The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-25
PERSHING CAN'T.GET
HIS AIRPLANE NEEDS
Continued from First Page.

chairman Of the Aircraft Production
Board. said their service with the air
craft board and aviation generally had
been severed.
When he took charge of aircraft pro-
duction. Mr.. Ryan said. so far as he
knew none Of the men then In charge of
Affairs was experienced. Loss Of time
and lives in early production stages, Mr..
Ryan testified. are more important than
loss OF the millions OF dollars involved.
America has not yet built a single fight
ing airplane. he said. because the time
has been fooled away" In experiment
ing with a fighting machine to fit the
Liberty IL motor.
Regarding the de Haviland machine,
Mr.. Ryan said with changes ordered by
Gen. Fershing and agreed upon by en-
gineers 1t Is expected to be "servicea BILE,
useful and of military value" and guam
tity production of the de Haviland 8
should be reached next September or
October without stopping production of
the As.
AS to the Liberty motor. Mr.. Ryan
said:
There is no motor on either side that
compares with IT,"
Supplies Of spruce lumber for air.
will be ample. Mr.. Ryan said in refer
ence to his recent inspection trip on the
Pacific Coast, although for time. he
stated. "the whole country was literally
held by the throat by the I. w. w"
Waste of Millions Detailed.
In principle Chairman Ryan approved
Capitalization in one man OF all author
lily over aviation affairs. while Gen.
kenly specifically recommended a de-
pa-ment of aviation. headed by n Cab
met officer the principal proposal of the
military subcommittee. Both detailed
waste of what they termed millions of
dollars in the early stages Of aircraft
production and improvements being
worked out in the reorganization. Lack
Of proper organization and executive
direction. Gen. Kenly said. was respon-
sible for early delays and failures.
That the original aircraft programme
called for $4,000 airplanes last July
was disclosed by Gen. Kenly. The de
Haviland 4 machine was conceded by
Gen. Kenly not to be satisfactory, but
he said 1t is being perfected. with every
prospect of success. De Haviland 9s,
he also testified. soon are to be built in
quantity.
Mr.. Ryan said that Liberty motors Of
being perfected and that with the Lib
erty motor a demonstrated success it's
utility would be expanded. Gen. Kenly
said that while the motor is successful
aircraft authorities should have de-
veloped sooner an individual machine
about II and also should have built for
eign planes with foreign motors OF
known value early In the war.
Too Many Engineers. Says Ford.
Henry Ford testified that the Liberty
motor us the best article that has ever
been got up along that line" and
said his factories expected to turn out
100 motors daily besides one Eagle" or
dwarf submarine chaser. Too many en-
eineers, jealousies and desire for per-
sonal glory. Mr.. Ford said, were respon-
sible for some aircraft difficulties. He
advocated a single boss for aviation
affairs
How aviators have been provided
camps and fields and trained far ahead
of the production programme was de-
tailed by Col. c. G. Edgar. construction
head of the Signal Corps. Urging con-
struction of more training fields Col.
Edgar said virtually all now are "seri-
ously" overcrowded--Kelly Field No. 2
at San Antonio, Tex. he said. having
400 men in a camp built for 2,1O0.
Much Of the testimony regarded con-
fidential--some giving military secrets
and inventions--was deleted before the
testimony was given to the public. Other
testimony, the report indicates, was OF
such a confidential nature that 1t was
not recorded by the stenographer. who
at times even was excluded from the
committee hearings.
Between the leaves of the two large
volumes OF testimony are contained in
Vulnerable tables showing expenditure of
aircraft appropriations in detail, records
of progress of the programme. data re-
garding training fields, and besides
masses OF correspondence among Govern
ment officials. manufacturers and others