In March 1975 the factory workers at Douglas Long Beach and Torrance plants went on strike. This stopped production of our commercial airplanes, which of course meant no cash flow. So most of the engineering department was put on “temporary layoff” (TLO). Some thought we’d never be called back.
One of my friends was a friend of the chief engineer at the Hydraulic Research facility on Route I-5 near Valencia, CA. That organization was in the midst of design and qualification of some components for the Space Shuttle program. Several of us were hired by Hydraulic Research (Division of Textron) such that we didn’t miss a day’s work. My forte’ was lab testing of hydraulic components to verify conformity to their design specifications.
I was immediately assigned to designing a test installation and procedure for the rotary fuel valve of the Space Shuttle’s main engine The fuel flow rate and it’s overall size dwarfed anything I had encountered before, but the principles were similar to previous experience. So I set about designing a test installation, with H.R. coworkers, which would put the valve through tests of flow rate and pressure drop vs. control signal input, responsiveness to signal changes, performance throughout the design temperature range, life cycle endurance, proof and burst pressure tests, and anything else in the design specification.
Four of us formed a car pool. Two of my fellow commuters were Jim Walker, Douglas’ hydraulic seal expert, and Ralph Killmeyer, who recently had (unsuccessfully) been a candidate for U S Congress.
The Hydraulic Research facility was a good hour’s drive from the Torrance/Manhattan Beach area where we started. We exited the Interstate 5 freeway at the same off ramp one used to get to Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. So of course, Hydraulic Research was tagged “Magic Mountain East”. Our commute was timed to coincide with the maximum traffic on I-5.
The commute was onerous enough that a couple of us talked of renting a room so we could stay near Hydraulic Research during the week, going home only on weekends. As it turned out, this assignment ended before we actually took such action. About six weeks into the project, I got a call from my Douglas Aircraft Company supervisor, Bob Rothi, saying the strike was over and I could come back to work.
I felt that I didn’t want to abandon the valve test project in its current state of progress, and asked if it would be all right if I spent a few more days at H.R. This was agreeable to Bob, and I was able to turn the project over to my H.R. co-workers in a more completely engineered state.
I didn’t get much feedback from H.R after I returned to Douglas, but they had my phone number if they needed some consultation. The valve qualification evidently went as planned. As I write this, the final space shuttle flight has just been completed after 30 years of operation.
That six-week effort to test and certify the main engine fuel valve was the only way I got my fingerprints on the space shuttle.