Oct2010 Volume45 Flypast Number1 A Newsletter of CAHS Toronto Chapter Divisi Society on of The Canadian Aviation Historical http://www.cahs.ca/chapters/toronto Canadian AviationHistoricalSociety This meeting is jointly sponsored by CAHS Toronto TorontoChapter MeetingOctober 16,2010 Chapter and the CanadianAir & Space Museum-All Canadian Air &SpaceMuseum CAHS / CASM members, guests and the public Time:1:00pm (museum admission payable) are welcome to attend. 65CarlHallRoad, Toronto Refreshmentswillbeserved Information:Bob Winson(416)745-1462 "LandingFee"of$2.00willbechargedtocover E-mail:[email protected] meetingexpenses NextMeetingNov20,20101pmatCASM LastMonth'sMeeting.............................................2 President'sReport...................................................7 Topic:"Watchand Warn-Canada'sHomeFront AircraftDetectionCorps" Photo-TheWar Amps Flypast V.45No.1 MayMeeting Topic:McDonnellDouglasinCanada Speaker:FrankHarvey,Presidentofthe AerospaceHeritageFoundationofCanada Reporter:GordMcNulty HowardMalone,retiringasCAHS TorontoChapterPresidentafteryearsof dedicatedservicetotheChapterandCAHS National,introducedFrank W.Harvey,who returnedforasecondpresentationtothe Chapter.InMarchof2009,Frankdiscussed productionoftheLancasterinCanadaduring World WarII,asreportedinFlypast Volume 43,Number7.Frank,ofMississauga,is Presidentofthe AerospaceHeritage FoundationofCanada(AHFC)basedin Toronto. The AHFCisafederallychartered non-profitorganizationwithaspecial emphasisonthehistoryof AvroCanadaand OrendaEnginesLtd.atMalton.Before comingtoCanada,Frankwasanapprentice withdeHavilland AircraftatHatfield, England.Gainingexperienceinallphasesof aircraftmanufacturingandtesting,heworked Speaker Frank Harvey Photo - Neil McGavock oneverythingfrompre-warbiplanesto bases.HethenworkedintheExperimental modernjet Flight TestDepartmentonthe Arrowat fightersand Malton. Whenthe Arrowwascancelledon commercial Feb.20,1959,hewasoneofabout14,000 aircraftincluding AvroandOrendaemployeeswholosttheir thedeHavilland jobs. Alongwithhisfather,heattempteda Comet,thefirst businessventurewhichdidnotproceed.Frank jetairlinertofly returnedtotheMaltonplant,whichhadbeen andenterservice acquiredbydeHavillandCanadain1963.He intheworld. workedontheCaribou,Buffaloand Turbo At Avro Beaver. ThenhemovedtotheDouglasDC-9 Canada,Frank whenDouglas AircraftofCanada,whichlater workedonthe becameMcDonnellDouglasCanada(MD CF-100Canuck Can),begansubcontractedproductionof andtheCF-105 wingsandrearfuselagecomponentsforthe Arrow.Hedid DC-9atMalton. repairand Frankcompletedassignmentsin overhaulonthe variousareasofmanufacturingoverthenext CF-100,and fewyears.HewasS.B.U.(StrategicBusiness modificationson Unit)LeaderontheMD-80/90LeadingEdge Howard Malone Chairing his last theCF-100at program,incontroloffabricationofpartsand meeting as President Photo - Neil variousRCAF McGavock assemblyofcomponents.Sinceretiringin 2 Flypast V.45No.1 1992,Frankhasbeenretainedonnumerous occasionsasamanufacturingconsultanton newprojectsbybothMcDonnellDouglasand Boeing.HealsohasexperienceonMD-80 assemblyandfabricationfortheXi’an AircraftCompanyofXi’an,China.Heisalso amemberofthedeHavilland Aeronautical TechnicalSchool Association. Inatwo-partpresentation,Frank beganwithapromotionalcorporatevideo featuringproductionofwingsandother componentsforairlinersatMalton. Thevideo startedwithworkonoriginalDouglasaircraft includingtheDC-8,DC-9,andDC-10. DC-9 Tailcone Assembly Photo Credit ContractsfollowedfortheMD-80--- - Canadian Air & Space Museum lengthenedandupdatedversionoftheDC-9, centofthetotalairframeoftheMD-80was andtheMD-11---astretched-fuselage,wide builtatMalton,andnearly15percentofthe bodydevelopmentoftheDC-10. Theupbeat MD-11airframewasbuiltatMDCan. Wing videonotedthereputationforcomfort, pylonsfortheF-18Hornetwerealsobuiltat dependability,qualityandworkmanshipthat Malton.Constructionofsuchhuge MDproductshadestablishedformorethan componentsasaircraftwingsrequired twodecades. Theyhadexpandedhorizons, integrationofhundredsorthousandsof acceleratedbusinessandhad“giventheworld individualparts,alltocriticaltolerances. The theabilitytoflyonCanadianwings.” Maltoncomplexwasdividedintotwobasic ThevideoshowedMDCan’s areas:partsfabrication,andproductionline expansionofitssprawlingfacilityatLesterB. assembly. Thefacilitieswereamongthe Pearson Airport,toapointwhereitreached largestintheworld.Productionwas nearlytwomillionsquarefeetinsizeinits demanding,andexacting.MD-11wings,for initial25years.Productionbeganin1965 example,wereabout165feetlongbuthad whenDouglas Aircraftbeganmanufacturing componentswithtolerancesaspreciseasfive- DC-9wings. TheDC-10contractfollowedin orten-thousandsofaninch.Giantoverhead 1968,andtheMD-80contractin1977,as cranesmovedthemammothassembliesfrom operationsgrewsteadily.Morethan20per onestageofproductiontothenext.Forthe MD-11,hugeverticaljigsheldthewing duringinitialassembly.Eachstagerequired utmostskillandcraftsmanship.Finalmating ofthewingwiththefuselagewasdoneatthe MDfacilitiesinLongBeach,California. Upto40,000partswouldberequired forasetofaircraftwings,andmanywere describedas“agonizinglycomplexindesign.” Thefabricationofsuchpartstoexact tolerances,ontime,andatthelowestpossible cost,wascriticaltocontinuingsuccess--- especiallygivenwhatthevideodescribedas the“fierce”competitionintheaircraft DC-9 Wing Assembly Photo Credit - Canadian Air & Space Museum industry.Duringthedecadebetween1980and 1990,MDCanadainvestedmorethan$100 3 Flypast V.45No.1 McDonnellDouglasmergedwithBoeingin 1997andtheplantbecameBoeing Toronto Ltd.,Boeing717wings,alongwithpartsfor theDeltarocket,theC-17GlobemasterIIIand the737jetlinerweremanufactureduntilthe summerof2005,whenBoeingdiscontinued operations. Thefamousbuildingswere closedforgoodandthelandtheysatonwas soldtotheGreater Toronto Airports Authority. Demolitiontookplaceinstages. Frankpresentednumerousslides showingoperationsatMalton,goingbackto asfaras1938whentherewasjustone building.Productionfacilitiesweregreatly expandedthroughtheyears,andmore buildingswereaddedbyMDCan. Wingsfora totalof2,487productionDC-9swerebuilt, alongwithasetofwingsforafatiguetesting andtwoorthreesparesets. TheDC-10 familyinvolvedproductionof650setsof First DC-10 Wing Photo Credit wings. Verticalstabilizersandgalleysforthe - Canadian Air & Space Museum DC-9werebuiltuntil1989,untiltheworkwas transferredtoMacon,Georgia. Workwasalso milliontomodernizetheplantandequipment doneonDC-9floors,untiltheywere anditsoperationshadamajorimpactonthe transferredelsewhere,aswellasflaps. The Canadianeconomy.Eachaircraftproduced flapswerebuiltatFleet AircraftinFortErie, benefitedalmost1,000externalbusinesses--- thenshippedtoMaltonforfinishing.Side vendors,suppliers,andsub-contractors--- panelsfortheF-18werealsoproducedat whichprovidedspecializedmaterialsand Maltonforatime.Otherprojectsincluded servicesforMD. WhetheritwasanMD-11or fourorfiveyearsofworkonDC-8wing anMD-80seriesaircraft,anaverageofmore barrels.Productionpeakedwithcontractsfor than$1millionwaspaidtovendorsand asmanyasfiveaircraftperweek,withthree suppliers.EachMD-80generatedabout shifts. 200,000totaljobhoursinCanada,morethan Frankhaddifficultyfindingphotos $1millionintaxrevenueforthefederal fromtheMDCanyears. Therearemany government,andanadditional$5millionfor morephotosof Victory Aircraft,predecessor Canada’sGrossNationalProduct.EachMD- of AvroCanada,and Avro. Whentheplant 11,meanwhile,generated100,000man-hours. wasclosed,allofthenegativesandotherfiles Whenmultipliedthroughouttheeconomy, wereshippedtotheU.S.andtheir eachproducedmorethan330,000jobhoursin whereaboutsareunknown.Franksaidthat Canada.By1990,MDCanhadinvestedmore BoeingCanadahasn’tbeenabletoprovide thanaquarterofabilliondollarsandprovided information. Thephotosheshowedincluded Canadianexportsofmorethan$5billion. employeesatworkonDC-9andDC-10jigs, MDCanhaddeliveredmajorcomponentsfor wingpanelsandleadingedges,floorsections, around4,000civilandmilitaryaircraft. F-18pylons,andpresentationofcontinuous MilitaryproductionincludedworkontheKC- improvementawards. Whatwastobethe 10air-to-airtankeraswellastheF-18. MD-95,athird-generationderivativeofthe Takingthemicrophone,Franknoted DC-9,becametheBoeing717whenBoeing thatimpressivestorydidnotendhappily. 4 Flypast V.45No.1 acquiredMcDonnellDouglas.Boeingended meetingHowardwasgivena“retirement productionofthe717in2005onaccountof cake”,whichhehappilysharedwithallofthe sloworders,after156werebuilt,andthat members.Manymemberspersonallythanked finishedtheMaltonoperation. Thegradual Howardforajob“welldone”duringhistime closureofthefacilitieswassadinmany asChapterPresident. respects.Priortothedemolition,theonce- proud Avrohangarswerereducedtobeing *** usedtostorecontaminatedsoilfromthe parkinglots.Itwasheart-rendingtosee photosofthedemolitionofthebuildingwhere the Arrowwasbuilt. Asfatehadit,allofthe Arrowswerecutupandeventuallythe buildingsthemselveswerelevelled. Frankwasdelightedtoseetwoofhis co-workersatMcDonnellDouglasin attendance. Theyworkedonthequality assuranceside,whileFrankwasonthe productionside.Ourspeakeranswereda numberofquestions.Boeing’sacquisitionof McDonnellDouglaswasproblematicfromthe start.BoeingcancelledtheMD-80/90series becauseitcompetedwiththeirown737,and thentheyshutdowntheMD-11.Howard MaloneexpressedhisthankstoFrankforan interestingandnostalgicpresentation. The historyofaircraftproductionatMaltonfrom starttofinishisoneofthemostimportant aspectsofaviationhistorynotonlyfor Toronto,butforallofCanada.Chapter Secretary– Treasurer,Bob Winson,presented FrankwithagiftonbehalfoftheChapterin appreciation.Frank’spresentationwas especiallynoteworthyforHoward,whonoted