrysler people say their entire
plant is now either in war work or
is converting to war work.
There Is still lot of unemploy-
ment in Detroit-not as much as
was expected, but plenty. There is
still an untapped reserve OF produc-
tive capacity in the plants.
BY July, the employment here will
be back to normal. BY September
they expect to have labor shortage.
The first plane will come of Ford's
Willow Run assembly line in a few
months. Later in the year they will
be coming of at q rate which can be
measured only In minutes.