April

Temco sales and profits for 1949 are well above the 1948 level. Company sales and earnings last year increased substantially over 1947, reflecting its sharp rise in contract maintenance and repair work on aircraft as well as production of numerous commercial products. Net income totaled $871,252 equal to $7.78 per share, for the year ending December 31, 1947. The increase in sales and profits are continuing during the current year. Sales for the first two months of 1949 totaled $2,480,251 and earnings amounted to $241,107, or $2.15 a common share. This represents a very substantial increase over January and February of last year, according to H. L. Howard Executive Vice President. Preliminary figures indicate March sales of $1,315,000. The company’s total sales volume in 1948 totaled $10,088,951, an increase of 71% over sales of $5,895,255 reported for 1947.!948 earnings amounted to 8.6% of sales, while in 1947 the ratio was 6.3%.

A substantial part of the company’s sales for 1948 consisted of contracts for overhaul, modification and conversion of military aircraft for the U. S. Gvernment and many foreign governments. The company overhauled a large percentage of the C-54 airplanes used in the Berlin Air Lift.  The company continued production and sales, through dealer organizations, of the Swift personal airplane. The Swift airplane has been used by the company as a basis for a new trainer, the Temco TE-1A.

Temco awarded a $300,000 rehabilitation contract from the Air Force for the Republic of Columbia according to H. L. Howard, Executive Vice President, who had just returned from Miami where negotiations were completed. The contract involves 22 planes sold to Columbia by the U. S State Department. Work is expected to begin within two weeks upon release of the planes by the U. S. Air Force. Complete overhaul work, through flight testing stages, of the 12 F-47 fighter planes, 8 C-47 transport planes and 2 PBY amphibians. Temco is currently engaged in rehabilitation work for more than a dozen foreign countries as well as the U. S. Air Force. Temco will build components for one of the nation’s leading bombers, Boeing Aircraft Company’s B-54, according to company President Robert McCulloch. He said that the company received an initial order for 43 major units of the huge four-engine ship, successor to the Boeing B-50 of round-the-world non-stop fame and work would begin immediately. Movement of partially completed assembly fixtures and production planning and tool planning information from Boeing’s Wichita, Kansas plant to Temco is already underway. McCulloch said Temco would do tooling fabrication and assembly work of the elevator, rudders, ailerons, and trim tabs for both the B-54 and B-51A under the original order. The components will be sent to Seattle, Washington, where the B-54 assembly will be done in Boeing’s main plant. Temco must tool up for the program, according to Harold Ridgeley, foreman in charge of the Tooling Department. The Boeing plant will furnish all available photo-templates and master layouts from which tooling information will be derived. Ridgeley estimates that Temco will need to build some 1200 detail tools to do the job.

May

McCulloch announces that lifting of the Berlin Blockade will not materially affect reconditioning work on the C-54 airplanes for the Air Force.  It is anticipated that cycle of overhaul of C-54 transport planes would continue as part pf a program to keep the U. S. air arm in top condition. However the need for overtime would likely diminish.

The Boeing project, coupled with the recent $300,000 order from the government of Columbia will necessitate an immediate increase in Temco’s employment, which is already above 3000. Temco receives contracts from Boeing for the manufacture of parts for the B-47 airplane and from Consolidated Vultee to manufacture components for the B-33. It appears likely that B-47 orders will increase since prospects are good that it will become the standard Air Force jet bomber. It is anticipated that orders will result from request for quote from Consolidated Vultee work on the B-36 bomber.

President Robert McCulloch announced that negotiations with Uraguay and Ecuador illustrates once again that Temco has the confidence of foreign countries. When consummated the new contracts would bring to 12 the number of foreign governments for which Temco has formed or is performing conversion, rehabilitaion, or overhaul of aircraft. These include China, the Philippines, Venezuela, Columbia, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Cuba Sweden and the Union of South Africa. In addition C-47’s have been converted for Orient Airways of Calcutta India and Aervoias Nacionales de Columbia, and C-54’s for Far Eastern Air Transport of Norway and Philippine Airlines.

Forty members of The Air Force Association ,  a national organization made up of former members of  the Army Air Forces, visited the Temco plant to see first hand the job Temco is doing overhauling C-54’s for the Berlin Airlift and converting fighters and bombers for foreign governments.  The visitors were greeted by Executive Vice-President, H. L. Howard, John A. Maxwell, Executive Assistant, and Major John Disbro, Air Force Representative, and were shown a short film depicting the debut of the TE-IA Temco Military Trainer in Washington.  Following the film the visitors were taken on a plant tour with Superintendent Wilhelm Bischoff, and Foremen J. V. McIntosh, P. F. Young, H. B. Ridgley, Doyle Beasley, Roy Gowin and E. Mullaney acting as guides.  Interest was equally divided between the C-54 Final Assembly Line, the Temco Trainer, the Radar Shop and the Luxury Airliner being converted for the President of Venezuela.     

Two new soundproofing kits are now available to make the Swift the quietest light plane in the world.  The kits were developed the Temco Engineering Department in conjunction with Wayne Rudmore, Electric-Accoustic Consultant of Southern Methodist University.  With new kits installed the noise levels compared favorably those in the pilot’s position in a DC-3 airliner.   The world famous “Sacred Cow” was received in the delivery pool at Temco.  The ship has logged 3000 hours and is here for complete overhaul and conversion.  The plane has many special features built in, such as armor plate for the stateroom, electric controlled ladder at the main entry as well as a special elevator for gaining entrance through the belly of the ship.  The passenger list on this plane has included such names as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Harry S. Truman, General Hap Arnold, Secretary of State George Marshall, Foster Dulles, Madam Chiang Kaishek and many others, with logged stops in Key West, San Juan, Guatamala, Paris, Rome, and Athens, to name a few.

December

Buckaroo selected as the name for the Temco military-type trainer.  After consideration of more than 500 names submitted by employees, the Temco (TE-1A) T-35 military trainer has been officially named the Temco Buckaroo, according to President Bob McCulloch.  The name was one of five submitted by P. A. Tiede, an assemblyman in Department 80. Tiede was awarded a $50.00 U. S. Savings Bond for his winning submission.  McCulloch said the name Buckaroo was selected because it is both completely Texan and symbolizes the Temco spirit; at the same time it brings to mind those qualities of ruggedness, endurance, and ability to hold ones own under all conditions, which is so typical of the Temco Trainer.  According to the dictionary a Buckaroo is a cowboy or bronc buster, and is derived from the Spanish word Vaquero.

The first Temco T-35 Buckaroo destined for foreign service is to be shipped to the Philippines as soon as it can be rolled off the assembly line, according to President Bob McCulloch.  McCulloch said the Buckaroo was ordered by “Pappy” Gun, technical advisor to the Philippine Air Force.  McCulloch said the Buckaroo today is an even better airplane than the original TE-1A prototype, which was demonstrated to the Air force early this year.  Major improvements which make the production model practically a new airplane include such items as, changes in the fuselage contours, a three-piece jettisonable canopy, cockpit instrumentation, lighting and general arrangement of furnishings to Air Force specifications, a new controllable automatic constant speed propeller, installation of new design of wing to fuselage fillets, etc.  The first production ship is scheduled to come off the line during the first week of January 1950.  Two new additions to the Temco electrical products line are, a highway blinker known as the Road Beacon, and a marine buoy flasher called the Aqualite are now being tested preparatory to market next year.  Both of the new products are battery-powered devices that will operate continuously for five to eight months on a single set of batteries.  Three Road Beacon units already have been supplied to the Texas Highway Department, and are being installed on a divided highway island near Childress, Texas for testing. 

The plant will be closed for the Holidays through Monday December 26, 1949 and again on January 2, 1950.  Operations will resume on January 3, 1950.