Trisonic Wind Tunnel Demolition

[phantomphan1974]

Sad, another part of our history is almost history with the demolition of the Trisonic Wind Tunnel in El Segundo.  My friend worked there a number of years.  Its demolition is due to UCLA not wanting to pay clean up fees down the road and doing it now while Rockwell Intl is still around.  They donated it to UCLA and would clean site when they did not want it anymore otherwise I think UCLA wound foot the bill.
Complete set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39927206@N08/sets/72157622738580492/

[phantomphan1974]

Info regarding cans:

Hello all:
   Thanks Les for the pictures.  I must admit that seeing your photos and  those from Courville made me feel a kick to the gut.  It's sad that someone in the business could not see a way to keep her going.  We thought maybe TWT could have become  a co-op,  if not outright ownership by some company for the price of the property. It's doubly sad that someone made the decision to  allow that unique test facility to fall to the knackers. Shame on UCLA.
    I have wondered if the wrecking team had any idea how many cans were in the tanks. The cans are of interest to several folks. I have pal,  ex-B-1,  who sent an email asking about the cans and heard comments that the cans were still shiny, no rust.. Yes the air was very dry, thanks to that gas fired air dryer that  was a pain in the arse to keep in operation.
    Here is some trivia, FYI:  How many cans?  According to my notes, there were 135 rail cars (open gondolas) full of cans.  Some one calculated their weight as 1,500,000 lbs!  (I did occasionally wonder if a tank  seam weld failed, would we spew cans all over El Segundo? )  As most know, the cans provided temperature stabilization for the air.  The air was hot coming out of the compressors,  cooled by the intercooler and after cooler, but still about 100 F. (as I recall), as it went into the tanks. During  during a blow,  the air  cooled due to expansion. Having extremes in tunnel air temperature, blow to blow, would be unacceptable.  So, to provide better temperature stabilization, tin cans were selected by those smart NAA design guys during the early 1950s.  They looked a several concepts, rings, steel shavings etc. and settled on tin cans. The tin cans  were mostly without ends, just tin cylinders, to  provide  massive surface area  as a heat sink, while taking up  minimum tank volume. (Tank volume was 214,000 cu. ft. ) We could see the cans by entering the big manifold and going  up to the tank outlets where cans were retained by  grating.  There were lots of juice cans and beer cans.  Remember Lucky Lager?  They were there by the thousands, with the big X still visible on the labels.. There was a  funny story about buying the cans.  Seems NAA  talked to a major can mfg. (maybe American Can  or Continental Can Co.), and made a deal to buy  cheaper rejects.  After having several RR cars  of rejects delivered, an executive from the can company called NAA and says "What is an airplane company doing with all our rejected cans?"   He was told and said he would like to see the job.  He came on site, and watched the conveyor dump all those cans into the top hatch of a tank, then said something like "Dang we have lots of rejected cans!".  He goes home and tightens up the manufacturing process so much that the rejected can supply tapered off.  NAA, with a schedule to meet, had to go to another can company to supplement the initial purchase.  I'm sure Dick Leef has a bunch of early TWT stories, and is one of the few who can add to, or correct  this story.
    I was sorry I could not be there for the TWT  "wake" and last blow  in September of '08.  I certainly  thought it fitting and proper that  Dick  Leef, ("Mr. Trisonic"), was there, the only person who saw the very first blow in 1958  and the last blow, some 50 years later.  Trisonic Wind Tunnel  was an outstanding facility, no matter what name was on the building or data, NAA, Rockwell International, and later, Microcraft or Allied AeroSpace. She was a tribute to all the exceptional  folks who kept her afloat all those years. I am honored to have been a small part of her history and to have worked with so many wonder people, including staff , associates and customers.

[phantomphan1974]

Going to stop by again today, hopefully enough light left to catch the progress for my friend Dean Heald who use to work there.  He now works at another tunnel in Virgina for NASA.

[aim9xray]

I recently ran across this piece of original art depicting the facility, which gives you a good idea of the layout.  Donated by Terry Hughes, it is on display at the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport.

[phantomphan1974]

I think my friend Dean Heald know him.  I went last week and not really much change.  Two of the air tank bases are gone but behind the fence.