Pratt & Whitney Family Day Brochure, 1944-12-17

Document Type: Record (Business).

Purpose: Business activities.

Authority: Company (Manufacturer).

Scope: Family Day pamphlet given to employees and their families who came to visit the plant on December 17, 1944. Created and distributed by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft [Division].

Contents: Provides information to visitors regarding the day's purpose, events, factory locations that are part of the tour route and information snapshots about various P&W engines. Interestingly, there is no photograph of the sixth engine, only the word "SECRET"; the snapshot states "The newest, most powerful type of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft engine is so advanced that details still are sealed in military secrecy. The types of military airplanes that will use these engines, which are of even greater displacement than the 2100-horsepower Double Wasp, cannot be told. It can be mentioned, however, that four of these engines will be used in the new Douglas sky giant, the 108-passenger DC-7, which will carry a crew of 13 at better than 300 miles an hour, with a cruising range of 5,000 miles. Twenty-six of these leviathans of the air have been ordered by Pan American World Airways as an important part of its bid for postwar air travel for the everyday citizen at low rates." [Note: This likely refers to the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major.]

From pages 2-4:

WELCOME TO FAMILY DAY: On the forty-first anniversary of the first successful mechanical airplane flight, the people at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, through their Joint War Production Drive Committee, extend a hearty welcome to you all.

This is Sunday, a day when the plant is shut down. Therefore, you will not see the thousands of workers at their jobs throughout the factory. You will not encounter the hundreds of people, afoot and with vehicles ranging from tricycles to heavy tractors, who are on the move along the aisles and corridors carrying out their respective duties.

You will miss the sound of the shop, the heavy hum of countless machines, the raucous squawk of the autocall, the ringing of bells, the many-toned sounds of metal striking metal, the rattle and jar of passing shop trucks and tractors, the steady far-away roar of the heat-treating furnaces.

One sound you will hear is that of an engine on the test stand; but in deference to your ears, only two test cells instead of 30 or 40 will be in operation, and the engines will be running at reduced speed.

Other things you may find of interest are the factory itself; machines of all types and sizes; engine parts and engines in various stages of assembly; vehicles used in the shop, including some of our numerous pieces of fire apparatus; the interiors of two of our three cafeterias, one of which houses displays prepared by the people at our out-of-town satellite plants; the assembly floor, and an exhibit prepared by our Service School.

A Well Defined Course: In accordance with the conditions under which the Navy permits us to hold a Family Day in war times, we must conduct you along a well-defined course. You will have no trouble following the path laid out for you.

Not all departments will be visited. Some of these, of course, are restricted and open to only a limited number of our employees. Other departments will be passed at some distance and have been avoided by the established pathway only because it was found impracticable to route the tens of thousands of people visiting us today through them.

We are sure, however, that you will hav a better understanding of the kind of job you father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, or sister is doing and its part in the important joint effort of producing urgently needed aircraft engines after today's visit.

Your walk through the factory may be divided roughly into three parts. All visitors will see the first and third parts, the machine shop and the assembly floor. An alternate route has been prepared to make it possible to bypass the floor. An alternate route has been prepared to make it possible to bypass the engine test houses, the second part, by persons who wish to avoid this longer and much noisier part of their trip. The point at which one must make this choice of routes is plainly marked with an overhead sign."