[R-390] EAC Contract info in Red Bank Paper

Tue Aug 21 16:19:45 EDT 2012

... and what size belt did you wear then vs. now?  ;-)

Barry - N4BUQ

 On Tue 21/08/12 12:52 PM , Ben Loper brloper at gmail.com sent:
> I guess it's all relative, when I got married 30 years ago my wife
> weighed 121 pounds.
> 
> On 8/21/12, Marshall Dues (K5MMD) mmdues at gmail
> .com> wrote:> I got out of the navy in 1964, and returned to my
> home in the Flint,> Michigan area.  Minimum wage then was $.90 or $1.00
> per hour.  Flint is a> General Motors town consisting of Buick, Chevrolet,
> Chevrolet Frame &> Stamping, Fisher Body, AC Spark Plug, and Ternstedt
> Parts Mfg.  All union.> The United Auto Workers wage for assembly line
> workers was $2.65 per hour,> with a shift premium of $.25 per hour.  My navy pay
> was around $78.00 per> month, so, although I swore I would Never work in
> the factories, I was> employed at Buick as an assembly line worker on the
> third shift.  I was> making over a Hundred Dollars a Week! and thought I
> was finally pooping in> tall cotton for the first time in my
> life.>
> > In 1966, several important things in life (to me)
> were in some sort of> harmony:  A new Jaguar XKE sports car cost
> $6,600.00,  a new Cessna 150> airplane cost $6,700.00 and my Union wages for the
> year was around> $6,500.00 gross.  Take home pay was obviously less
> because of taxes, union> dues, and other deductions.  I was single, living
> in an apartment that cost> me $16.00 per week, and I had recently purchased a
> new Buick LeSabre 400> fastback (that I myself assembled and walked down
> the assembly line on my> shift) that had a list price of $3,456.20, but I
> remember paying $2,900 or> so for it (I still have the window sticker
> somewhere).>
> > I was taking private pilot flying lessons, and
> decided to not buy the> Jaguar XKE or the new Cessna 150, but I did
> purchase my first airplane, a> 1946 Aeronca model 7AC "Champ" for $1,200.00.  I
> flew that plane for over> 800 hours and even flew it down here to the Houston
> area in 1969.>
> > I mention these figures to illustrate what the
> costs associated with life> in the early '60s were for the wants and needs of a
> young man with only a> high school education and military service behind
> him.  Life was "sort of"> good at that time, but because of the decline in
> the quality of life in> Flint, Michigan, I left for Northwest airlines in
> Detroit. (Better pay,> although still union). Good technical schooling (I
> was an avionics> technician in the aviation industry for the next 25
> years (including ARAMCO> aviation department in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia).
> Today, Flint, Michigan (and> Michigan in general) is an economic cesspool of
> corruption, greed and> Chicago style politics.  ALL of those hundred year
> old automobile factories> have been scraped of the face of the earth.  It's
> still a union only state,> but there are very few jobs to be had.
> >
> > The Collins R-390 series of radios at $1,000 -
> $1,300  were out of my reach> at the time, but are a bargain at most prices
> today.  As Roger says: you> need at least TWO of them.  More is better.  It's a
> great receiver.>
> > Sorry to ramble, but this old man is starting to
> live in the past, these> days.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Marshall M. Dues,  K5MMD, (ex WN8DIM, WA8PEX,
> WA5ZEP, WB5MYO)> Collins R-390As, ART-13, URC-32B, S-line, ARINC
> avionics, plus a hundred or> more of the Hallicrafters, National, Hammarlund,
> Gonset, Morrow, Drake,> Swan, Heath, Knight, and many other classics saved
> from the land fill by a> young man who actually Learned about Ohm's Law
> electronics.>
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 4:22 PM, Roger Ruszkowski
> > fl
> owertime01 at wmconnect.com> wrote:>
> >>
> >> Ross,
> >>
> >> This looks like a sweet deal to me at 1K
> each.>> So in 66 a kilo buck was 1/5 of the take home pay
> for an automotive>> worker
> >> for a year in Detroit or Flint
> Michigan.>>
> >> That was serious money.
> >>
> >> In 68, for 40 hours in a Flint Chevy shop you took
> home $100.12>> Union due week you only got $98.12
> >> You worked 50 weeks a year and had a two week
> "change over" in July with>> no income.
> >> Guys use to raise families, buy homes and new
> Chevies on $5,000.00 a year>> back then.
> >>
> >> Roger.
> >>
> >>
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> "he who knows he has enough is rich."
> 
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