History Of Curtis Wright Aeronautical Company

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HISIDRY AND OllGANIZATION OF liRIGHT UlION,w'![CAL DIVISION CURTIS5-liRIGHT CORPORATION

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Wright Aeronautical Divisional the Curtiss-Wright Corporation traces its origlns back to the bicycle shop of Wilbur and Orville Wright in Dayton, Ohio. With the military acceptance of the airplane the Wright brothers formed a company in 1909 with $1, 000, 000 capltali l.ation. That company which was issued the first patent

for "an alleged approvement in flying machines" was the direct forerunner of the Wright Aeronautical Division.

Man's First Powered FUght

Orville Wright is at the controls in this flight from Kill Devil Hill,

Kitty Hawk, N.C., on December 17, 1903.

Aircraft power is power of a special kind--a fact that Wilbur and Orville Wright

discovered when they built the plane that made the first successful powered Ulght in December, 1903. They needed a compact, dependable, light-weight engine for their flimsy craft, and they were forced to build it themselves. From that day onward, the building of aircraft engines has been a job for speCialists.

The Wright brothers bullt their own engines until about the time of World War I, when the Wright Company and the Glenn L. Martin interest were temporarily merged to form the Wright-Martin Aircraft Company in New Brunswick, which built thousands of engines for allied warplanes. Alter the Armistice the company split to form Wright Aeronautical and the Glenn L. Martin Company of Baltimore. Wright Aeronauticalcontinued to build Uquid-cooled engines after it established itself in comparatively small quarters in Paterson, but meanwhile the company' B designers were working on an air-cooled engine which promised great results inhigh power, light weight, and reliability. Charles L. Lawrence, a brilliant young engineer who had been working independently on the air-cooled engine, joined the company during this period and brought the conclusions of his experiments to add to what Wright engineers had discovered about the new type power plant. 1

In the decade following the founding of Wright Aeronautical, aviation began to grow up. Trailblazers such as Lindbergh, Byrd, Chamberlin, and Kingsford-Smith, flying planes powered by the new Wright Whirlwind engines, explored the Crontiers of the sky in nights that will stand forever as milestones in aviation progress.

Charles Lindbergh examining the Wright J-5 "Whirlwind" on his plane, the "Spirit of St. Louis".

The 1930's, despite aworldwidedepression, were the years when the air transport industry established itseU as an important part of the world's commerce. The introduction of the famous Curtiss-Wright Cyclone series during this time made possible the operation of aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3, which became the standard equipment for almost every airUne. The "G100" nine-cylinder Cyclone that powered a majority of theDe-3's of this period was the first aircraft engine to produce 1000 horsepower. The Cyclone 14 made its appearance during the 1930' s and was installed in the Boeing 314 clippers of Pan American Airways. These planes, considered giants in those days, established the first regularly scheduled transatlantic and transpacific passenger service and played an important part in intercontinental military transport during World Wa:r n. 2

As the 1930's drew to a close, Wright Aeronautical engineers, working under close military security, designed and made preliminary tests of a new engine which later overshadowed anything yet attempted in aircraft power plants. This new engine made possible long-range strategic bombing during World War II. The engine developed into the Cyclone 18, with its present basic configuration of two rows of nine cylinders each. The Air Force believed the engine so promising that it ordered Wright to put its development program on a round-the-clock schedule . After flight time had been accumulated on the Consolidated Flying Boat and the Douglas B-19, the Cyclone 18 became the power for the famous B-29, first of the big bombers. Gen. H. H. Arnold, later referred to the B-17, the "big" bomber of the early war years, as "the last of the small bombers". By the time World War II began, Wright engineers had raised the horsepower of the Cyclone 18 from its original 1700 to nearly 2000. Although it was not yet ready for production, other models were. Late-model Whirlwind, Cyclone 9 and Cyclone 14 engines were in ever-increasing production for the fighting aircraft of the French, British, and United states Air Forces, such as the B-17 "Flying Fortress", A-20 Havoc, 8-25 Mitchell, FM-2 Wildcat, SB2C Helldiver and SBD Dauntless. The demands of war production brought about tremendous expansion in the physical facilities of Wright Aeronautical. In the Paterson area, three new plants were acquired. The largest aircraft engine plant in the world was built near Cincinnati by the government for operation by Wright Aeronautical, and the present plant in Wood-Ridge was started in 1942, to be operated in the same manner. In spite of this large expansion program, Wright Aeronautical had to license six manufacturers to build Cyclone and Whirlwind engines.

The highest priority was assigned the Wood-Ridge plant which turned out 750 Cyclone 18 engines per month. At the end of thewar, Wright Aeronauticalpurchased the Wood-Ridge plant from the government and the company-owned plants in Paterson were sold and others were turned back to the government. With the return to peace, Wright Aeronautical Lmmediately began a broad program of development and test on gas turbines, ram jets, and the Turbo Compound engine. At the same time, development of reciprocating engines for commercial and military craft was continued at a high pace. This broad engineering program was adopted with recognition of the long-term needs of all types of aviation. The war had proved the dependability and usefulness of the reciprocating engine, but it had also demonstrated that new types of powerplants such as the turbo jet and ram jet were to have lmportant military missions. The airlines of the world began a period of great expansion immediately after the war. Their equipment, which had seen extremely hard usage during the conflict, needed extensive replacements. One transport plane developed for the military (the Lockheed Constellation) promised new speed and efficiency for handling the millions of passengers and tons of freight which the lines were being called on to carry. 3

By the end of World War ll, Wright Aeronautical had increased the rating of its CIS engine to 2500 horsepower, which meant proportionately larger airframes became practical. Lockheed came up with a new series of Constellations -- the L-649 and L-749 -- which set new highs of luxury for transcontinental and intercontinental flight. The Curtiss-Wrightpowerplantand the Lockheed airframe proved to be a combination which permitted large growth potentials. Wright Aeronautical engineers came up with an entirely new type aircraft power plant, which they called the Turbo Compound. Introduced shortly after World War n on both military and commercial aircraft, the Turbo Compound provided the best characteristics of speed, range and fuel economy ever developed in an aircraft engine. Today the Curtiss-Wright Turbo Compound, rated 3700 horsepower for military operations and at 3400 horsepower for commercial operations, has been selected to power fleets of Super Constellations and Douglas DC-7's of 36 of the world's leading airlines. The Turbo Compound continues to be foremost in commercial air transportation with orders for Turbo Compound powered aircraft booked through 1958.

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Cutaway view of Curtiss- Wright Turbo Compound engine with Curtiss Electric propeller. 4

Douglas DC-7C "Seven Seas" transport powered by four Curtiss-Wright Turbo Compound engines. The TC18 engine developed by Wright Aeronautical is a unique combination of piston engine and turbine. The turbine recovers exhaust gases which are usually wasted and give the engine 20 per cent more power with no increase in iuel consumption. The Turbo Compound is the most eiftcient engine ever put in production.

Curtiss-Wright TC18EAl Turbo Compound Engine 5

Curtiss- Wright Turbo Compound Engine Assembly Line Because of its unmatched dependability and long range, the Turbo Compound has been chosen by the Air Force and Navy to power their early warning and antisubmarine patrol aircraft. The first installation of the new Turbo Compound was in the Lockheed P2VNeptune patrol bomber of the U. S. Navy, a long range anti-submarine plane which is also now in use by Australian and British coastal patrol groups. In addition it is installed in the Martin P5M Marlin patrol flying boat, and Lockheed RC-121 and R7V-l, and the Fairchild C-119 transports of the Air Force.

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Lockheed P2V-7 "Neptune" patrol bomber powered by two Curtiss-Wright R3350-32W engines. The Wright Engineering Department was also busy during this time with development of ram jet engines for guided missiles. This program, which has been shrouded in secrecy since its beginning, has been one of the most successful ever undertaken here. The world's first controlled supersonic flight of a ram jet on May 7. 1952 is credited to Curtiss-Wright. The largest privately-operated high altitude. supersonic ram jet laboratory, capable of simulating speeds up to 3500 miles per hour and altitudes above 18 miles has been constructed at the Wood-Ridge plant. The new $7.7 million plant stands next to an earlier ram jet lab constructed in 1949. The ram jet is essentially a supersonic powerplant which functions most effiCiently at speeds from Mach 2 to Mach 5 and 100.000 feet altitude, It is basically a simple engine; no mOving parts are required in the actual generation of thrust, but it requires highly compact and accurate mechanisms to control its flight. Because it depends on high speed for the compression of air, the ram jet must get an assist before it can start. either by drop from a fast-fiying plane or by rocket boosters.

Curtiss-Wright Ramjet Engine 7

Within three years of the end of the war, Wright Aeronautical had a turboprop engine flying in its experimental test plane. The economy and power of the turboprop engine has reawakened interest in this type power plant for military and commercial application. Recent test flights of the Curtiss-Wright T-49 turboprop engine on the XB-47D has also stimulated an awareness of turboprop potentialities. Alurboleclric propeller for turboprop engines has been developed by the Propeller Division, Curtlss-Wright Corporation, at Caldwell. Indications are that extremely efficient turboprop operations at speeds up to 1000 miles per hour is posslble in the near future. The Curtiss- Wright De-Rated Turboprop, which uses only two-thirds of the engine's maximum output, represents the Urst time in aviation history that an engine offers surplus power for commercial airline use. Prior to the De-Rated Turboprop, aircraft designers have been obliged to use the maximum output of every new engine to fuUm the requirements for larger and faster planes.

Boeing XB-47D "flying testbed" equipped with two Curtiss- Wright T-49 turboprop engines and Turbolectric propellers. At the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950 Wright Aeronautical began to expand to meet a sizable backlog of peacetime military and commercial orders. In the autumn of that year, the company announced that it had signed a long term engineering production agreement with Armstrong-Siddeley Motors of Great Britain for manufacture of the Sapphire turbojet engine in this country. Shortly afterwar<4 WrighlAeronautical and BristolAeroplaneCompany announced a similar agreement but the designation of the engines involved was kept secret.

The Air Force quickly placed a large order (or the Sapphire, which was deSignated J65, and Wright Aeronautical engineers and production men took up the mammoth task of redesigning the engine (or American standards and procuring and setting up the machinery to build it. One of the first steps in this program was the redrawing of 1200 blueprints to convert them to American practice. 8

• At the same time, Wright Aeronautical was lining up 3000 subcontractors in aU parts of the country to help carry the load of J65 production. Production of piston engines, which was to have been turned over to licensees earlier, remained in the Wright shop for months after the scheduled "Phase Out" while the licensees were getting into production. The subcontract that Wright held for making major components of the General Electric J47 engine remained active at the Air Force's insistence, and occupied much of the maChinery, space, and labor scheduled for concentration on the J65 program. Despite these factors, the first pilot models of the J65 were delivered in less than a year and the first production model of the engine was accepted and shipped within 16 months of the Air Force production order. This was by far the fastest time that any jet engine has been brought from blueprint to production in the United States. While the company was setting records for production of the J65, engineers concentrated on improvements in the engine which raised its output to 7800 pounds thrust, from the origInal 7200. Because the J65 has good growth characteristics, its power is still being increased.

Curtiss- Wright J65 Turbojet Engine Assembly Line A Douglas A4D "Skyhawk", powered by the J65, set a world's closed course speed record of 695 . 163 miles per hour in October, 1955 at Edwards Air Force Base in CalUornia. Other records set by J65-powered military aircrafl include: Republic F-84F Thunderslreak set faslest time ever when it won the Bendix Trophy in 1954; three Thunderstreaks set a non-stop record from Los Angeles to New York of 3 hours, 46 minutes, 33.6 seconds; 12 Thunderstreaks set a non-stop record from England to Austin, Texas, of 10 hours, 48 minutes; six North American F J3 Furies accomplished the unprecedented mark of 703 hours flyIng time in four weeks at Patuxent Naval Air Station, Maryland. 9

Douglas A4D-l "Skyhawk", holder of the SOD-kilometer closed-course speed record, is powered by a Curtiss-Wright J65-W-4 turbojet engine .

Republic F-84F "Thunderslreak" powered by a Curtiss-Wright J65-W-3 turbojet engine.

The J65 powers seven high-speed operational military aircraft. They are Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, RF-84F Thundernash, Martin B-57B Canberra, Douglas A4D Skyhawk, North American F J3 and F J4 Furies and the Grumman Fll-F-l Tiger . 10

Curtiss-Wright J65-W-6 Turbojet EngIne with Afterburner

Grumman F-llF "Tiger" powered by a Curtiss-Wright J65- W-6 turbojet engine. With engines such as the J65 and the Turbo Compound in production, Wright Aeronautical Division is forging ahead in ultimates of aircraft power plant development. The ground-breaking at Curtiss-Wright' s new Research and Development Center at Quehanna, Pa., late in 1955, provided Wright Aeronautical Division with facilities for developing and testing jet engtnes in the 100,000 pound thrust class. With a history behind it that is synonomous with the history of aviation, Wright Aeronautical Division today is looking forward to even greater achievements in air power.

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CURTISS- lIRIGHT CORPORATION

wright Aeronautical DiVision

Date ,

THE

ENGINEERING

June 1, 1957

ORGANIZATION

I hardly need to stress to you the importance ot the Fngl.neering Department in esuring our future in the aircraft engine business. A great deal of manageasnt ertort has been applied to the proper organization ot this depart:nent.

It operates its OWl machine shop, its own 8.fIsembly and test facilities, its own financial. and administrative controls, all in acid.J. ticn to the design and

development ACtivities normally associated with engineering .

Engineering has

its own contracts with commercial and military customere. These include the Product I!lprov81lent Contracts which supply fWlds for the conhnued development

ot production engines and the Rese3rCh and Development Contracts for the develop. ment or new engines . tomorroW" 5 production 18 truly dependent upon Engineering' 8 ability to improve today' s engines and to develop new engines to lIleet changing

customer requirements . There are over four thousand people performing jobs in Engineering} e~ch contributing special talent toward tultlllaent of the over all objective. Over 800 engineers are engaged in all phases of engine deslgn and developmentJ some 600 eaployees fabricate experimental parts as the configurations are taken trom the drawing boards ot the )00 draftSiAen. 'nlree hundred are engaged in scb.eduling and procuring parts ; 1,0 write operation sheets and design tools Others, skilled in Tarioue technical occupations such as metallurgy, engine test1ng g and engineering order writing proTide 1rAportant services that complement the 'WOrk of the design engineer.

In 1956, the total .aount spent on Engineering development and production engina improvement exceeded $60 million . Here are eoae ot the major accomplishments tor 19561 1. 2. 3.

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lppron.ate1y 11, 000 hours ot tull .. scale engme testing. Jpprox1llately 30, 000 hours of component te.ting . llmost 10, 000 "lngineering Orders ot .:11 types released. ReTised or developed over 10, CX>O Bill ot Material sheete. Rele •• ed 18, 000 nev drawings and 17, 000 cbanged drawing • • Prepared 150 .ajor technical reports tor custoaers .

1bere were 170 active engines during the year . these were run on twenty-one tull- scale fac111t7 installations, and OTer eighty additional test facilities were utilized to bandl.e rig and component. testing . Il.JIost eight adllion gallons of aviation gasoline and jet fuel were used, and. 900, 000 equare yarde of blueprint paper vas used.

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Development of a new engine model takes alruost five years from the time the idea is born. In the beginning, specifications of engine characteristics and perfonnance must be written and coordinated with the military or the C.. A.. A.. _ depending upon 1 ts ul taste use.. Once established. they become the target to which all engine development is directed.. each specification requirement is met through performance test1ng~ the engine moves closer to the day it car; ">e released to production.. 'lhis span ot time for an engine development program can be broken into rather distinct phases as shown by the first chart attached ..

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Development 'WOrk extends over a period ot some four or f:l. va years and takes many dollars and test hours t.o accomplish . Th.e four major phases of engine

developl'llent are: 10 2.

Design and Initial Development

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Product Improvement and Prod\\clbility Service Fix ald Refinement

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Qualification and Substantiation

During the later development life of an engine model, certain model changes are also developed for specific airplane needs, to increase the engine ratings, or provide growth.. Ul functional groups ot the Ingineering organization are geared to this development process at the appropriate times ~ The reC81.pt o£ a contract initiates a chain o£ activity which spans specification writing and coordination with customers, engine and component design, release and procurement of experimental engines, component, full=scal.e 3ld flight testing , release of the Production Bill of Katerial, and necessary re=engineering as indicated by production and service engine experience. The bottom of the first chart shows a typical engine development program relating current WAD developmEnt and service engine programs to the four development ph8B8S just described... It is important to have engines in all stages of the develop_ ment cycle to assure the continuing avalleblllty- of salable production eng1nes~

The second chart shows the Engineering organization through the Division level and shows the full range of functions carried out and thel.r interrelation. Those groups which perform technical 'WOrk or "engineering" of the engine and its components report to the Chief Technical Engineer and Chief' Development frlgineer. The Administrator provides the physical services, hardware, facilities and administrative controls necessary to accomplish the technical pr'"ogram... The Engineering Controller 1s responsible for the funding and financial control of the entire departmental operationo

The development cycle covers the major engine activities performed. by Engineering . 'lhe organization structure established to accomplish this task is headed by Jack Charshafian, Vice President and Director of Engineering. There are four departments reporting to the Director .. the Chief Technical F.cgineer l s Department, with Dr. Walker as Chief Engineer, the Chief Development Engineer's Depart:mmt with Jack Charshafian temporarily acting as Chief' E'Jlgineer, the En.. gineering Administrator Department, headed by Frank Wiegan:l , and the Engineering Controller Department, under Herb Stelljes .. 'nle \tlole Engineering organization effort below the department level is set up on a product basis with specialized. services supporting the product, or project groups.

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'!he five major classes of aircraft engines in various stages of development are hatdled by tour specialized. project engineering groups at the assistant department level. Turbo-Jet and Turbo- Fan de'Yelopment are directed by George '(eUer; Dual Cycle DeveloprAE!Ilt by &d Heaton; Ram Jet Development is handled by George Browo The fourth grotlp9 \mder BUI Eicbberg, htmdles the continuin.g job or reciprocating and J6, service engine development.. 'n1ese groups provide development continuity tor their respective engine models and direct the teclmical. effort necessary to obtain final approval of the engine.. Hal Francis is responsible for controls and accessories for all engine models ..

In this manner, a specialized

group is established to handle the peculiar problems associated with their developtlent tor all engines .. the project groups are responsible not only for the technical development of their engines, but tor getting the job done on tim.e and wi thin the amount ot money allocated o 'Jhe Project Icgineering groups call upon various technical and service groups within Engineering tor assistance. Brold Pierce, the aasistant chief engineer of Preliminary Design j Don Clark, the assistant chief engineer of Component Development and Gus Constantino, the assistant chief engineer of Technical Data are responsible tor generating and analyzing data pertaining to engine components, tor matching these components il tor developing model specifications and studying prel1m1n~ and adT8nced design problems in aero and the~odynam1cs and combustion _.. in general preparing an engine tor the development stage and aiding the project engineer in his specialized. development problems . Advanced Manufacturing Methods, \Ulder Hem Hmink studies and proposes new manufacturing techniques keeping the project engineer abreast of the latest processing techniques and materials .s pec! .. fications . Norton Jamieson, Experimental Facilities, coordinates facilities requirements for teeting with the project groups and other affected organizatione. Problems in design, stress l! and vibrations are investigated by the assistant chief engineer - Design, under VincEIlt Moore . Final drawings are detailed from layouts by this organization. Metallurgyil uncler Andy Slachta, 'With its laborator, facilities and technical persomel ll provides vital data on I1aterlals il processes and part con... figuration8 used in experimental and production eng1neso '!he Controller operates a comp1ete financial s8T"vice including priclngil contract administrationil financial forecasts il operatic( budget~, facility utilization studies, and f'lmct.ional audits - which m.easure the effectiv8u\:16S ot project groups. One ot the most useful by- products of this important activity is a very detailed monthly financial analysis of Engineering Department accomplishments . This report serves to pinpoint and anticipate problem areas for correct17e action by responsible supervision . The Works Manager, Quality Manageril Assistant Chief Engineer for Flight Test, ;md the Assistant Chief Engineer for Experimental Facilities report in the line organization to the Engineering Adm1nistratoro Crucial to the maintenance of continued growth in the Filgineering Deparment 1s the acquisition ot necessary m.anpower skUls. Monroe Brown, Personnel Administration, is responsible for manpower planning, recruitment, and personnel development. Other activitiea reporting to the Engineering Administrator are Systems and Procedures and Security.

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Once the project has moved fro. tID idea to the hardware stage}) Engineering Works Manager~ Bob Llebendorter g pt"OrtJies the parts and .facilities tor testing ~ Under his cognizance are the procurements! fabricatioD, as sembling and t esting

operations.

Experimental Quality, under Chuck Holopi gl an, maintains surveillance

over the entire operation to assure adequate qual! ty 11'1 maintained during the procurement }) fabrication and testing cyelel!l o As developlient continues , problems associated with installation and operation in air craft are investigated in flight operations conducted at Edwards Air Force Ba se, Cal1.!om ia. Frank Lary is the J.aaistant Chief Engineer for Yllght Operations q

lhen the engine is tin ally r~leaeed to Production» the responsibility for continued development and improvement is Tested with Product Engineering under Bill Elcbberg o This group continuea the developmEilt of service engine models and provides liaison with other departments during the production and service life of the angine . It is interesting to note that in terms of four major tunctional activities by the Engineering Department, the percentage of total manpower assigned to each has remained quite stable over the years o Thirty- five per cent of. all manpower utilized by the organization is tor Engineering and Design ~rk,9 fifteen per cent is expended in Production .J.ssistanee,9 thirty per cent is engaged in Experimental Procurement and Manufacturing , and the remaining twenty per cent in ExperiJaental Testing ..

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I hope this brief description of the Engineering organization provides a better understanding of the role it plays 1n maintaining and furthering the excellent reputation of WAD products in the aircraft industry.

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