|
February 1944 Popular Science
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early
electronics. See articles from
Popular
Science, published 1872-2021. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
|
At the same time that
radio frequency waves were being applied to wireless communications, they were
also being used for applications in medicine, food preparation and
sterilization, manufacturing, and in other realms. The usefulness of x-rays was
known to most people, even if they didn't understand them. At much lower
frequencies, particularly microwaves, RF signal interaction with water and other
types of liquid molecules provides an effective and efficient means of heating
to accelerate cooking of meat and curing of adhesives. The latter is what this
Fairchild infomercial appearing in a 1944 issue of Popular Science
magazine touted as an example of how they are inventing and applying cutting
edge technology to help win World War II. The use of microwave heating for
curing plywood has been used since high power vacuum tubes capable of those
frequencies were invented.
Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation - Electronic Energy
 The Touch of Tomorrow in the Planes of Today
New Magic from the Mysterious Electron
Through X-ray, the unfathomable electron has saved millions of lives. Through
radio, it has extended man's hearing to every corner of the world. Through television,
it permits him to see beyond all previous limits of sight.
And now Fairchild's Duramold engineers have harnessed the electron to a new and
urgent task - the manufacture of aircraft components.
The usual plywood techniques for joining thin layers of wood could not be applied
in making highly stressed, thick sections. New methods were needed - in a hurry.
Duramold engineers found the solution in electronic energy, employing radio high
frequency with apparatus similar to that used by radio stations in sending out short
wave broadcasts.
Heat generation by radio frequency, coupled with special adhesives, now turns
out better, stronger aircraft parts. And the production cycle has been clipped from
hours to minutes. The use of electronics is becoming a new and important technique
in Duramold's process for assembling molded wood structures.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Fairchild engineers, with their flair for getting
the "touch of tomorrow in the planes of today," a new technique has been successfully
applied toward the common goal of turning out stronger planes - and doing it faster.
Buy War Savings Bonds and Stamps regularly.
Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
Ranger Aircraft Engines Division, Farmingdale, L.I. • Fairchild Aircraft
Division, Hagerstown, Md ... Burlington, N. C. • Duramold Division, New York,
N. Y.
Posted April 5, 2024
|
