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Old 09-14-2018, 08:41 PM
Faithwalker Faithwalker is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Olive Branch, MS
Posts: 379
Default LIA-77 and LIA-100 Centuri launchers leg pattern drawings

Quote:
Originally Posted by BEC
It just seemed logical to me that it would be. As you say, Lee is a meticulous guy and it strikes me as odd that he'd have been making these for six years without a drawing. So with that in mind, why do the drawing in 1968? It seemed to me the only reason to re-do would be a revision of some kind.

That said, there's nothing on the drawing that we can see in the screen shot that says "revision". That not knowing was the reason I posted the question.

Of course he could have just been using some sort of master pattern as the definition (such a practice is not unprecedented) and perhaps it got so worn that it was time to draw things up and drive future production from there.

As you say, the best way to answer this burning question ( ) is to ask Lee and hope he remembers (which, based on the few conversations I've had with him, he likely will).


Mystery Solved:

So, I took the liberty to email Lee Piester directly about the Centuri drawings for the LIA-77 and LIA-100 wooden launchers leg patterns and I asked Lee if there is a particular reason why the leg drawings were dated in 1968, when the parts existed six years before? Were the parts and the drawings identically the same or did they change somehow? Lee was gracious to provide an answer:

Jeff
In the early years, many parts drawings were not much more than a sketch on a napkin. Later, as we brought more skilled workers on board, we formalized the drawings. Hope this answers the question. Thanks for your interest.

Lee Piester

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR
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