Page 33 - MY STORY

H.M. Harper and take a chance on moving to the west

coast. He did not seem anxious to have me join the
metallurgical staff at Douglas. I must have provided a
reasonable set of answers to his probing since I received a

job offer from Douglas Aircraft within a week of the
interview. A new life begins.

M&P DEPARTMENT OF DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT CO.

June 1955 - Santa Monica, CA – Cloverfield Airport
Setting the scene of walking into my new work
environment requires a little telling. After going through

the incoming receiving process and getting my badge, I
was directed to the Material and Processes (M&P)
Department work area. The M&P Department was on the

second floor of the wooden main assembly building
where DC-6B and DC-7 aircraft were still being built.

The M&P Department was housed in a huge open bay of
engineers (about 300) sitting at desks with no partitions
and little space between them. Leo S, as Chief

Metallurgist, did have a closed office, but anyone below
his level lived in the open bay. My supervisor (three
levels up), Joe W, had a desk somewhere in the middle of

this open morass of humanity. He, as a Section Chief, had