The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-21
$500 AIRPLANES WILL BE BUILT BY
 U. SIN ONE YEAR
Coffin to Head Board Which Will Rush Work on Big
 Flying Fleet.

j Washington, May Zl.-IH6 Soulfcii oA National Defence yesterday announced the creation of an Aircraft Production Board. to be headed by Howard E.. Coffin.
 This step, according to MT. Coffin, marks the completion of plans to turn out in American factories, about $500 air machines this year and double the output next year. They will include both training and battle types. The establishment of schools and training fields is also planned, with suff1cien- capacity not only to man these ma chimes, but to supply a constant stream of aviators and mechanics to the American forces in Europe. This means thes education of 5000 avdators this year.
 Under the auspices of six of the na- tion's leading engineering schools, ca dets are already under preliminary training for the American military air service, and negotiations for three of the nine training fields now contem- plated have been approved by the War Department Their preparation will begin immediately.
 Negotiations on contracts for aero planes are under way and some nec- essary orders have already been placed. The United States will not buy aircraft abroad The members of the hoard, besides Chairman Coffin, are George o. Squire, chief signal of f1cer. D. s. IA; Rear Admiral D. W. Taylor, chief of the Bureau of Con- struction, U. $. N; $. D. iWaldon.. for mer vice president of the Packard Mo tor Car company; E. A. Deeds, j former manager of the National Cash Regis ter company, who was head of the Miami conservancy district formed to prevent a repetition of the Dayton bood, and R. l.. Montgomery, of the Philadelphia firm of Montgomery, Clo- thier & Taylor, who will serve as financial adviser of the board.
 Tn Aircraft Production Board vii act in the closest cooperation witt the War and Navy departments, espe. cially with the recently created join army and navy board on design an6 specifications. The membership o1 this joint. board includes Major B. D Foulois, U. S. A; Captain V. B. Clark U. s. A.; Lieutenant A K. Atkins U. s. N.; Lieutenant J. H. Towers U. s. N.; Assistant Naval Constructor J. c. Hunskear,y U., s. N., and Cap tain B. s. Gorrel1, U. 8. A Henry Souther, the consulting engineer ol the signal corps, will act in a similar technical capacity to the aircraf board.
 The general function of the Aircraf | Production Board, according to MT 1 Coffin, will be to bring manufactur. CTS together and help make their re sources available to the government and assist in stimulating the produc | ton of better types, and greater quan | titles of air machines.
 'fW have been in constant toucI for weeks with the aircraft manufac turers on the problem of qualiit. production of machines" MT. Coffi1
 said today, land the government au I thorfties are already signing con
 tracts for as many machines as ou
 present appropriation permits. Th' United States can depend on mini
 mum of $500 aircraft of all types thu
 first year if Congress authorizes u ,, to proceed. The program we nov
 have in mind would provide for botl
 training and combat machines.
 "Only a few American manufac turers are in a position to nandl large contracts, but European order
 for training machines within the las two years have helped in some meas
 ure to overcome a tremendous disad vantage existing at the beginning o
 the war. In building battle plane the engine is the chief problem American manufacturers are nov conducting successful experiment with both new and foreign types an we are confident that we shall b
 able to develop within the year tn ,l manufacture of motors of sufficier
 power and endurance for use at tn , front.
 Arrangements have been mad
 with British and Canadian officers
 standardize the training machine . use in Great Britain, Canada an the United States, so that machine ], can be distributed impartially an
 without difficulty among the thre l nations. ''The country has made progress l developing aviators. Last month group of army officers visited u , training camp of the Royal Flyir ,, | Corps, at Borden, Ont, one of u X four camps established in Canad