Hi, I worked in the Fort Worth Convair plant in 1950 changing out alternator drives on new B-36 bombers going up the line. Someone discoverred the Sunn Constant Speed Drives for the 28 cylinder Pratt & Whitney engines model -41 would not hold up to the -53 engines that were replacing them before they were ever flown. Some of my 8 man crew were sent to San Diego and Anchorage to do the same for them. This was after they added the 4 jet boosters to the 6 pusher gas engines with water injection. Why are the B-36 planes left out of most aircraft history books- to me they won the cold war by flying from Anchorage, San Diego and Fort Worth with full bomb loads headed towards Moscow and turning back over the North Pole. For a few years one never landed unless another was in the air. They stayed above 50, ooo feet for as much as 36 hours with 2 flight crews- one in the rear sleeping cabin with the tube and creeper to get to the flight cabin when the crews changed. I was in the army 1950-52 and returned to Convair Fort Worth. I rode to work in car pools and at one time with dad's second cousin Johnny Rampley. It was faster to drive to Stephenville than to drive to a Fort Worth boarding house. James Conally Runway at Waco also could hold up a landing B-36. Most military runways could not. I worked with Dan Butler of Stephenville- Lingleville area. We and 4 more hired in for the Wichita , Kansas plant during one layoff. That Friday night we had recall notices as soon as Wichita had checked our Fort Worth work records. We did Sam Sac overhaul on older engines of B- 36's - one had radioactive propellers. Now, how in the world do you suppose that happened??? I also built wing sections for the F 102 and worked some on the Regilus II reuseable target missle with landing gear in Chance- Vought, now LTV. in Grand Prairie. One Stephenville High School Friend , Ted Deaver,of Bluff Dale, Texas was working there then . I attended college A.M. and worked 8-10 hour nights, got my degree at Denton, and took a cut in pay to start teaching. Some of my family thought I had flipped out. When Ted retired and came to one Stephenville High School Reunion, Ted was introduced as an international salesman of General Dynamics aircraft and had lived in Tel Aviv, Israel. Now, how come we didn't think of that?? I am sure you could tell some stories - like I have heard worker's speculation and observations of why one B-36 engine fell off over Johnson County, Texas and why one plane dropped like a rock during takeoff, drownding the crew in Lake Worth. After that each prop harness was traced and we did circuit ring outs with testers we made from tool crib parts on the Engine assembly stands. Wonder why???Also you folk on the Shaky side of the U.S. had to build a levee around one old runway to keep high tides and storms from flooding it. Sounds like some of Houston. Good to hear from you. Charles Wyly On Tue, 28 Sep 1999 22:50:46 EDT RMonroe237@aol.com writes: >Wyly1, > >I too worked at Convair (San Diego 1977-1985). On your posted list, >#5 would >be good enough for me !! > >Rick Monroe >Long Beach, CA > > >==== TXERATH Mailing List ==== >--- Author Retains Copyright --- >-- Copyright 1999 Author -- All Rights Reserved >Post to List: TXERATH-L@rootsweb.com http://www.selfroots.com >Unsubscribe request To: TXERATH-L-request@rootsweb.com >