On 01/14/2012 07:17 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:43:36 -0600,
wrote:

.. A lot of airplanes were built from O/A-welded
aluminum.

Ed, I don't often feel confident enough to call you on metalworking, but
this one is a cinch.

I have NEVER seen a welded aluminum airframe.

The skin, brackets, and tanks, Richard. Not the frames. But those
pieces were still life-critical jobs.

A few bits and pieces.

When O/A was used in commercial production of aircraft, the frames
were not aluminum to begin with.

So not welded aluminum.

O/A was used until the 1940s for many aluminum aircraft-welding jobs:

http://metalshapers.org/tips/white/a...ding/index.htm

http://tinyurl.com/7bjbxso

Obscure bits and pieces.

I couldn't find any references but I remember from my _AM_ days that
Northrup pioneered all-welded aircraft. Frustrated with how slow O/A
was, they developed early versions of TIG.

But they made aircraft with O/A prior to that, with few rivets
anywhere.

I have never seen a welded aluminum airframe either. Some pieces, here
and there, but nothing approaching "A lot of airplanes were built from
O/A-welded aluminum." Northrop's N-1M and N-9M tailless flying wing
prototypes were wood.

- Cool Fact -
Northrop's XP-79 "Flying Ram" was a twin turbojet, flying wing fighter
built of welded magnesium plate, designed to slice through enemy bombers.