PJC yearly contributes dozens of skilled workers in airplane
production to aircraft plants engaged in the National Defense
Program. Aero-Tech students for the past six years have designed
and built a plane a year in PJC'S technology shops on the East
Campus Only school in the U. S. to -build modern, all-metal planes
in its shops, PJC's Aero-Tech is now at work assembing the PJC-4.
A larger, 400 horse-power plane than those previously constructed
here, the PJC-4 also incorporates full monocock construction.
First step in construction of a PJC plane is experimentation
with the 'mock up.' A plywood fuselage. the mock up resembles
the finished job only slightly, serves merely as a working model
for students, in which they check the cockpit height, foot space
etc. Next, the actual work of designing begins. Under the supervision
of Max B. Harlow, blue prints are drawn, revised and completed.
Aero-tech students then perfect the individual parts which will
be checked and assembled later. Final assembly is completed at
a local airport and a test pilot takes the plane up for its initial
flight.
The pictures below Show all the preliminary steps in plane construction.
