Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. "Working inside the nose of a PBY, Elmer J. Pace is learning the construction of Navy planes. As a National Youth Administration trainee at the Naval Air Base, he gets practical experience. After about eight weeks, he will go into civil service as a sheet metal worker." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard R. Hollem. View full size.
The Navy had various aircraft service units (Casu's, Patsu's, etc) where planes were completely disassembled, paint stripped, inspected, repaired, repainted , and assembled. This may be at one of those.
This looks like a re-work of a damaged piece of aircraft structure or maybe it's a part used for training students on aircraft structural repair. It is interesting to note the lack of safety precautions in this photo (no eye protection and wearing a ring).
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5