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March
Fairchild orders 20 additional bottom panels, enclosures, and 20 sets of upper and lower fins for the C-82. The company has been doing subassembly work on Fairchild’s C-82 program for the previous two years. Directors of Temco declared a $6.00 per share accumulative dividend, to preferred stockholders of record as of February 26, 1948. The dividend is payable March 10th. It embraces quarter-year dividends of $1.50 each for the last three quarters of 1946, and the first quarter of 1947. Members of the board attending the meeting were; Temco President Robert McCulloch, Executive Vice President H. L. Howard, D. Harold Byrd, James M. Cumby, A. V. Graff, and Secretary Clyde Williams.
The company received an order from the Glen L. Martin Co. for the modification of nine Martin 202 passenger airplanes for Northwest Airlines. The company has done work on 202’s before for Northwest, but this order was a direct order from Martin.
In addition to the standard popcorn machines, the company is manufacturing machines that pop corn right on the spot and larger machines designed to accommodate three customers at a time. The pop on the spot machines are being built for Interstate Theatres located throughout Texas, while the three customer machines are for Auto-Vend Company of Dallas. Work was started on 2500 Super Vend drink machines and 46 will be produced in March according to Superintendent, T. F. Riddle. The company has gained considerable experience in producing vending machines, having manufactured more than 20,000 such machines in its two years of operation. The company has appointed 50 factory dealers among aviation operators throughout the country to handle sales, service, maintenance, and spare parts for the two-place Swift 125 personal airplane, according to Leonard Larson Swift Sales manager. Larson reports substantial sales to customers in 19 foreign countries.
July
The Chinese Government selected Temco to rehabilitate 95 U. S. fighter aircraft recently purchased from the U. S. Government. The order embraces 53 P-51 Mustangs and 42 P-47 Thunderbolts, with rehabilitation costs set at $600,000. Temco won the bid following competition from half a dozen American companies. Plant rearrangement was completed for overhaul of 45 Douglas C-54 transport planes. The $2,700,000 C-54 contract was awarded by the Air Force after it had considered five other bids. The entire final assembly area had to be rearranged to accommodate the large C-54 aircraft according to Otto Witbeck, superintendent in charge of this project. Together with the Chinese contract this raises the company’s 1948 backlog to more than $700,000,000, more than the company’s entire business for last year. Some C-54’s overhauled by Temco were used in the Berlin Airlift an operation necessary during the Cold War with Russia. AT-6’s being overhauled for the Philippine Air Force were originally built in the plant when it was North American by employees that now work for Temco.
Needing room to grow, company founders Robert McCulloch and Bert Howard selected the former World War II pilot training site in Greenville Texas to handle the overflow work. The work performed at Greenville was primarily for the Air Force, while Grand Prairie concentrated on work for the U. S. Navy. In order to reflect its aircraft activities, the company subsequently changed its name to TEMCO Aircraft Corporation.
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