What Was the First Skunk Works Shop Like?

David Senra, reading Kelly Johnson, says the first Skunk Works shop was built from old wooden boxes and a circus tent. Johnson had asked to set up an experimental department where designers and shop artisans could work together on airplanes, without the delays of separate departments for administration, purchasing, and other support. He wanted a direct line between the design engineer and the mechanic.

He gathered 23 engineers, counting himself, by taking people from around the factory whose work he already knew. The unit had its own purchasing department and every function it needed to operate apart from the main plant. Wartime secrecy, and a wish to avoid distraction, meant nobody who was not on the project could wander in and out.

They counted contract days on a big scoreboard. The schedule was a 10-hour day and a six-day week, and nobody worked on Sunday. They kept that rule even when the sickness rate in the last weeks ran as high as 50 percent a day. It was midwinter, the facilities were poor, and there was almost no heating, so losing one person from the small supervisory staff cost too much. On day 143 the XP-80 was accepted by the Army Air Corps and ready for flight, ahead of a 180-day schedule.