Evening star., 1918-07-08
RYAN |ND0RSES
LIBERTY MOTOR
Chairman of Aircraft Produc-
ton Says Thousands Are
Being Built.
NDlrInc Aoc ANcWEPEn
CRITICS ARE ANSWERED
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Copyright, 1913, By the New York Evening
Post Company.
Very little has been heard lately
about the status of our aircraft pro-
gram-very little, indeed, since charges
flew thick and fast, since the liberty
motor was pronounced q failure Ind
q whole years work Of preparation
was spoken of by the critics as "crim-
inal delay" .....
So it is important. indeed, to have
an official statementvthe first that
has been made by John D. Ryan.
chairman of the aircraft production.
who was appointed by President Will
son to take over the management OF
our whole aircraft program.
Mr.. Ryan has modestly kept himself
in the background for three months.
refusing to express any opinions pub
lfcly about the work Of his predeces-
sors or the plans Of his own organiza-
tion. He made a thorough study,
however. OF the happenings prior to
his own appointment. and sausneo
himself as to the truth or falsity OF
the public criticism.
Statement Guide to Public.
What Mr.. Ryan says. when he
speaks thus for the first time. IN In .
sense judicial. and on his statements
the country can base its 1uoement
also Of the status Of the program To-
day and the outlook for the future.
The head of the aircraft production
board chose as the occasion Tor mis-
optimism the launching OF the nu8o
Handley-Page bombing machine de.
EiiZabeth. n. J., and driven with two
liberty motors of more than 400 horse-
power. Said MI. Ryan:
Indorses Liberty Motor.
.r am glad to say that thousands
lust like this one-(the Handley-
Page) ono Of the most powerful ever
built-are under construction. All 70
be driven by the liberty motor, the
best and most powerful aerohau''cAi
That means q great deal There were
those who said Mr.. Ryan was skepticai
about the liberty motor; that when he
took ONCE he did not share tho hopes OF
others who had been singing the mo-
tors praises. Doubtless, Mr.. Ryan was
not skeptical. but anxious to learn for
hirns.If. HIS final judgment IL q sig
nificant result Of a painstaking study en-
tered into distnterestedly and dispas-
sionateiy. 4.
Engine Going to Allies, Too.
I'VE are now furnishing" he added.
liberty engines to our own airplane
manufacturers. and England, France
and Italy have called on us to furnish
liberty motors to them for installation
in their own planes. The production OF
the airplane in quantity Is easy. but
that Of the airplane engine is another
last analysis is the number Of engines
There has been great dissatisfac-
ton expressed by the people Of the
country at the results attained up to
the present in the production Of air.
craft. Some of 1t has been warranted
most of 1t has been caused by ex-
pectations beyond the possibility Of
performance.
Speaks With Knowledge. =.
"I can speak with knowledge on
this subject, because I have for two
months studied every cause of delay
and disappointment, and I can speak
freely. because no stretch Of my con-
science will let me claim any credit
for what has been done up to the
present day. My connection with the
work Of aircraft production for the
Army has been SO short that nothing
I have done or left undone could pos
sibly have affected the accomplish
ments at this time.
Defends PredeeessorA
much work has been done By my
predecessors. and am taking this op-
portunity to assure tho people of the
country that. in my opinion. there has
been no such delay with tho work or
anything like such incapacity Of those
in charge as has been indicated in
some Of the criticism of the accom-
plishments or lack Of them in produc-
tion."
Thus does Mr.. Ryan clear the air
and inspire the airplane industry with
confidence, for it is an open secret that
many manufacturers who had been
working night and day in the slow
and necessarily tedious process of
extremities Of criticism voiced against
them and tho insinuations of gross
incompetency. Mr.. Ryan makes It
plain that he for one doesn't think
the people who have been working
hard to Introduce into America an in
nothing at the outbreak of our war
with Germany fell down on their job.
For he says:
Two Months Record.
''In the fifteen months we have been
at war there has been designed and
put into. production the liberty en-
gine. which is acknowledged by all
Of the allies as a great performance
and q distinct contribution to the
cause. Az a powerful machine to drive
heavy aircraft, 1t is undoubtedly as
satisfactory as any engine produced.
There were produced here in our
workshops during the months of May
and June just passed as many Of
these engines as Great Britain pro-
duced Of all types Of aeronautical en-
the close Of which she had been sew
enteen months at war. Including other
types Of aircraft engines. there were
more produced in our shops in the
month of June than Great Britain pro-
duced In the whole year Of 1915"
Laudsd by Britnns.
The Representatives in this country
Of the British air ministry verified tho
above facts Sir Joseph Fowler. for
instance. declares the liberty engine
-one Of the finest aerenautical en-.
xines ever built" and predicts that II
win give the allies IAN overwhelming
superiority in the air" Gen. Branker
Of the British mission says Great
Britain has ordered mesiy more lib
erty engines and asks 10 have them
before the end Of this pear.
But not all the egGA have been
nlaced in one basket Indeed Mr.