RECONVERSION: Wildcat into Minnow

Long Island's Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. performed the neatest reconversion trick of the week. It went into production of a brand-new commercial product: an aluminum canoe. Designed by President Leroy Grumman, who turned out the Navy's Wildcat and Hellcat fighter planes, the canoe weighs one-half to two-thirds as much as wooden canoes. A 13-footer weighs only 38 pounds, yet the thin skin is tough enough to deflect anything up to a bullet. When capsized, the canoe automatically rights itself in the water with the help of air tanks in the bow and stern. Grumman is now turning out the first...

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