THUNDER MAKERS

[Music] cider ignition pressurized he's led because I start okay Jerry [Applause] [Applause] here we go [Music] this is the j57 turbojet engine its specifications are of course restricted designed by Pratt & Whitney it's one of the most powerful production engines nor in the air it drives with a thrust of over 20,000 horsepower more powerful than a hundred modern motor cars [Music] the j57 is built in the world's largest factory the aircraft engine division of the Ford Motor Company in Chicago but people are working on this engine all over America in Indianapolis Louisville Toledo Cleveland and Boston men and machines are at work to produce parts for the j57 more than a million of them in thousands of plants are contributing their skills for the defense of the free world day by day materials roll into the receiving docks at Chicago ear rough forgings from Canton Ohio are unloaded and stockpiled away [Music] these are the Thunder make us the men and machines that build the j57 [Music] here the center shaft is set and it begins to take form this lathe bites off a quarter-inch of tough steel alloy later the shaft will be smooth and polished like the jewel on your watch [Music] other hands remeasure Andry gauge the finished parts that come from suppliers across the country this is a compressor disc that may have traveled a thousand miles every part every bearing must be checked and rechecked against rigid engine specifications this girl is wearing invisible gloves a protective cream which prevents perspiration from damaging bearing surfaces before our engine is complete over 100,000 checking and testing operations will have taken place [Music] our center shaft requires 12 boring operations just to shape its internal contour this part is called the front compressor rotor hub it's hard to say and harder to make and only the gauges and instruments can be sure these turbine blades on approaching machine are nicknamed buckets when the operator completes the machining he measures them to a ten thousandth of an inch machinee and inspecting [Music] cycle after cycle [Music] this technique is typical of aircraft engine production where each part is tested at each stage to make sure perfection [Music] magnesium and titanium are tricky metals to handle their machine in a separate air-conditioned area these jig bars work so accurately that fine adjustments are made with microscope sights the machines are mounted and rubber floats to insulate them from factory vibrations [Music] this man is neither a pilot nor a flight engineer but he might as well be he's testing fuel flow at a simulated altitude of 45,000 feet he'll can do strange things to pumps and manifolds eight miles up use dry eyes to bring fuel down to 65 degrees below and you test parts under realistic flying conditions but inspection would be worthless without isolation and protection of the perfect parts and components which are stored here on the Air Force bond to await final assembly in the final assembly area inspection is continued even to the size of dust particles in the air protective air conditioning filters out all particles more than 140 F as large as the head of a pin air conditioning also maintains the constant temperature and humidity necessary to precision final assembly aircraft engine production is not new to Ford but this is a new kind of engine the most complicated aircraft power plant in the world [Music] this is mass production but mass production with the ultimate in precision here on the sub assembly lines the engine begins to take form piece-by-piece pods are put together [Music] fuel lines and pumps are added in flight you'll burn a tanker of fuel at a time with a most power per gallon of fuel of any production jet engine [Music] sub assemble parts are tested like these compressor rotors dynamically balanced while revolving at high speed final assembly begins gear where the giant engine has tipped over into its cradle [Music] steady now this is over 4,000 pounds of delicate mechanism over 12,000 separate precision parts [Music] swing on the power package the afterburner that gives our pilots the extra kick for maximum speed [Music] connect the lines and cables and add the test gear [Music] back to the test cell all engines go through the same assembly sequence build test disassemble inspect rebuild retest [Music] [Applause] the men here and their machines are the thunder makers today if you look quickly you may see a j57 hurling a fighter through the sky or a b-52 obama and tomorrow you may race the Sun coast-to-coast in a giant airliner powered by man-made thunder [Music]