Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-01-04
ENTHUSIASM MARKS AIR PREPARATIONS
 nf UNITED STATES
oe;cers Rushing Work to carrv Out Plans for Great
 Air Fleet.

Washington, Jan; 5.I ..,,, Win 1,. the ,asf;on still mooted whether the war que91h,e us, he won in the air, the aviation eau aat;on of the United States army Is seel,v" ssh;nq preparations with deternaina- lusn.,ad rus. nnd inc suggestion that the sue tloi l S af the conflict abroad for the fts; Gt,s;.od States depends upon the work u'',vE a,,;ators solely. This is taken as ol ao "'f' of the tie desirable situations and olle VI mon contend that the same spirit aLln1 ln,;1d charactarize the efforts of ev- s,.v' s"v branch of the service. But mo- " vbore is the enthusiasm as great as ln tha M,e aviation section. No stone is being 'aft 1,,a 'unt,1rned to insure the efficacy of .ho la' nations flying power, and nothing '.;I, .,iG m ha left undone. The vanguard of M.' thn ormy m of the air is now joining the soo soa and land forces abroad, and every .h;nc s that was contemplated when eongress eones, made an appropriation for tb;s branch of the service last summer ID 1Jncvestication Jc shows that rapid pro cross has been made and that the Sassts of the head of the aviation ser y;ca in this respect arc justified. Last snr;no m w the aviation corps had less than Splli 9p, airplanes of all degrees of ser vvH;cYeabilitv. vHY When the war began there were only 75 aviators in the service of the United States-now large aeot of planes is being built and an immense force of men IS being trained to man them. The total per sonnel of the aviation section when the war began was 2,000-it IS now mn mn oO0. and will be increased rapidly as men are enlisted and assigned to various departments of the service.
 Brings New Industry.
 During the last five months a new industry has sprung up, that of build inr airplanes. When the aircraft pro- duction board began it's work it found that only two companies could turn out planes, and that they had been making planes for the allies which were serviceable only for practice. A complete reorganization was effect ad and new field or activity was there fore embarked upon. Negotiations for the use of existing patents was stopped, and men we're set to work de signing a new plane which would car ry many of the good points of exist
 ing patents as existed The Liberty motor was the outcome, and the auto mobile factories which have been turn ing out 100000 motors annually are now turning out Liberty motors. Few motors are being sent abroad just now, but the supply of raw materials, such as spruce, the wood that is chief ly used in flying machines, still goes abroad, and the foreign, countries in turn are sending young men to this country by the thousands to teach American young me nto handle air planes. On a dozen or more fields hard practice is being waged and the rap ldity with which American young men are learning the service is a mar vel to the French and English instruc- tors
 But the motor is not the big prob lem in airplane making. The mate nal which goes into a single airplanc of tie more simple type, exc'usiv' of the engine materials, is surprising Inc following arc the articles used to make an airplane of the simple type:
 Nails, 4,326; screws, 3.377; steel Stampjngs, 921; forgings, 798; turn buckles, 276; veneer, 57 square feet; Ws're 3362 feet; varnish, l. gallons; cope, 59 gallons; aluminium, 65 pounds: rubber, 34 feet; linen. POI square feet; spruce, PA feet; pine, 5s feet; ash, @l feet; hickory, l-2 feet.