Article 26, Ed Rumpf: Former Grumman Employee Interview

As a native Long Islander I am proud of our aeronautical, aerospace heritage but I have to say I'm also a disappointed Long Islander because we lost practically all of it. Maybe being disappointed is not a productive or helpful state of mind to be in I will give you that but what we got in its place is far from anything to be proud of. From Roosevelt Field where Charles Lindbergh took off from, (now an overcrowded shopping mall ) to aviation outfits like Republic, which once built the P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84 Thunder Jet, F-105 Thunder Chief and the infamous A-10 Wart Hog, Long Island had some amazing aviation history. However, one LI company would make a major mark on the aerospace industry; Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Grumman was a legendary company that produced world leading aircraft in its day. During WW2 it produced Navy aircraft such as the Wildcat, Hellcat and Avenger which would help win the war. After WW2 they would go on to make the F-9f Panther jet, famous in the Korean war. The fighter jet that would bring them most fame and notoriety even starring in movies like "Top Gun" was the F-14 Tomcat. The F-14 was a supersonic twin engine variable swept wing navy fighter jet that during it's time of service was the best jet fighter in the world (1974 through 2006 -Some believe, as I do, it was retired way too early). Also built by Grumman was the A6 Intruder, also staring in the movie, "Flight of the Intruder". One of Grumman's last planes to be made was the  E-2C Hawkeye an all weather early warning aircraft. The E-2D advanced Hawkeye is still being produced by Northrop Grumman but not here on the Island I believe. Besides Navy aircraft Grumman made other machines, their crowning achievement in my estimation was the Lunar Module (LM) that landed men on the moon. There were 8 Lunar Modules that were sent to the moon, six landed, one orbited the moon during the Apollo 10 rehearsal and one famous Module on the ill fated Apollo 13 became the lifeboat that enabled the astronauts to get back home. Besides the LM's Grumman also built other space machines such as all the wings for the space shuttles but as I was to find out, like Le Corbusier and the United Nations building design saga, so to was Grumman ripped off with the shuttle orbiter design.

As amazing as Long Island's aviation history used to be its faded into the past. The last places are being lost to "development" and other inglorious euphemisms that are meant to stimulate an economy but only add to its decline. As an architect you would think I would be happy to see new development and that is true but it must worthy development and not mere sprawl which is akin to a cancer and not progress. As most stories go there are two sides to everyone and I'm not blaming Long Island for letting these companies leave however I think we could have done a better job at least with preservation. Most airfields are gone and most aircraft companies and their facilities as well (See my Bethpage Portfolio and EPCAL Calverton articles) However Grumman's Plant 5  and 25 where the LM's and the first group of F-14's were built still stand in Bethpage NY but for how long we don't know. Here is building 5 with a FOR SALE sign in front of it:

Photo taken in March 2015, Building 5

I recently had the privilege to speak with a former Grumman employee who worked on the LM, (or LEM -NASA dropped the E) the F-14 and other projects during his 43 year tenure at this great company.

                   Mr. Rumpf used this arial photo of the Bethpage facility to point out to me the various plants.

Ed Rumpf began working for Grumman in 1965 at their Bethpage Facility on Long Island, NY when he was 29 years of age. Grumman was awarded the LM contract on November 7, 1962 and design-production was in full swing by the time he started. He was put on the project as a senior draftsman in the design engineering department working on the ascent and descent stages of the vehicle. He started in Building 22 (rented bldg before 25 was finished) and then moved into 5 where all of the engineering and designing was done for the LM and later the shuttle wings.

Plant 25-Design office with  multiple holes in the floor..."On windy days you can feel the building sway"

According to Mr Rumpf the technical, structural, electrical, drawings and designs for the LM were all hand drafted. The slide rule was their calculator and best friend. Piles of paper with mathematical calculations were typical to the design process, no computers were used except for the flight systems and ground support. Many drawings were done in full scale that would double as templates for fabricating the parts-it was not uncommon to have drawings that were literally 10 feet in length.

I asked Mr Rumpf when did computers come into play to help in the design of aircraft. It wasn't until after the LM project and during F-14 production, approx. 1974 that Grumman started to use a computer program system, CADAM to help design their parts and make their drawings. Grumman would later also use "Catia" 3-D drafting program (along with hand drafting) developed by the French. After all the major designs were completed and approved by the customer (NASA for space craft, Navair for Navy aircraft)  which included engineering drawings, sub assemblies, major assemblies wiring diagrams schematics the parts would be fabricated in Plant 1,2,3,5 and by some outside vendors. As for the LM, MIT and IBM supplied most of the guidance systems. During fabrication most parts under went modification to improve its design, as this was standard practice. It was a team effort and everyone did there utmost to ensure the LM would have the best possible chance of success, from the engineer to the technician to the janitor. After fabrication, the parts would go to Plant 5 or Plant 2 where they would undergo stress testing before final assembly. The LM was assembled in a "clean room" with technicians wearing clean suits.

Building 5 (stage 3 was the clean room)

                                     


After fabrication the LM ascent and descent stages would be transported to NASA via the "Super Guppy" a bulbous looking plane that would take off and land from the Grumman runway found right outside its plant walls. The runway is since long gone, replaced with a car dealership, water tank and other buildings and structures of little interest  (again economic development) Each stage of the LM, the ascent and descent, was transported separately in case of an accident they would not lose the whole vehicle. Mr. Rumpf remembers the astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, John Young, Jim Lovell, Rusty Schweickart, Ken Mattingly, Roger Chaffee and Alan Shepard visiting the plant to personally inspect the LM they were going to fly in. Back then those astronauts had the status of famous rock stars or movie stars in the public eye and were well respected. The astronauts would inspect their craft and make suggestions to the engineers about placement of controls etc.

Building 5 has long stopped producing Moon machines and space shuttle wings and was recently being used as a Hollywood type movie studio, a great adaptive reuse I thought. However after seeing the for sale sign outside the building I'm not sure movies are still being made there.

"Stage" 7  (Grumman studios)

Building 5 LEM Production, Facade facing S.Oyster Bay Rd

More on the LM from former employees

Grumman LM 

When an Apollo moon rocket would launch all the Grumman plants would stop working to watch the blast off; they would also stop work to watch reentry at the end of every mission. "Those were special times and we were all so very proud of what we as a country and company did" remembers Mr. Rumpf 

Design 303E (F-14 prototype) had a single vertical tail at this mock up stage

F-14 on display at Grumman Bethpage 

After Production on the LM stopped Mr. Rumpf was assigned to the F-14 program. The F-14 was manufactured in Bethpage and then sent out to Calverton for final Assembly and testing, Mr. Rumpf would often go out there to obtain Navy approval for modifications. Back then Calverton was the perfect place for test flights and assembly as sprawl development hadn't encroached on the facility as it did in Bethpage. Mr Rumpf also worked on the space shuttle wing which were built in Plant 5. In a sad note he believes that Grumman was wronged in the space shuttle program. The space shuttle orbiter according to him was largely "our design but the contract was awarded to Rockwell". In a conciliatory gesture Grumman would be awarded the wing construction (this is speculation on my part) In 2008 Mr Rumpf retired from Grumman after 43 years there. He was called back for a 1 year project in 2009 to work on the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye as a "contractor" to upgrade 4 of them that were sold to Taiwan. The radar systems for this plane are state of the art and developed in the domed roof Building 14, which as I understand still does advanced radar work. I asked Mr. Rumpf why did Grumman leave Long Island and he said "there was just not enough work left..." Hawkeye assembly and testing was eventually moved down  St. Augustine Fla. as did the rest of the company when they were bought out by Northrop (they wanted to use the coveted Grumman name) forming the new company, Northrop Grumman.

Mr. Rumpf's last words to me were, he loved working at Grumman. In all the years of working for them he cannot remember a day he did not enjoy. I'm sure this is "the nostalgia talking" but I also believe it to be true as he gathers every month with other former employees to reminisce about their time at Grumman.  In an age where job security is non existent, the brightest kids go to work not for moon projects but for hedge funds and our manufacturing is building strip malls and sprawl communities I envied that golden era in history, that made history.  I suppose working on something so important as a moon project or for the defense of a country, was "bigger than your own small cares; it made you feel proud and motivated you to do great work and want to do the best".  No better words sum up a life that had purpose and helped mankind reach into other worlds and beyond.

Lewis Portal

Mr. Rumpf on the right

What happened to the LM's?

LM Crew Patch Story