The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-03-01

Litchfleld, chairman Of the board
Of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company, decided to construct u
plant on piece Of desert land near
here. The land was owned by the
Southwest Cotton Company, also O
Goodyear subsidiary.
Plant StiIl Expanding
Construction was started on the
plant q few months before the Jap.
anese attack on Pearl Harbor. That
construction still Is continuing. The
first building was doubled in size
and then more and more buildings
were started.
Workers have not waited for the
building to be completed, however.
They have set UP machinery and
have gone to work alongside the
cement workers, carpenters, brick
layers, electrical workers, plumbers
and others working on the plant.
One building was not ready when
workers wanted to move in, so they
built tent that now houses an as
sembly line more than TOO feet long
and about 70 feet wide. There was
not only @ shortage Of materials,
but there was - and still Is - q
shortage Of skilled mechanics and
toolmakers. Thousands Of workers
most Of whom had never even
seen the outside Of an industrial
plant had to be enlisted and
trained. Necessary equipment had
to be obtained. Where 1t could not
be found 1t was necessary to make
adaptations In machinery on hand.
Plant offlcials characterize the
year 1912 as a year Of preparation
this In spite Of the fact that produc-
ton actually was started early In
the year--23 bomber units ahead
Of schedule, and the increase has
been noticeable each time q new
hift arrives for work.
Where O year ago the casual pas.
ierby was apt to see only O solitary
ackrabbit or hear only the cry OF
J. lonely coyote, now stands a huge
Industrial plant. with all the at
Cendant activity and noise. Giant
presses rumble and great shears
crunch through large pieces OF
sheet aluminium to cut out parts,
Drill presses bore holes for riyets
Tubes are bent into different shapes,
Some pieces Of aluminium are bent
80 as to have both convex and con-
cave surfaces.
Manufactured parts move from
room to room. from stockroom to
storeroom, from storeroom to assem-
bly, lines.
The assembly line starts to work
on o piece about the size of q leaf
on the family dining room table. II
doesn't look like that for long.
Other pieces join the original alu-
minum stamping. Insulation goes
on here. instrument panels there
and you see 1t rapidly becoming the
flight deck Of huge plane. Every
where Is the chatter OF rivetinR
machines and the noise Of big pneu-
matte hammers.
At one side Of the long room girls
are doing the intricate wiring re-
CURED Of instrument panels. Gin
let-eyed inspectors wander around
seemingly aimlessly, but nothing
wrong gets by them.
You go on down to the end Of the
assembly line. Here are complete
flight decks, with little tags hang
Ing all over them. Those tags are
from Navy inspectors and mean the
work is either accepted or rejected.
The percentage Of reflections in the
tremendously complicated final job
Is miraculously small.
The flight deck Is then shipped ia
the Pacific Coast plant for final as
se'nbig into the Nays biggest
l1on Officially known as the
PEj2G \, the planes have become po-
ptIaTit known as kha 0fgornnadn 70