The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1918-03-14
BY Harry B. Hunt
Special Staff Dispatch.

United States was that OF secur-
ing for the allies Overwhelming
superiority in airplanes and avn
AtUrs.
Also, II was the program which
inspired greatest public enthus-
SAsm and confidence.
The possibilities such q pro-
xram offered for fastening vic
Tory, by carrying the battle OVER
The Hindenburg hne and into the
very heart of Germany, stirred
he spirit Of the country as moth
ing else has done.
Much Cant He Told
But since congress passed a
3S40, 100000 emergency aviation
appropriation, the public, general
~, has heard little as to what we
have been doing to make good the
aviation job we set out to do.
The necessity for secrecy as to
our aviation program and the
Steps taken toward its accomplish
lnent is more imperative than with
any other branch of our war work.
The total flying time of ALL
army aviators in the whole year
before the war was less than 1000
hours.
Today, only 10 months
later, we have more than two
score plane plants, of which
half are great shops involving
-ehe investment of more than
a million dollars each.
Fifteen great engine COM
panies are centerfng their
efforts on the production OF
aviation motors.
And more than 400 factO-
ries are engaged in turning
out special aeroplaDe parts
and aviation equipment.
During the year prior to April
], 1917, we ordered for army pur-
poses 366 aeroplanes. But the best
we were able to get from the to-
tai available aeroplane producing
capacity of the country in that
scar was GA machines.
In the last 10 months the de-
livery of planes has RUN INTO
THE THOUSANDS and our new
resources for plane production are
just getting we'll under way.
Instead of a few hundred men
in the aviation service. there are
today OVER 100 TIMES what
there were at the outbreak of war.
Staggering Figures
Last April we had one new and
two old flying fields, with limited
Facilities for handling men and
machines. Today we have a score
of great aviation fields, each pro-
vided with barracks for thousands
of man and hangers for hundreds
of machines.
At one of these camps alone
q few days ago some 1875 machines
were in flight in single day and
that days flying at this one camp
represented 857 flying hours or
more than the total flying time
OF our whole aviation service in
the entire year before the war.
The distance covered by the
filters Mt this single camp
that day was more than so.
600 miles-twice around the
world!
I'VE are TODAY sending CON-
pleted airplanes and aviators to
France to take up their part in the
war.
The men in our aviation units
,,now abroad number MANY
ArTInTTCA MING aud thu n hA
isgraduated from our flying schools
issreater than the total on either
.side of the western front in action
lin any one day.
Many more thousands are
well along i'm their training
and will soon be ready for
vice overseas.
rly last summer, when 1t was
de. .ed that Uncle Sam should
undertake to provide a great new
aerial army, several thousand men
were sent to Canada, France and
England for immediate training.
We had at that time neither
the machines nor the flying fields
nor the qualified instructors to
provide training at home. These
men are now completing their
training and are already Joining
with French and British aviators
in flights over the enemy lines.
Also Buying Abroad
To speed up our participation
in the aerial warfare against Ger
many, the United States has util-
ized, during these months of prep
aration in which our own resources
for aeroplane production were be-
ing developed. existing facilities in
France and England. Orders for
several thousand planes are being
filled for us in those countries.
In expanding our aeroplane
capacity one big handicap has
been that new sources of supply
for many necessary materials had
to be developed.
The requirements for spruce
alone thrice exceeded the entire
spruce output Of the country.
There was no time to wait for
private industry to develop our
spruce production, SO the govern
ment, overnight. commandeered
al available SUPPLIES of clear, sea-
soued spruce and went into the
forests for more.
Draw Full Pay
The government is now operat-
ing its own mills in cutting spruce
for airplanes, and in order to in
crease the supply to the mills has