-

Christmas comes but once a year, andhere’s how it’s progressing at Grummanin 1971.

Donors responded to the persuasion ofJo Grimaldi and Elaine Montaperto ofthe Navy Office to give gifts or cash tohospitalized Vietnam servicemen. Grummanites in the F-14 Program offices inPlants 1 and 15 made it their cause,too. On December 14, Jo and Elaine,and Tern Woods and Joanne Butler ofthe F-14 Program distributed gifts atSt. Albans Naval Hospital. “With themoney that was given we bought 10portable radios and six Instamaticcameras. The F-14 people gave enoughto pay for two 18-inch color televisions,”reported J0 Grimaldi. “Grumman gaveus 30 baskets of fruit, and the Grumman people provided individual giftsfor 400 patients.”

Leo Senior, chairman of the ProductSupport Fund, announced $900 morethan last year’s $2,600, or a total of$3,500, was collected for families inneed. “Money came in literally from allover the world, from Product Supportpeople in Vietnam and on carriers, fromGrumman Field Service employeeseverywhere. The Department camethrough with flying colors. Tremendous.

Just great!” reported Senior. About 20Field Service reps asked that theirChristmas turkeys be distributed, too,

T li e long-established EngineeringChristmas Fund was running somewhatbehind the $5,065 total contributed lastyear for families and individuals whoseplights were brought to the attentionof the Fund committee. “We think a lotmore will come in,” Muriel Leightonsaid last week. “Somehow the casesthis year seem more hopeless—fatherssick or out of work for a long time, awidow with a family of young children,people needing encouragement.

Supply Operations, Plant 30, adoptedSt. Christopher’s Home in Sea Cliff, taking bicycles, baby walkers, wagons, andother large toys. “Hicksville BicycleShop was very generous and so was theCampagne Trucking Company,” reported Chairman Phil Duhamel. “Everybodywent out of the way to help. It was agreat success,” he said.

Carrying on a long tradition, Shipping& Spares Consolidation, sparked byJerry Mason, Tony Friscia, and LindaKost, collected $1,000, which they tooklast week to St. Mary of the AngelsHome in Syosset. Mike Broszazak wentalong as Santa.

The Navy Preliminary Evaluation ofTomcats l-X and No. 2 has ended. TheNavy NPE team was scheduled to present a critique on their findings on Saturday, December 18, with Navy, Corporate officers, and F-14 Program peoplein attendance.

About six weeks from now, the Navyis expected to issue a full “mission suitability” report.

During the NPE, 1-X had 14 flightsand racked up 31.9 hours. It flew supersonically for 74.5 minutes. Tomcat No.2 flew 25 flights and chalked up 42flight hours. All in 14 days.

There’s another progress note on the

Notice of events for period Jan. 14 - Jan. 28should reach Plane News by Tues., Jan. 4.Amateur Radio Club: Wed., Jan. 19, 5 p.m., WA2LQO

shack on roof of PIt. 5. E. Goodman, Ext. 87125.Chess Club: Tues., 5 p.m., PIt. 3 cafe, tournaments,

games. Alex lkonnikow, Ext. 7592.Coin Club: Wed., 12:05-12:50 p.m., PIt. 25 Vendor

Conf. Rms. Ken Hale, Ext. 1936.Duplicate Bridge Club: Ihurs., 5:45 p.m., PIt. 3

cafe, reserv. not required, partnerships arranged.S. Stone, Ext. 3652.

Ex-Sevicemen’s Club: Wed., Jan. 5, 7:30 p.m., Pit.28 Audit., reg. month. mtg. Al Kordula, Ext.87259.

Family Campers: Sun., Jan. 9, 5 p.m., PIt. 18, gen’lmtg. Bill Lord, Ext. 2914.

Fencing Club: Mon. & Wed., 4:30-6 p.m., PIt. 30cafe, competitive fenc. & instruction. Joe Campisi, Ext. 87587.

Retiree Club: Wed., Dec. 29, 12:30 p.m., HolidayManor, annual holiday pty. GAA, Ext. 2133.

About the coverMany people at Grumman remember

when the McGunnigle farm stood inback of Plant 5, and while jet planesroared into the air from the airport atPlant 4, horses grazed in an area justwest of South Oyster Bay Road. Thegrazing lands are now mostly macadam,but the old farmhouse still stands, andits entrance—captured by Walt Hudsonof Presentations Services—provided uswith our Christmas cover.

F-14:Tomcat No. 5, enroute to the Pacific

Missile Range at Point Mugu from Calverton, made a refueling stop at DallasDecember 11.

Among those on hand to meet Grumman Test Pilot Pete Purvis and MCOMarty Lacliow during their brief stopover were Capt. Louis J. Muery Jr.,commanding officer of the Naval AirStation, Dallas, and Rep. James Collinsof Texas.

No. 5 is the second Tomcat to go toPoint Mugu for avionics testing. To follow are Tomcats 6, 9, and 11, all fortesting with the AWG-9 missile system.

SkiClub: Wed,, Dec. 22, 8:30 p.m., Holiday Manor,Hicksville Rd., Bethpage. Bill Flynn, Ext. 1823.

Soccer Club: Sun., Jan. 9, 12:30 p.m., Reserve teamGlen Cove @ Glen Cove; 2:30 p.m., Premierteam vs Bay Shore @ Bay Shore, league & cupcompetition. Karl Herrnkind, Ext. 3470.

Stawp Club: First 3 Wed, of ea. month, 5 p.m.,PIt. 30 cafe, swap, circuit bko., sales, auctions,discussions. Marty Harow, Ext. ll7l.

Complete NPE trials on 1-14

Taking count. Engineering Fund money was still coming in at press time.Counting dollars and checks are (C fo RI Bob Kennedy. Ardith Tepedino. Judy

Yoos. (Photo by Bob Settles)

Holiday visits to vets, kids

Outpouring. Supply Operations Plant 30. is celebrating with gifts of BIGthings for the liftle kids of St. Christopher’s Home in Sea Cliff. Phil Duhamel (LI

is chairman; Dick Erdody will be Santa. (Photo by Larry Van Wallendael)

of events

Storm warning networkIn the event of severe snowstorrns or other emergencies this winter,

information concerning plant closing will be available by dialing either oftwo Grumman telephone numbers or will be carried on local radio stations.

Call LR 5-5111 in Bethpage or PA 7-1504 in Calverton, beginning at5 a.m.

The radio stations carrying plant closing information, beginning at5 a.m., are:

WMCA 570 WOK 710 WHN 1050 WRAB 1440

WNBC 660 WABC 770 WGBB 1240 WTHE 1520

Does Plant Protection have a record of your license plate number? Cardsare available from Employee Services representatives. Fill one out and return it to ESO. With these on file. Plant Protection can let you know if youhave left your lights on, have left your engine running, have a flat tire, orneed to move your car for snow removal.

plane

newsPublished twice a month for the

employees of Grumman AerospaceCorporation, Bethpage, N. Y. 11714,as a function of the Public AffairsDept., Vice President J. B. Rettaliata,director.

EditorBrian Masterson

Associate EditorsClaire lmrieAl Wehren

Ads, DistributionDorothy Zeeb

Official PhotographersPresentations Services

TelephonePlane News: 3293Plane News from outside line:CR 53293

Joint honor

to Feldman

Talk about stretching horizons!Jerry Feldman of Business Development, Plant 5, has risen to the rankof colonel in the Air Force Reserveand is the first recipient in the Reserves ever to be awarded a JointService Commendation Medal. “Foroutstanding performance of duty,”says the citation, and “exceptionallyoutstanding achievement.”

“Make a good suggestion andyou’re stuck with it,” Feldmanfound out last winter. As commanding officer of a Reserve group thatmeets in Washintgon six times ayear, he is tuned in to the nationalneed for a strong Air Force Reserveand for interested, highly motivatedReservists—particularly in view ofaccelerated withdrawal of U.S. troopsfrom Vietnam and current reductions in the active force. So last January he suggested, and was orderedthen to organize and plan, a two-week program of lectures and seminars given by high-level DOD peopie for the first Defense SupplyAgency Reserve Officer Symposium.

As chairman of the Symposium, hecarried it through, displaying “unusual professional judgment, exceptional foresight, and planning expertise in the overall coordination anddirection of the program.” The Armytook notice and is planning such acourse for the future, he says.

Feldman entered the Army AirCorps in 1943 as a private, and in1945 was honorably discharged as afirst lieutenant after 35 bombingmissions. In the Korean conflict hewas recalled to active duty, this timeserving as a System Program officerat Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

He came to Grumman in 1966.

Holiday scheduleSince Christmas Day and New

Year’s Day fall on Saturday, bothwill be observed on Friday in allthe Grumman plants. Christmas turkeys and bonus checks will be distributed to the day shift on themorning of December 23, and thenight shift will receive theirs at theend of the December 22 shift. Theday shift will report at their regularly scheduled hours; night shiftpersonnel are to report at 5:30 p.m.,Wednesday, December 22, regardlessof their usual starting time.

Take careMaybe you’ve seen it already—

lots and lots of Nassau County policecars cruising around. It’s what thecounty’s Commissioner of Police,Louis Frank, calls “Operation All-Out, a drive to cut the hollday accident toll.”

It’s a three-pronged effort. One,600 county police on saturation pa-

trol. Two, visits by police officers tooffices and plants in the county tourge preventive measures “to ensure the safe departure of . . . employees from office festivities.” Andthree, a suggestion to organize carpools, with a non-drinker at thewheel of each car.

You know . . . that makes a lotof sense

Is that a promise?Communications Dire c t o r Art

Leach, ever tuned to save the Company’s money, throws out the suggestion: If a letter will do it, don’ttelephone. The U.S. Postal Service,he points out, is making good on itspromise to give next-day delivery onmail to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, D. C., and partsof Pennsylvania. He advises: “Takeadvantage of it and save the costof a phone call when you can.”

Payback on tuitionStudents seeking tuition assistance

through the Grumman Tuition Reimbursement Program are asked to submit their applications for the springsemester on a new form—Gl35 Revision 6. These new forms will beavailable after January 1, 1972, atall Employee Services Offices, FieldB a s e Administration Offices, orfrom Employee Services representatives. Folders explaining the purposeand guidelines of the Program arealso available at these locations.

Applications under the Programmust be submitted to the TuitionReimbursement P r o g r a m Officewithin 15 days of the last normalregistration date at the student’sschool. It is very important to boththe student and the Program Officethat the applications be completedaccurately and submitted by thedeadline date.

Albatross stampThe Grumman Albatross has been

commemorated by stamp from asmall group of British-administeredislands in the Indian Ocean, closeto Africa.

The stamp find was made by JohnStafford, who says he’s been a collector for about 35 years, “and forthe past five years I’ve concentratedon aircraft.”

John wonders why the islanderschose the Albatross. All he has is amultitude of guesses. If anyoneknows the story, call him, Ext. 7405.

There’s time between now and January 18, when the drive ends; to supportthe United Fund of Long Island. Andyour support is needed.

The fund goal this year is $4 million,$1.2 million more than last year. It’smore because Nassau and Suffolk are ina population explosion, better medicalequipment is being used (and it’s costly),and inflation has raised hob with theeconomy.

All of this means that 19 non-profithospitals and 60 voluntary agencies willbe very sorely pressed if the $4 milliongoal is not reached. And people willsuffer.

For those who have not already decided to give to the United Fund, allyou need is a payroll deduction card,available at any Employee Services Office. That makes giving a fast and easy

We say thanks...It’s been a pleasure. Plane News ap

preciates the whole-hearted assistanceand good relationships that have helpedround out the paper during the yearthat just whizzed by.

And so we say thanks to the artistsand photographers of PresentationsServices for their wonderful cooperationin helping us to make our deadlines, toTransportation for dependable deliveries, and to the Mail Room and Reproduction Services for their help in distributing the paper all over the world.

You, our readers, have kept us tunedin on unusual events and sports news,and we thank you for your interest andconstructive suggestions. Keep ‘em coming.

We will return to our regular twice-a-month schedule. Plane News will bedistributed on January 14 and 28.

/ Have a happy holiday!

process: Just fill in the card, indicatethe amount of money you want to bewithheld each payday, and ESO (andPayroll) does the rest. And since youdon’t see the money, it’s painless.

If you’d rather do it another way—bylump sum check or cash—that, too, canbe arranged. Again, contact any ESOrepresentative. By the way, when yousign up you’ll get a sticker that showsyou’ve given, and, if you want, you canput that on a window pane so that “WeGave” is a signal to a walking-by solicitor that he need not knock. Of course,that goes only for the agencies takingpart in the United Fund.

For those who have been using thepayroll deduction system, none of thisis new, but there is a point that may beworth noting: Even if you’re in theplan now, you can always change yourdeduction. The ESO rep can do that foryou, too.

So, it’s a simple system and one thatsaves you from inconvenience while youare helping others. It’s also a systemthat you may gain from . . . for no oneis immune to ill health.

It’s just about fool-proof.

rrAI’rh Iji nhre‘JI I UrUUte

Plane News has received werd that death has cometo the Grumman personnel listed below. We extend

sincere sympathy to relatives and friends.

NICHOLAS J. FORTE JR., Mechanical Inspection, Plant 3, died December9 at the age of 35. He had been withGrumman nine years. He lived at 28St. Mark’s Circle, Central Islip.

WINFIELD IRVINE died December10 at the age of 60. He worked in Engraving, Plant 3, and had been withGrumman 30 years. His home was at6 Klaffky Ct., Huntington.

I-.

I

H

I -;

Jerrq Feldman

Tuning in. Marianne Silz (L) and Denise Hawell are tuned in ta this stereoset, one of 24 prizes beinq offered to United Fund participants at Grumman.

(Photo by Bob Settles)

Winding up Fund appeal

Year in renew:some disappointnwnts,but1971 filledwith glisteningtwkienements

.—:z.:V. V -

p

A NEW BIRD,IT’S A WORLD

OF TESTING

It’s quite unlikely that an historianwill look back at the year 1971 andterm it the best year that Grummanever had.

It’s equally unlikely that it will bejudged as the bottom of a dark pit.There were too many hard-polished,glistening achievements for that sort ofassessment; and there are too manysolid prospects on the horizon to warrant doomsday thinking.

While it’s obvious that we are notliving in “the best of all possibleworlds” (as the fictional figure Dr.Pangloss had phrased it), a sober lookat this nation’s aerospace industry suggests that we at Grumman may havesuffered less than most. On balance, wehave remained strong, despite the economic virus that discomfits us, the nation, and most of the world.

That the business down-turn has hurtus is beyond dispute. It’s against thatbackdrop of financial distress that 1971must, in part, be measured. Wheneverany company is forced by lack of business—in our case, the decline in Governmental expenditures for military aircraft and space missions — to makesharp economies, employment will sag.So a reduction in force (RIF) cameabout and Grumman Corporation rollsdropped from 27,500 to about 24,000people. Roughly half of the drop camethrough natural attrition: retirement,health, moving to other jobs, and soon. The other half were caught up in

the RIF, and Vice President Tom Rozzi,director of Security and PersonnelServices, made something clear:

“We want everyone to understandthat those who were separated were notsummarily dismissed. Grumman Aerospace has not found it easy to determine who would leave, and every efforthas been made to be fair.” And beingfair included in-depth reviews of personnel and staffing requirements. Rozzialso promised that “If business conditions improve, many of those who havebeen terminated will be recalled.”

There was little alternative

Year of frialThere were tough challenges in ‘71,

and s o m e near-spectacular performances. One came out of a disaster thatoccurred just a day and a half beforethe New Year was to be ushered in: OnDecember 30, 1970, the first Tomcatcrashed during its second flight. About25 minutes after takeoff, Test Pilot BillMiller reported a loss of pressure in theprime hydraulic system. He and TestPilot Bob Smyth, who was in the rearseat, made a turn to get back to thefield at Calverton, some 30 miles away.As Tomcat No. 1 descended from 14.000feet to 2,500 feet, Miller lowered thelanding gear by pneumatic pressure. Thefield was just four miles away. ThenTomcat lost its other prime hydraulicsystem, the flight control system, andMiller switched to the Combat Sur

/

:L.

(huttIe ta

thoost fro

I

-

]

_

J

I(Tomcat’s fIight-tesi’I ofI and winging IIL_at Calverton___J (space Shul

1 hopes hg1ASA repo

Al

(Ende team’sas finalprepar)

—‘ fpace spinoff. Mayor John Linthat Urban Technology Conference heldFloyd Thomas (2nd R) and Don Hass

—menf. Grumman and other aerospaceto examine possibilities of fransferrin

of the un

1I

/ ‘.

icefly sees turther costI slashes as key factor

in Shuttle decision

I

‘I —

The beginningand the end;in between —

‘smashing success’

‘In geti’

NASAJ

I/I\

—I

-,,,.iJ-

Record setterOAO, still ‘onears third bin space

(Astronauts meeI Grummanites -]

J[1

,:

ofgoodbyes

the beginning—for last LM

I

Apollo 15 crcwembarking on mostLdifficuk journey

B ElI I I I1111111 I B

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ¶j

A

i

iHL

a— I

Ecosjpotlilt

GDS opensNew York officeJ

VW LVUU

succeedsClint Tow! as

Aerospace BoardChairman; electBill Zarkowsky

PresidentGDS unveils new

mass memory

p

system to computerworld

I

.z

GDS acquiresnputer firm, looks

to extendcommercial sales)

( Fleet getsGrumman EA-6B I

I Navy’s newest IECM aircraft]

A

I

I

(Fly E-

L de

L

it - —_:_ Custd

fbi

vival System. Then the plane, just afew hundred feet from the landingstrip, began to porpoise, and Miller ordered ejection. The plane slammed intothe trees and exploded in a huge fireball and mushrooming black smoke.Rescue teams found both pilots aliveand unhurt.

So the men and women on F-14 hada tremendous task before them in 1971.They and the Navy knew it.

As investigations of the crash by bothGrumman and the Navy proceeded,work also proceeded on future Tomcats.The schedule slipped, of course, butthere was determination to close thatgap, and to do it quickly. On April 25,Tomcat No. 2, the aircraft designated forlow-speed stall work, arrived at Calverton. A month later, Smyth and Millertook it up for its first flight.

“It was an absolutely clean flightfrom a systems standpoint,” said Smyth.“We flew at between 120 and 240 knotsand when we retracted the landing gearand flaps, it felt like it really wantedto go.” The flight—test program was offand winging!

During the summer, Tomcats l-X andNo. 4 got to Calverton. Tomcat l-X, thehigh-speed aircraft designated to replace the first Tomcat, first flew onAugust 31. The following day, it flewwith a wing-sweep of 45 degrees; andthe day after that, the wings were sweptback to the maximum, 68 degrees. OnSeptember 16, l-X flew supersonic.

No. 4 went to Grumman’s facility atPoint Mugu for weapons system testthg . . . to be followed by Tomcats 5,6, 9, and 11, all ticketed for the sametype of testing with the AWG-9 missilesystem. Tomcat No. 3, the structuraldemonstration plane, is at Plant 7, asis 9. The production and flight testflow has been moving at a fine pace.

All in all, Tomcat (as a Grumman testpilot said) has been “the sweetestaircraft I’ve ever flown. That hummeris really going to do the job!”

Plaudits in spaceF-14 is hardly the only program that

has won plaudits. Apollo 14 LM-9 andApollo 15 LM-l0 did their jobs superbly. Apollo 14 roared into the sky fromthe Kennedy Space Center on January31 and headed for Fra Mauro on themoon’s surface. LM pilot Ed Mitchelland Spacecraft Commander Alan Shepard were walking on the lunar surfaceby February 5. They went throughanother EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity)on the 6th—a then record-setting combined total of 33½ hours of moonwalking for a single mission. They rejoinedStu Roosa, pilot of the Command Module, and began their long journey home,and splashed down February 9 close totheir primary recovery vessel, the USSNew Orleans. And on the 29th of March,they visited Grumman and got a warmreception on a day that was windy andcold as hell.

It may be that the Apollo 15 missionwas the most impressive of all themoon trips. An all-Mr Force crew, DaveScott, James Irwin, and Al Worden,blasted off July 26—and for the firsttime, astronauts could ride around in aLunar Roving Vehicle. Scott and Irwinmade the most of it once they landedin the difficult, mountainous region ofHadley-Apennine. With three EVAs(instead of two) to work with, theytraveled on the moon longer than hadany previous astronaut team; each man

was on the moon for some 20 hours.They brought back the now famous“genesis rock” — one thought to dateback to the original crust of the moon,perhaps 4.6 billion years ago. Their rockand soil collection (175 pounds of it)is being investigated. Perhaps, there areclues there to the birth of the moonand the earth and the universe.

What may be a most important outcome of the venture was stated by Scott:“I think we witnessed the maturity ofthe Apollo system.”

(To be noted, too, with some sadness, is that in June the Guppy—theplane that looks like a bloated whale—flew away with the last LM ascent anddescent stages, leaving a productionarea once populated by some 1,600 engineers and technicians empty and silent.)

From the space program has floweda remarkable stream of knowledge andpractical usages. Technology transferscome with bewildering speed and ingreat number in such areas as communications satellites, computer techniques, grooved highways, light-weightportable routers, fire-retardant materials, new telemetry systems for medical use, highway and automobile safetyconcepts and devices, inert-gas welding, techniques for assessing earth resources, guidance control, management

techniques . . . hardware . . . softwareliterally books full of new develop

ments born of space technology.Out of this, for one thing, has come

Grumman Health Systems Department.There’s a cancer-detection unit for females. There’s a mobile intensive careoperating table (MICOT). There’s anoperating room control console (ORCC).There’s an extra-systemic organ transporter (ESOT). There’s a kidney preservation unit (KPU). There’s a prototype bus designed to transport handicapped children. In the works, too, isthe possibility of modular clinics set upto expand and extend medical serviceas population warrants. Space technology has either inspired the ideas ormade them feasible economically. Andit’s just the beginning.

Also in the world of space, Grumman/Boeing, battling from behind, won itsway to equal footing with North American Rockwell and McDonnell Douglasin the Phase B design study of a SpaceShuttle. Economy seems to be a basicfactor in NASA’s consideration of aprime contractor, and Grumman/Boeing came up with a plan that calls for areusable version of Boeing’s S-1C ofthe Saturn V. After considering manydifferent design approaches, a plan hadbeen chosen that could meet NASA’sstringent cost limitations: A reusableorbiter with payload bay, crew station,and rocket engines. The fuel is liquidoxygen-hydrogen, to be carried in alarge external, expendable propellanttank. It has long been clear to Grumman that an all-out effort was required

for the Shuttle Program win, and that’sthe way it’s been done.

In fact, the effort that has been madeduring the year to satisfy NASA andthe nation that they’re going to receivea fine Shuttle has been extraordinary.It was by no means easy to do; itwasn’t a simple case of following onecharted course. Rather, the job was toassess all practical possibilities . . . whichmeant continuing change along the way.All of the “redefinitions” necessarilyadded strain, a strain willingly borne,for the Shuttle is the biggest thing tocome down the pike.

Hawkeye gets go-aheadElsewhere in space, the incredible Or

biting Astronomical 0 b s e r v at o r y(OAO-2) racked up its third year ofoperation on December 7. It’s continuingto pump out valuable scienutific datathough there are small limitations onits pointing direction. Its accomplishments led to a special message of commendation f r o m President RichardNixon.

But happiness isn’t always the nameof the game. Another space effort,HEAO (High Energy Astronomy Observatory), was cut down late in the year.Also lost was a bid for the Patrol Hydrofoil Guided Missile class ships, although the Company will continue toexplore this military hydrofoil field.

There was good news in other quarters. Grumman/Boeing was one of threeteams chosen by NASA to submit design plans to build a STOL (ShortTake-Off and Landing) aircraft that isto feature speed, quiet, safety, andprofitability. The design competition isto last six months, so this was a December bonus for the Company. Theother competitors are (1) McDonnellDouglas, and (2) a team made up ofLockheed Aircraft, North AmericanRockwell, Bell Aerospace, and CornellAeronautical Laboratories, Inc.

There was a lot of aircraft action.The E-2C Hawkeye, the Navy’s latestAEW (Airborne Early Warning) aircraft, which completed its first flightlast January — one month ahead ofschedule—now boasts an all-weathercapability and can serve as a “trafficcop” in the sky. Critically important,the new Hawkeye— the plane with apancake on top—can detect, identify, andtrack aircraft over both land and water.It’s packed, too, with the latest aircraftniceties: new overland radar, updatedcomputer, radar displays, and a newinertial guidance system. In the lasthalf of the year, the Navy gave Grumman a go-ahead for 11 aircraft at about$156 million. The Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council earlier hadapproved a buy of 28 Hawkeyes spreadover a three-year period.

Updated IntruderThe A-GA, the plane for all seasons

(said Time Magazine), has not onlydone its all-weather job well but it hasled to a line of derivatives. One, theA-6E, an updated and very sophisticatedversion of the original A-6, has completed Navy BIS trials (Board of Inspection and Survey) at Patuxent River.

Then there’s the EA-6B, the four-man Electronic C o u n t e r Measures(ECM) aircraft. The Zappers (VAQ129)) were the first to train in theultra-sophisticated aircraft — and theygave it rave notices.

The KA-6D tanker, built in Stuart,

Cms exploringtic! marketsrthern lands

N

!‘

•—‘ 1_*.3, -

--

—

Year inrenew:

1971

I I I II fnew umreiia 1rise for Fleet

an’

icr relations:payoff in

.nan nansn#snaa

Florida, proved its value—as has thecorporate fanjet Gulfstream II, beingbuilt at the Savannah, Georgia, ServiceCenter. Savannah also built SEA-TAC,the 33-foot long subway type cars thatare to be the “people movers” at theSeattle-Tacoma International Airport.

On June 30, good news came fromthe Secretary of Transportation, JohnVolpe: Grumman received a $3.5 million award to construct a Tracked AftCushion Research Vehicle (TACRV). Itis being built in Plant 4 and is to bedelivered to the Department of Transportation High Speed Ground Test Center at Pueblo, Colorado, in April 1972.

Of marked consequence — thoughsometimes not thought about—are thetwin pillars that keep Grumman aheadof the competition: Research and Advanced Development. From those twodepartments come the ideas for newtomorrows, ideas that may take 10, 15,or 20 more years to become new products. As an example, it was five yearsago, at least, that the boron-epoxy program got under way, a program thathas borne fruit in the F-14 horizontalstabilizer.

On ofher frontsA Grumman Corporation subsidiary,

Grumman Ecosystems, was active in research work, especially in Greenlandwhere a three-month survey of thenorthern rim of that Danish-owned landwas conducted. The magnetometer andphotographic survey was commissionedby a consortium made up of Danes,Americans, and Canadians.

And Grumman Advance Civil SystemsDepartment has received a contract fromthe Coast Guard to design, develop,build, and test a prototype waste treatment system for shipboard use.

In a different vein, the Company isinvestigating the control of biologicalcharacteristics of small land—basedwaste water treatment plants to improve their efficiency and reduceoperating costs.

Grumman Data Systems — a year oldlast January — developed a new high-speed data storage and retrieval system called MASSTAPE. Its announcedcapabilities seem far ahead of any system in the field.

Less dramatic, perhaps, but of specialimport, were the moves made to realign and strengthen the Corporatestructure. The first big change came onFebruary 17: Lew Evans succeededClint Towl as Chairman of the Boardand Chief Executive Officer of Grumman Aerospace. The new President ofAerospace is Bill Zarkowsky. Towl re—mains as Board Chairman of GrummanCorporation, the parent company. CorkyMeyer was named a Senior Vice President, and two other men, Tom Kelly andRoss Mickey, were raised to Vice Presidents.

Below the vice presidential level,there were a lot of moves designed foreven greater efficiency and productivity, many to streamline Manufacturing operations for the Tomcat program. Actually, there’s little revolutionary, or even unusual, about all this:The, heart of any viable organizationis change for the better, an ongoingprocess ot reaching beyond the high-water marks.

There was that kind of striving thisyear, a year of triumphs and losses, ayear of adjustment . . . but one thatsignals hope and confidence for ‘72.

Heakh Systems —

anew star inCorporation ‘s

firmament

I

-

(Grumman awarded$3.5 million toconstructiair cushion vehicleJ

Space spinoff —

Grumman developingequipment, facilitiesto meet medical needs J

iv/•

-,

(iJo rain,Iots of kidsI help make Family Ificnic festive a!Iaij

[ Test Intruder’snew systems