Low Manhour Record
Set By First Arrow |
(Continued
from Page 4, Col. 4)
was moved in order to accommodate the big new skin
mill and heavy machining facilities.
Calculated additional power requirements resulted in
the construction of two new sub-stations with a total additional output of 3,000
kw's.
To Plant Engineering fell the task of providing these
additional floor space requirements, as well as the installation and maintenance
of the new equipment required.
Still another responsibility of the Plant Engineering
department was the design and installation of portable and static fixtures in
the assembly areas, providing work areas which are, in some cases, three storeys
high.
Sound Control
As the program progressed, intensive investigations
were made into the most practical means of sound control the necessary ground
testing of the Arrow's powerplant. This research resulted in the present flight
line installation of the largest sound control units of their type in the world.
Each twin-cell unit weighs some fifty tons.
The increase in requirements for water, light, heat
and power have increased Avro's plant utilities services to the point where they
can now meet a demand equivalent to a community the size of Brampton.
Closely following this large increase of plant and equipment
facilities came a streamlined program of house keeping and maintenance which
has contributed significantly to the efficiency of this complex production program.
Outside Suppliers
With the release of design information from
the Engineering Division the Procurement Department began negotiations which
resulted in over 650 outside suppliers established for the present Arrow program.
A very important aspect of Avro's procurement policy was the development of Canadian
sources of supply where possible. As a result of this policy many of the subcontractors
had to expand their facilities, purchase new equipment and increase employment
in order to economically meet the complex supply wherever possible. As a repart
requirements of the airplane. In all cases company procurement personnel provided
technical assistance through liaison with the Avro design and production departments.
Coast To Coast
In the supply of bought out equipment, negotiations
were carried on with firms in almost every part of the continent. Some parts
and equipment that had been considered standard throughout the industry had to
be redesigned, and in some instances, made of new materials to meet the close-tolerance
demands of this supersonic aircraft.
|
As
the program progressed, over 5,000 people were found
to be employed outside Avro in the manufacture of
Arrow parts and tools. Extensive liaison on
the part of Procurement personnel was needed in order
that these parts and tools met the efficient schedule
and cost requirements of Avro production.
Increased floor areas were provided in the Stores section
to meet the heavy demands of the new pro- gram. In the handling and storage of
materials and equipment, stringent methods were exercised to avoid even the slightest
damage that could affect their use on production.
The Production Engineering department provided the key
link between the Engineering Division and all Production sections. In addition
to planning the work sequence of each part, and the design and manufacture of
tools, this department was responsible for ensuring that these production tools
and methods resulted in parts being finished to a high degree of accuracy.
The fact that the Arrow is an extremely advanced type
of airplane means that extreme accuracy in surface smoothness is mandatory. In
addition, to provide the most efficient use of the airplane in service, a high
degree of interchangeability of parts and components was required right from
the first airplane which came off the line today.
Efficient Handling
These two factors made necessary the
master model program for outside envelope control, and the interchangeability
tooling program to establish efficient service handling from the beginning.
Extensive use of glass cloth was introduced early in
the manufacturing program to more accurately transfer Engineering information
to tooling and manufacturing stages.
Milling of wing skins and large machined parts from
solid billets of metal provided a tremendous integral increase in the Arrow's
structural strength. Besides reducing the design and manufacturing times required,
this nethod eliminated tolerance difficulties inherent in the matching of numerous
parts.
New Methods
Departures from existing methods of manufacture
became almost common. In the field of metal bonding, Production Engineering developed
a stronger and lighter method of joining metal to metal. New materials such as
titanium provided key parts with greater heat resistence properties. Magnesium
was employed for weight saving purposes.
With the master schedule as a working basis, the Production
Control department's task was to schedule release of orders to the many fabricating
areas, to expedite production of the parts according to priority sequence and
to ensure the supply of finished parts to the assembly areas through the appropriate
finished part stores.
This procedure required exacting control, particularly
since the release of these Arrow orders had to be scheduled along with those
of the CF100's production, spares and |
|
| Transit is used to line
up correct aerofoil forms of master models to horizontal
and vertical datum lines. Work on these specially-fabricated
tools began in July, 1954. |
AVRO NEWS
|
|
| Arrow electrical system
testrig simulates exactly the complete electrical
system in the aircraft. Any production electrical
component proving an electrical fitting for the first
Arrow can be checked for serviceability in this rig.
Ed Moore of systems test, is seen. |
| modification programs. Close
attention was also the byword in shop loading procedures
so that work orders were released consistent with current
machine and manpower capacity. The Progress section
played an important part with their follow-up procedures
in expediting parts out of the shop and into their
finished part stores. Where interruptions occurred
in the production flow, the Progress section had to
instigate schedule recovery action. Throughout
all stages, from the time the order was placed in the
shop until its reception in the finished part store,
a day to day reporting system was maintained so that
the location and stage of completion of each part was
readily available. From these records management was
given a permanently
accurate picture of production
in relation to scheduled completions.
Bottlenecks
As the final assembly stage was reached, the
inevitable `bottlenecks' spring up, many requiring re-design and re-work processes.
Much of the credit is due the Production Control department for getting these
snags overcome rapidly through their efforts in providing smooth interdepartmental
liaison when fast remedial action was required. From
the raw material to the finished part, and assembly of these parts and equipment
into the aircraft unveiled today was the responsibility of the Production Shops
Department.
Using over 1.5 million square feet of floor space, comprising the sheet
metal, machine and assembly areas, the thousands of production shop personnel
have made and assembled some 38,000 parts into the first Avro Arrow. It
was a gigantic task while still maintaining scheduled production on all phases
of the CF-100 program |
Quality Control
Improved |
Uses
Techniques |
| (Continued
from Page 8, Col. 4)
and to carry out some of these it was necessary
to purchase a `Vidigage' thickness measuring machine
which has the appearance of a 21- in. TV and will
give accurate checks of thickness at any point
regardless of the size of skin. In
areas where other parts have to be bonded to the
skins, inspection have to carry out `waviness'
checks on the skin surface and tolerances here
are as close as plus and minus .002 in.
New Materials
In Details Inspection, Horace Riley found a
lot of new problems when Arrow production commenced. It must be remembered that
this first Arrow is a production aircraft and that there is no prototype other
than mock-ups.
New materials used in detail man- ufacture such as titanium
and inconel, and the extended use of magnesium alloys and high tensile aluminum
alloys posed unique inspection problems. New conditions and tolerances needed
to be reckoned with. Some material was found to `grow' after heat treatment,
others would stretch during forming to a much greater degree than less strong
materials.
Increased use, in the Arrow, of details produced by
stretch forming has brought about different concepts of inspection and different
locations for carrying it out. Some forty parts were produced by stretching for
the CF-100. In the case of the Arrow the number is near 2,000 and each had to
be inspected to find out where, and what percentage of stretch took place.
Some idea of how the Arrow program progressed can be
symbolized by the Centre Fuselage section of the aircraft. It is the largest
of the Fuselage components and the main assembly jig for this was handed over
to production in October of 1956. The first component was cleared by Inspection
in February of this year and there were some thirty-six inspection stages to
be carried out while the component was in the jig. |
Other than main assembly jigs, work is produced in large
numbers of other jigs. In each case, a rigid first-off inspection had to be performed
to prove the tool. The Engine Bay alone used thirty-four jigs other than that
for the main assembly.
Some of the new inspectional features encountered on
final assembly include the optical alignment set-up used in the final jig and
the introducing of a refrigerant gas into the wing tank areas whereby leaks are
found with a `snifter' detector.
It is an unusual thing for assembly inspectors to carry
plug gauges but that had to be done with the first Arrow. The structural strength
necesary is such that bolt holes at joints must be right to the close limits
called for by Engineering.
Bought-out Items
Geoff Hughes is in charge of electronic installations
inspection and has been responsible for the testing and inspection of all equipment
for the first Arrow, this includes items of hydraulic and pneumatic equipment
as well as electronic. Some 1,300 items of bought-out equipment go into each
Arrow.
The four-man team appointed by Fred T. Smye, President
and General Manager, to spearhead the drive to get this first Arrow out on schedule,
includes Cyril Meilton from Inspection. Cyril who is Inspection Superintendent
of the Details and Assembly Shops has, like other team members, been iving with
the job since the aircraft began to take shape in the final assembly jig. It
has been his responsibility to make the major decisions on inspection matters
cropping up. |
Impact Of Arrow
The greatest impact of the Arrow program on
the production shops was the extensive increase in both quantity and complexity
of parts, along with familiarization in the use of new materials and equipment.
Difficult machining and forming operations became the rule rather than the exception,
and the fact that the first Avro Arrow is a production aircraft represents an
outstanding departure from previous programs involving a series of prototype
aircraft. |
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|
This
general view of the Arrow Final Assembly shows
major components being assembled for subsequent
release to the final assembly marry-up in the background. |
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