Originally Posted by
modtinbasher
Could history repeat itself? What about the contractor that went to the job centre in Llantwit Major with the question to all plumbers and the like:- 'can you hold a spanner' whilst they were trawling for specialised airframe staff to satisfy their hard won contract....
Indeed it could! I believe that's how the Buccaneer came to disintegrate all over the place in the 80s.
Blackburn, to save dosh and, I believe, for the lack of suitably qualified machinists, decided to employ 'craftsmen' when they won the contract for the NA39 to make the aircraft. They needed highly skilled craftsmen, it was allegedly decided. And found them in the shape of carpenters from the furniture building trade.
These craftsmen didn't understand the need to make machined edges round and polished, to stop crack propagation through flexing. No understanding of 3xd before drilling holes near edges.
And no one worried about it until aircrew lost their lives. I wish I were kidding. Perhaps it's all a dream....