Vought Sikorsky production in December 1940

Navy LCDR C.S. Alexander photographed a series of production scenes at the Vought-Sikorsky Stratford Connecticut factory in December 1940. 

At the time OS2U Kingfishers and SB2U Vindicators were being produced. The XF4U-1 Corsair had first flown only 7 months before these photos were taken and had yet to enter production.

80-CF-515817-31 OS2U-2 Engine Run Up LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

 In these photos workers are attaching fabric coverings to SB2U outer wing panels and control surfaces.

80-CF-515817-24 Vought Plant Stratford CT Lt Cdr C S Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-25 Covering elevator control surfaces LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Illustrated below are the construction of wing leading edges for a SB2U along with a couple of images of wing main beam construction.

80-CF-515817-30 SB2U wing assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-21 Wing main beam milling LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-22 Finish milling on wing main beam LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

In this photo a gentleman is working on a main landing gear assembly for a SB2U Vindicator.

80-CF-515817-23 Oleo strut retraction test  LCDR C. S. Alexander USN 19401205

Fitting of cockpit cabin enclosures is taking place at this work station for Kingfishers.

80-CF-515817-29 Fitting cockpit cabin enclosures LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Finally three shots of this series show various scenes of final assembly work tasks.

80-CF-515817-27 Fuselage final assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-26 Overhead view of a OS2U-2 Kingfisher from a crane LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

80-CF-515817-28 Overhead view of OS2U-2 LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

All the images in this series are from the US National Archives USN photo series 80-CF