1960 was a hell of a year to be working in aerospace

[Richard.E]

This was a huge program at the time, I think the US ended up with over 30k nuclear armed missiles. Overkill and then some, but Eisenhower certainly put a lot of bread on the table with defensive spending like this. Been pretty good for my family as my grandpa was in propulsion rocketry, my dad is just about to retire from the 747 program, and I'm just now getting my start in aerospace at a young age.

Was looking at some old photos of my grandpa this morning and I just couldn't imagine working in manufacturing without the use of computers and digital measuring tools , pre established programs on CNC etc. just a whole different type of art compared to what I do on a daily basis.

My grandpa who was a WWII vet(as was practically every man during this time), Was a lead engineer on this program (bottom right), gives a whole different definition to badass in my opinion. He moved to redondo beach in 1964 and finished out his career at TRW.

 

[lakemadness]

Some real smart dudes. Different kinda smart than today.

 

[Old Texan]

Slide rule engineering at it's finest.

My old neighbor who passed last year in his late 90's, told stories about the development of the nukes dropped on Japan. Just getting them fitted and loaded on planes was a challenge. Really interesting stuff and more amazing by the fact they were working largely on theory with no prior research to pull from.

 

[Deja_Vu]

Was looking at some old photos of my grandpa this morning and I just couldn't imagine working in manufacturing without the use of computers and digital measuring tools , pre established programs on CNC etc. just a whole different type of art compared to what I do on a daily basis.

My grandpa was a lead engineer on this program (bottom right), gives a whole different definition to badass in my opinion. He moved to redondo beach in 1964 and finished out his career at TRW.

View attachment 546958

Very cool :thumbup:

I started at General Dynamics in 1982 right out of school as a draftsman using ink on mylar.
We also copied original designs to sepia and made changes using chemical irradicater to erase and ink to fill in the blanks.
I got to see the beginning of the transition to CAD and later utilizing the CAM part of it.
By 1985 they were using CNC to create some intricate patterns.

Now everyone uses CAD and the art found on these old drawings is lost.
Back in the day your resume was only used for job history.
Lettering and Line weight was critiqued when you showed your portfolio.
Back then everyone carried a brief case LOL

 

[rvrrun]

The company my father started developed a small, but significant, piece of the space race. They came up with a plastic cup filled with sealant to place over every rivet on the capsules to keep them airtight.

 

[mjc]

This was a huge program at the time, I think the US ended up with over 30k nuclear armed missiles. Overkill and then some, but Eisenhower certainly put a lot of bread on the table with defensive spending like this. Been pretty good for my family as my grandpa was in propulsion rocketry, my dad is just about to retire from the 747 program, and I'm just now getting my start in aerospace at a young age.

Was looking at some old photos of my grandpa this morning and I just couldn't imagine working in manufacturing without the use of computers and digital measuring tools , pre established programs on CNC etc. just a whole different type of art compared to what I do on a daily basis.

My grandpa was a lead engineer on this program (bottom right), gives a whole different definition to badass in my opinion. He moved to redondo beach in 1964 and finished out his career at TRW.

View attachment 546958

My dad started with TRW about the same time and designed microwave antennas for the missile silo's

 

[Deja_Vu]

This is what I worked on for my first job. Spent 2 years working mandatory 58 hour weeks.
They built two of them and when the Shuttle Challenger exploded they cancelled the program because it was a liquid ox and Hydrogen fueled.
They switched over to the Boeing IUS with solids after that.
For Galileo and Ulysses missions I drew the Mechanical Interface Control Drawings between our centaur vehicle and the spacecraft.

The company my father started developed a small, but significant, piece of the space race. They came up with a plastic cup filled with sealant to place over every rivet on the capsules to keep them airtight.

I wish I invented the clock bond. So Simple and used on just about every aircraft.

http://www.clickbond.com/

 

[Moneypit]

Slide rule engineering at it's finest.

My old neighbor who passed last year in his late 90's, told stories about the development of the nukes dropped on Japan. Just getting them fitted and loaded on planes was a challenge. Really interesting stuff and more amazing by the fact they were working largely on theory with no prior research to pull from.

Not to forget that even they, the engineers, chemist, theoretical mathematicians etc, none of them KNEW what was really gonna happen. When they popped the first hydrogen bomb some were afraid that once they got the hydrogen in the atmosphere burning, it may not stop... Isn't the Bimini Island chain still uninhabitable due to Nuclear pollution??

Ray
PS My father was at Hughes Aircraft during the heydays of the space race... He worked on just about every program Hughes had from early 50s through mid 70s. He was an electrical genius, Ham Radio junkie, and a master tinkerer... Hell, we had a homemade transistor ignition in a 50 Mercury in the mid 50s.... Later converted to a home made Capacitor discharge for our 55 Cad....

 

[Wavemaker]

Slide rule engineering at it's finest.

My old neighbor who passed last year in his late 90's, told stories about the development of the nukes dropped on Japan. Just getting them fitted and loaded on planes was a challenge. Really interesting stuff and more amazing by the fact they were working largely on theory with no prior research to pull from.

My very first class in my college experience toward a mechanical engineering degree was a 7:00 am course in learn how to use a slide rule. Years later when I landed my first real job as a mechanical engineer we used slide rules, just at the same time Texas Instruments was introducing their first Engineeing Calculator line. Those things were very expensive. Of course my boss ran out to buy one the showed it off the rest of us. We all eventually had to buy them, so we persuaded the purchasing department to get us a deal on a large quantity order. Saved about 8 percent each off individual unit pricing.

 

[Deja_Vu]

TRW was bought by Northrop Grumman in July 2002 for $7.8B
They still have the plant in Redondo. Mostly satellite work.