c7I;;, THUNDERBIRD MAY 1943 Vol. 1-No. 3 ~~ PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY The Industrial and Public Relations Department Paul G . Sturges, Director SOUTHWEST AIRWAYS • PHOENIX. ARIZONA THUNO[RBIRD VOLUME ! - NUMBER 3 - MAY, 1943 Bases Loaded Editorial by Jack Connelly. Cargo Line Gets First Headlines 2 & 3 Inside information on the San Ber­ nardino operation, by Paul G. Sturges. Falcon Is Founded 4 History of SW A's third operation, by H. Dean Cage. Thunderbird II Has a Picnic 5 The Pencilless Instructor 6 Poem by A / C Clyde T. Giles. " Gossip and Hearsay" 7 Campus Candids 8 & 9 Flying Falcons 10 British and American train at Fal- con, by Ted Hanna. "Strictly Feminine" 11 · ~ " Biographically Speaking" 13 New Personnel 14 Would you turn your laack Flying Fortress 15 Statistics on the B-17, by Harold Mansfield, Public Relations Man­ on a wounclecl Soldier ? ager, Boeing Aircraft Company. Visitors of the Month Inside Back Cover You think you wouldn't ... you don't niean Cover: An American and British cadet, sil­ to ... houetted by an AT-6 trainer at Falcon Field, But unless you are g1vmg every pre­ symbolizes the united spirit of the two nations who are working together to defeat the Axis cious minute of your time ... every ounce powers. of strength that you can spare .. towards Back Cover: Fourth in a series of company helping win this war as a civilian, you are advertisements now appearing in all leading letting down those soldiers who are sacri­ aviation trade magazines. ficing lives to win it for you. 'Vhat you are asked to give up isn't * * much compared with what they're giving THE STAFF * up. The extra work you undertake is small compared with the gigantic effort they Editor . Bernadine Wurzbacher Associate Editor . Clarence Cozby are making. But to a wounded soldier, what you do can mean the difference be­ STAFF ASSOCIATES: tween life and death. Lee Harris Ina Scott You make the choice. Theda Thaxton Mary Ruth Castle Genevieve Buckles Marie Allinio Contributed by the Magazine Publishers of Americ:g Opal Bourassa BASES LOADED • • • Battles and wars are not won by privates directions from its operations base at San and generals without the help of every one Bernardino, carrying Air Force and Army of us on the home front. It takes a long, material exclusively, 86 per cent of which is steady pull, and real production of every­ estimated to be either high priority or APOC thing needed in modern combat-which in­ (airplane out of commission) shipments for cludes trained men to fly the fighter and West Coast combat and training units. Every bomber planes, the cargo ships with their day, all day long, these planes are flying precious supplies-to win a war. vital war materials, saving precious time American f i g h t i n g where it counts most. planes and bombers are This is our war-yours of the finest. But a plane and mine. Perhaps the without a pilot would be thing we should remem­ a useless weapon. That ber most is the ever-con­ is where we, the workers stant need for safety in of Southwest Airways, everything we do. With come in. It is our busi­ • planes taking off every ness to keep a man at six-tenths of a second dur­ the controls by doing ing the day, a rigid flight well our phase of the Air pattern must be observed. Force's training scheme. There must be unified Military restrictions de­ teamwork. On March 4, signed for the safety of 1943, Thunderbird reach­ our nation prevent pub­ ed and passed 150,000 lic proclamation of the air hours without a fatal­ number of cadets who ity, an achievement sec­ have graduated from our ond only to one other fields, but news dis­ school in the United patches indicate a good­ States. General Barton K. ly number of them are Yount, Comm anding now in action. When we General of the AAF Fly­ read of their daring ex­ ing Training Command, ploits, it should be with i n h i s congratulations a feeling of pride that we said such an achieve­ contributed to that per­ ment could be accom­ formance. plished only through the Not only have we had minutest attention to de­ a sizeable share in the training of our boys, tail on the part of instructor and ground crew but also those of our Allies-the British and personnel. the Chinese, not to mention the other twenty­ The Southwest Airways' team, composed six countries from whom cadets have come. of six leagues-Thunderbird, Thunderbird II, Training pilots means more than teaching Sky Harbor, Falcon, Overhaul and Air-Cargo them the proper use of the controls; it means -now has some 2,000 players, capable em­ keeping the ships they fly in perfect mechan­ ployees who are doing a great job. And ical order. And that is what our maintenance some day, when the smoke of battle has crews are doing. Our overhaul depot-the cleared, and the scores are posted, the em­ only one of its kind between Texas and the ployees of Southwest may well be congratu­ Pacific Coast-upping production hourly, as lated for their part on the winning team. it sets a new record for production line over­ haul of aircraft planes and engines, is also playing an important part in this - every­ body's war. Our cargo line, which has remained a mili­ tary secret for the first six months of its exist­ President. ence, makes daily flights whicn radiate in all CARGO LINE GETS FIRST HEADLINES By ~~~~ Director of Public Relations Southwest's extensive Army Air areas served with central supply Force feeder air line, which has re­ depots, with each other, and with mained a strict military secret for key air, rail and sea shipping points. The operation- sixth war-time ac­ the entire six months of its existence, tivity to be undertaken by our fast­ no longer is a "taboo" subject. growing organization- becomes the Restrictions were relaxed to the nation's second feeder air service. extent that company executives The first, operated by All American were able to reveal a great many Aviation, Inc., was franchised by the THIS PICTURE sh:>ws the sturdy network of facts about the important operation, Civil Aeronautics Board in six East­ tubing which protects the pilot from shift­ at a special press conference held ern states some two years ago. Still ing loads. (Steve Martino at the controls.) earlier this month in Los Angeles. another major departure is the fact in all directions from the huge new Prior to this, the line had been such that Southwest thus became the first San Bernardino and Sacramento a well kept secret that only twice had company to be awarded an Air Force it ever been admitted publicly that cargo contract in this war, that was Army Air Depots. Mileage flown per it even existed. not flying previously under a Board month, with the newest additions, Exact routes flown for the Army franchise. now totals approximately 75,000 Air Force still cannot be disclosed Although a relatively small opera­ miles. Additional route expansions It can be said, however, that the line tion at the outset, our cargo line has already have been discussed and operates "on the West Coast"; that increased in scope each month since surveyed, and undoubtedly will be its operations base is at San Ber­ its inception. Just last week two added just as quickly as the mili­ nardino, Calif.; and that it connects more schedules were added, making most Air Force establishments in the eight daily flights which now radiate tary can release the necessary equip­ ment. These would carry our planes into two, and possibly more, West­ ern states not now served. As many members of the company Overhaul Division know, Waco cabin planes have been converted into ef­ ficient cargo carriers for use on the line. This move serves the double purpose of alleviating the critical shortage of specially-built cargo planes, and also putting these pre­ war aircraft built for civilian uses, for which the military had no need, squarely into the war effort. In the first six months of operation, the company has flown more than one hundred million pound miles wthout loss or damage to a single ounce of its vital cargoes. Planes carry Air Force and Army material exclusively, 86 per cent of which is estimated to be either high priority or APOC (airplane out of commis­ sion) shipments for West Coast com­ RADIO ROOM. where the crew keeps constant check on the eight daily flights. bat and training units. Limited Page Two THE THUNDERBIR D amounts of military mail also are carried. Importance of this service to the Army Air Force is more readily un­ derstood, when it is remembered that huge bombers and their skilled crews frequently are grounded for days at a time, simply because a single small part needing replace­ ment must be shipped from a distant point. It has been proved that our feeder line reaches certain bases as much as two days faster than ground means of transportation! This saving of time is particularly important on the West Coast, mili­ tary authorities point out. It is the iumping off place for planes bound for action in the Pacific war theatre; daily patrols must be flown over its vital production centers; and one­ A PRE-WAR Waco cabin plane which has been converted into an efficient freight hauler. third of all Air Force pilots are trained in West Coast Flying Train­ Board more than a year ago, for a formally- has been due to the un­ ing Command schools.