New Fordson Tractor / Ford Airport: All Metal Tri-Motor Production Part 2
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: a. Workers in farmyard cutting wood with tractor-powered saw. “The End.” [1930] b. “Mr. Ford’s Laboratory and Office, adjoining airport.” Aerial view. “Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan.” Aerial view. “The factory and main hangar group.” Aerial view. “Some of the completed planes ready to be flown away.” Ford all metal Tri-Motor planes on field. “All incoming material is carefully inspected before being placed in stock.” Workers placing sheets of metal on tables, measuring it - pipe being weighed. “Alclad and Duraluminum metal sheets -- the material out of which the planes are built.” Hand picking up edges of metal sheets. “Corrugating the sheets for stiffness.” Sheet metal running through corrugating press. “Heat treat pots -- the secret of the surprising strength of these alloys, as strong as steel and only one-third the weight.” Metal being dipped into vat of hot liquid. “Big power presses stamp out spars and channels.” Workers operating large press. “Buffing and polishing special sections.” Worker using power buffer. “All metal is sprayed and painted for protection against the elements.” Spray painting part. “All parts are inspected again before going to the assembly racks -- in fact every assembly division has its own inspector.” Worker inspecting parts, placing them on shelves. “Each assembly section has stock rack close at hand with all the needed parts.” Partially constructed Tri-Motor, workers attaching landing gear. “Installing the wing engines -- note the metal propellers.” Close-up of motor. “Progressive assembly line.” [1928]
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