Tuesday, March 31, 2015

April 11,2015

Looking for something to do on April 11th with your left over Easter Eggs? Visit the museum for some EGG-Science including an EGG-Drop Competition.

EGG-Science Experiments beginning at 11:00 am
EGG-Drop Competition starts at 12:30pm
(prizes awarded and pre-registration is required)

For more details on the day's activities and competition guidelines, please visit, our calendar page.

Visit folks and have fun.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

DON, a retired employee for American Airlines.

Don sent me this e-mail after my request.
Thanks, DON
 
 
Good morning Randy,
 I started out as a ticket agent in Syracuse in 1956 and was promoted to a supervisor in GSW Res and moved to Texas in 1966. Two years later I was promoted to a Sales Rep in Ft Worth where I called on known customers from Ft Worth to Odessa and all points in between.. In 1976 I got involved in the AAir Pass Program where we sold transportation on a pre-paid basis. From there I went on to become the Southern Division Manager with the responsibility for the sales of conventions, company meetings and corporate sales. Retired November 30, 1993.
Don

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

My little champ.

This is the airplane I got my Pilots license.  Nice little airport airplane. Ha

There, there Miss Knoxville...

I can remember when she flew through Nashville and I had the honor of keeping her airworthy.

Monday, March 23, 2015

EGG-Stravaganza April 11th


Looking for something to do on April 11th with your left over Easter Eggs? Visit the museum for some EGG-Science including an EGG-Drop Competition.

EGG-Science Experiments beginning at 11:00 am
EGG-Drop Competition starts at 12:30pm
(prizes awarded and pre-registration is required)

For more details on the day's activities and competition guidelines, please visit, our calendar page.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

The CR Smith Museum Hangar.

  1. A beautiful Hangar.















  2. Notice the wing airfoil Roof.
  1. Phone (817) 9671560
  2. The American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum is located on the campus of the American Airlines Flight Academy, which is situated at the southern end of DFW International Airport and in close proximity to the world headquarters of American Airlines. Wikipedia

  3. Address: 4601 Hwy 360, Fort Worth, TX 76155
  4. Hours:
    Open today · 9:00 am – 5:00 pm














  5. Phone: (817) 967-1560

Sort of ironic.

This is the book that American Airlines issued me. It was to teach me in ground school to tell how high we were..

Friday, March 20, 2015

Boeing 777.



My DC-6 operating manual,issued in 1953.

Now I hear, all the pilots carry, is a computer tablet.

.WOW my bag weighed 40 lbs.


Contents:  For Flight Engineer.

1. Operating manual,  " for equipment flying:

2. Part one.

3. . M.E.L. minimum equipment list.

4. Set of hand tools.  : to work on the airplane at stops where there was NO mechanic.

Our forcast for April 13th at 9 AM.


Hi Crew!

It appears that we have seen the last patch of that ICY weather and we might be on to Spring! We are just about to wrap up the FIRST QUARTER of 2015! Thank you all for your hard work and dedication! The museum could not operate without our volunteers and we want to take time to thank each of you for your service!

We will be having a Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on Monday, April 13th at 9am in the BlackHawk Dining Room (across the street by the cafeteria in same location as the December lunch).
Please RSVP by Saturday, March 28th so we can get a final head count! Please let me know if you would like to bring your spouse or a guest, they are welcome!


Highlights from First Quarter So Far:
Randy Foster started and continues to add to our Museum Blog- www.AAL1946.blogspot.com
We have implemented a new digital newsletter- https://www.smore.com/bq6db
First Culture and Cocktails: Sweet Indulgences held in February
We have had a great response for both our Black History and Women’s History Exhibits and Programs
**New Integration Timeline Exhibit on display in History Circle
**New American Airlines Theater Sign on display above Museum Theater

Thank you all again! It is truly a pleasure with working with each one of you!

Thursday, March 19, 2015

WOW !!! A happy lady.


Lauren I just gave a walk around inspection of our DC-3.

Ships log has been signed by the aircraft mechanic.

Now we are Ready to taxi .Parking brake release..Tail wheel unlocked.

All flight controls have blocks removed.

Shall we put this in the Museum.


Yes JOHN has just made the final call for the 10:30 AM movie.

The movie is shown every 30 minutes ...On the hour and on the half hour. It's free and a great movie.

Our Lounge at the entrance to the museum.

Yes our lounge is a good spot to visit after a very interesting tour of our fantastic Museum.

Tim has been programming one of our many computers.


The defibrillator is located just out side GATE 1-A.


Chasity is checking the log of theater goers.


Around the world in much less than eighty days.


Yes this Stewardess is a registered Nurse.


So this is how a JET engine works.


This flight simulator in the MUSEUM gets lots of time.


Round & Round she goes...

That is a lot of FUN to watch a Fhenomenon such as this..Centifugal action in action.

Bring up your favorite AA airplane


Boeing 777


Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The making of a DC-3.

Five hundred thousand rivets were used in the manufacture of the Douglas DC-3 airplane. The average size used in the manufacture was approximately 3-8 inches long, and if laid end-to-end, the rivets would cover a distance of 15,625 feet or more than three miles.
The lighting system of each DC-3 plane was sufficient to light an eight room house. More than 90 lights were used in each plane. 1,517 watts are required. To light an ordinary room in those days only 100 watts was required.
Approximately 6,000 men and women were employed in building a DC-3.
3,600 blueprints were turned out by the Engineering Department in the development of the DC-3. They covered approximately 28,000 square feet.
The total length of the control cables used on the DC-3 was over 2,850 feet, more than ½ mile.
Material used for sound insulation in the DC-3 and the DST "Sleeper" weighed 240 pounds. Blankets and mattresses weighed another 195 pounds.
3,900 feet of tubing, 8,000 feet of wire and approximately 13,300 square feet of sheet metal were used in the construction of each DC-3.
The heating and ventilation used in the DC-3 dispensed 1,000 cubic feet of air per minute on a warm day. As it took a little more than 15 hours to fly from Los Angeles to
New York , 900,000 cubic feet of air passed through the cabin or 60,000 to 75,000 pounds of air were utilized on the trip, depending on the altitude flown.
More than 120,000 BTUs were delivered to the cabin of a DC-3 on a cold day. On a flight to NY from LA, 1,800,000
BTUs were delivered during the 15 hours the plane was in the air. The boiler weighed 17 pounds and evaporated 15 gallons of water an hour. Approximately 225 gallons of water were evaporated from LA to NY. Only six quarts of water are carried in the heating system where it was continuously evaporated and condensed.
A radiator capable of heating air from 4 degrees F. to 200 degrees F. was installed in every DC-3. The air passed through the radiator at a speed of 3,000 feet a minute and since the radiator was only a foot long it took only 1/50 of a second to heat the air from 4 to 200 degrees. The radiator weighed 36 pounds.
Heating a DC-3 in the air was the equivalent of heating a building in a 200 mph wind at a 35 degree outside temperature .
Approximately 700,000 parts were used in the construction of the DC-3. This is exclusive of instruments and engine parts and exclusive also of the 500,000 rivets used on each plane.
The engines powering the DC-3 weighed 1,275 pounds each or a total of 2,550 pounds. This weight alone is a striking contrast to the payload available on some of the early airmail planes flown which was around 250 pounds.
At a cruise speed of 180 mph at 10,000 feet each engine developed 550 hp. Ninety-one gallons of fuel were used each hour giving approximately 2 miles per gallon

Saturday, March 14, 2015

DC-3 Electrical System.

DC-3 Operations Manual – Electrical

DC-3 Electrical PanelDownload the DC-3 Manual-Electrical System PDF
6-1  Power Supply
The electrical system is a 24 volt DC, single wire type.  The structure of the aircraft serves as a ground except for circuits in the vicinity of the magnetic compass, in which the ground is away from the compass.
Power Supply
  1.  Battery circuits
  2.  Aircraft batteries – two 12 volt 88 ampere hour batteries are connected in series to provide 24 volts to the bus.  Each battery is mounted on a carriage located within a box below the fuselage floor.  Access is through two drop down panels on the outside of the nose section of the fuselage.
  3. Ground power – an external power plug is installed in the bottom of the fuselage forward of the wing leading edge.  An amber light installed in the center of the overhead switch panel in the cockpit indicates when power is being furnished to the external power plug irrespective of battery switch position.  The battery switch should be placed in the external power position when power is plugged in.
  4. Battery switch – A single 3 position switch is installed on the right overhead switch panel in the cockpit to select aircraft batteries or ground power, with a center position for OFF.

Pictured is a piano Bar that was installed on our first Boeing 747..


Five of our American Airlines employees.






Five of OUR CR Smith VOLS.






I was the instructor for the Boeing 707 on AIR FORCE ONE.....Randy


4. Colonel James Swindal (SAM 26000)
Served: January 1961 to November 1963 (Kennedy),
then November 1963 to July 1965 (Johnson)

Pilot for President FDR and Harry Truman on the DC-4.

Pictured is Pilot Hank Meyers.
He flew these two presidents .. He also flew for American Airlines.