BuffaloChuck
Airplanes are made by hand...
Curtiss-Wright O-52 "Owl" production in Buffalo, Kenmore Avenue Plant, winter 1941
What a labor-intensive process! On aircraft assembly lines, the "workbench" production method was used, whereby larger or more complex parts were made and fitted by hand, using teams of highly-skilled workers.
This illustrates well the problems that Henry Ford and other automakers encountered when they tried to apply automotive assembly line practices to the production of World War II aircraft. Aircraft were much more complicated than cars, and many problems arose when automakers tried to mass-produce aircraft using existing automotive production methods and tooling. In addition, the car industry was inherently less-flexible, and was unable to incorporate the frequent design changes that typified military aircraft.
Photographer: Dmitri Kessel, Life Magazine
© Time Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. Photos can be found online at: images.google.com or at www.life.com. (Search using both "Curtiss" and "Buffalo" keywords at both sites.)
Notes: I have attempted to correct any irregularities in the originally posted photos. You may notice the occasional 'Life' logo is shown backwards or upside-down. This is intentional. Many of the originally posted photos were backwards or otherwise mis-oriented. In addition, captions were often inaccurate, so these were corrected where possible—and I've liberally added my own comments. Hope you enjoy!
Airplanes are made by hand...
Curtiss-Wright O-52 "Owl" production in Buffalo, Kenmore Avenue Plant, winter 1941
What a labor-intensive process! On aircraft assembly lines, the "workbench" production method was used, whereby larger or more complex parts were made and fitted by hand, using teams of highly-skilled workers.
This illustrates well the problems that Henry Ford and other automakers encountered when they tried to apply automotive assembly line practices to the production of World War II aircraft. Aircraft were much more complicated than cars, and many problems arose when automakers tried to mass-produce aircraft using existing automotive production methods and tooling. In addition, the car industry was inherently less-flexible, and was unable to incorporate the frequent design changes that typified military aircraft.
Photographer: Dmitri Kessel, Life Magazine
© Time Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. Photos can be found online at: images.google.com or at www.life.com. (Search using both "Curtiss" and "Buffalo" keywords at both sites.)
Notes: I have attempted to correct any irregularities in the originally posted photos. You may notice the occasional 'Life' logo is shown backwards or upside-down. This is intentional. Many of the originally posted photos were backwards or otherwise mis-oriented. In addition, captions were often inaccurate, so these were corrected where possible—and I've liberally added my own comments. Hope you enjoy!