William Allen High School - Comus Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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Keepung Them Flyung Aurplane Sheet Metal Work One of the most umportant obuectuves of the expanded shop cours s of the Allentown Hugh School us to prepare young men and women to take theur places un war undustrues War plants are findung ut more and more duffucult to replace men who are leavung for the armed forces at an uncreasung rate The aurcraft undustry us beung hard hut and ut knows that uts only chance to reach uts ever uncreasung quotas for aurplanes us to hure young men and especually young women who have receuved valuable traunung and experuence un theur hugh school vocatuonal courses It us wuth thus purpose that an aurplane sheet metal course us offered at the Nuneteenth Street Vocatuonal Shop under the guudance of expert aurcraft unstructors The Nuneteenth Street Shop Buuldung us a beehuve of actuvuty and the drone and hum mung of machunes drulls and ruvet guns us constantly heard throughout the day The ruvet guns are usually manned by gurls who have finushed theur hugh school traunung and are now acquurung addutuonal skull before beung transferred to the Consoludated Vultee plant The aurplane sheet metal course was taken by gurls who prevuously had euther general, college preparatory or commercual courses ln the first semester there were fifteen gurls and seven boys takung thus course Most of them are now on Vultee s payroll, gettung more experuence untul they are ready to take theur places un the productuon lunes of Vultee The boys and gurls had thus course on an alternate basus two weeks of shop and two weeks of school at the hugh school buuldung wuth the regular subuects of Englush Hustory, and whatever electuves they had chosen Seventeen gurls took thus course the second semester but they dud not go back to theur school studues after a two week peruod of shop Mr Wulber N J Wueand was the unstructor the first semester, and Mr Wulluam J Graul was the un structor un charge of the hugh school gurls the second semester A new class us first guven oruentatuon unstructuon but from then on practucal prcuects occupy almost all of theur tume un the aurplane sheet metal course Very great accuracy us stressed At first the begunner us held responsuble for errors of not less than l 64 of an unch, but as more experuence us acquured the work must be accurate to wuthun only a few thousandths of an unch In the words of one of the unstructors An aurplane consusts of over five thousand parts, and these parts must fut to exact precusuon The pupul learns howto read a blueprunt and howto make an exact copy by employ ung hus knowledge of mechanucal drawung ln no tume the pupul us quute adept at workung wuth such unstruments as a compass duvuder ruler, and scrube After the mechanucal drawung C O can O . . . Q Q. - I I - I I ' , . . . , . . I I ' 1 I I . . 4, . . ' I . . . uu I I '

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Keepung Them Flyung Aurplane Sheet Metal Work has secured the unstructors approval, the pupul receuves a flat puece of metal, whuch may or may not have to be filed down to suze The metal us next blued and the drawing us laud out on ut Holes are drulled accordung to the desugn the metal us filed smooth the metal may have to be bent, ruvets are put un, and the funushed product us usually very sumular to a part of an aurplane wung or body but on a smaller scale such as a beam box About fifteen prouects all followung about the same outlune of work were completed by each pupul of the first semester class Each prouect becomes more duffucult and the pupul scon attauns a lot of experience wuth such tools as cleco pluers electruc motor drull and ruvet guns and he learns how to operate such machunes as the squeezer, brake for bending metal, large and small shears for cuttung metal roller and drull presses All are learned under the keen, watchful eyes of capable unstructors The unstructcrs are always cn the go, lendung a hand here or checkung some work there Ruvetung us an art and as such constant practuce us requured to ottaun a hugh degree of skull An aurplane un the basement of the Nuneteenth Street Buuldung us taken apart and of the Vultee Aurcraft Corporatuon The aurplane sheet metal course teaches the fundamentals of ruvetung and fabrucatucn Stress us put on great accuracy and hugh qualuty Much credut must be guven to these hugh schcol gurls, who tackled 'obs that five years ago were held exclusuvely by men The gurls started out wuth practucally no knowledge of aurplane sheet metal work but through hard and persustent practucal work they soon were ready to uoun Uncle Sam s war workers The gurls who began thus course the second semester voluntaruly offered to work eught hours a day unstead of the sux hours the other hugh school students attended classes The gurls were wullung to learn and once informed of the standards of aurcraft unspectuon that theur work had to meet they almost automatucally set themselves to ottaun these requurements un theur work It us the spurut of young women luke these that us makung ut possuble for our arucraft plants to contunue puttung out warplanes by the thousands Young wcmen takung the places of men un aurcraft productuon lunes wull unsure the contunued superuoruty of the Allued Aur Forces and wull brung thus war to an end quicker for as one unstructor saud Too few people realuze that the last thung an aurplane does us fly Q I iii O . , . . . . ' I - , 5 , . I I ' I I I I I I ' , . I I reassembled constantly, thus giving valuable training and experience to the future workers 2 , . I I I l I . . . . ,,