spaceshuttlemidfuselage

Plant 19, bldg. 3. The first mid fuselage is removed from the main fixture and ready to roll over.

This appears to be an illustration of the manufacture of the Space Shuttle mid-fuselage (on the right side of the frame) by Convair/General Dynamics, and on the left what appears to be the manufacture of the tail empennage (sans elevator and vertical stabilizer) for the B-1 bomber. I know Convair/GD was the subcontractor for the Shuttle mid-fuselage, however, can anyone at SDASM confirm Convair/GD was the subcontractor for the B-1 empennage for the B-1 in its B-1A or B-1B form?

TVL1970 From one of our volunteers who was at Convair at the time: The image is of what we called Plant 2 (AF Plant 19). It is the mid-fuselage production line to the right. The depiction of the structures on the left is of our short-lived Boeing 767 strut program subcontract from Boeing. I would guess mid to late 1970s.

SDASM Archives Thank you for following up, SDASM, and thank you to the volunteer for their information. I hate to be disagreeable, but given the scale and the shape, the assembly being produced on the left does not resemble any of the struts or parts on the 767. That said, I may have caused confusion in my comment above. I am referring to the production line adjacent to the mid-fuselage production line (not to the extreme left of the illustration). Again, I would ask if you can check further with respect to the B-1, and any known/or proposed Convair/GD (and/or Plant 2/Plant 19) subcontracting for the airframe of the B-1A or B-1B. Note in the illustration the posts atop the yellow zinc chromate-colored empennage for what I believe to be the horizontal stabilizers/elevator for the B-1. Also, please refer to this exploded structural view of the B-1A and the empennage. It appears to be a pretty solid match for the structure depicted in the illustration above. Apologies for the stubbornness. information2share.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/b1-material...

The gentleman in the center is J.B. "Jack" Hurt, orbiter mid-fuselage program director.