New-York tribune., 1918-06-20

quite some valuable time in the
House the other day to explain to his ad-
miring fellows how the aircraft manufact-
urers were making the spruce supply go
further by the process Of lamination. He
was little mixed, but they are doing SO
many wonderful things in the plane fac
tories that the recollections of even a care
full observer are apt to be confused. The
Representative probably had in mind the
splicing Of the spruce sticks.
Colonel Disque and his Loyal Legion have
been getting the spruce out of the forests
Of the Far Northwest at wonderful rate,
but his product has to provide for the air.
planes Of the Allies as we'll as our own. At
first the aviation managers insisted that
he must get them pieces 18 and % feet
long. and perhaps longer. This require
ment multiplied his labors and restricted
the output. Now it is permissible to splice
two pieces together to make wing beam,
say. More than that, it is now permissible
to use fir, and even white pine. and per-
haps other woods, in places where only
spruce WAS at first permitted 1t is
wonderful wood. that spruce. One of the
special pleasures of tour of an airplane
factory is the stay in the woodworking
departments, where this even-grained white
wood is sawed and planed. iathed and sand
papered. From the dry kiln, where the
seasoning that would require nature sey-
eral years is done in few days, until it
is tenderly placed in wing or longeron tho
sticks of spruce are handled with almost
revcrent care.
When we come to watch the making Of
propellers we encounter the lamination
that our Representative stumbled over.
Propellers were once made out of solid
blocks of mahogany. Now they are built
up of layers OF wood about an inch thick
fastened together with glue. They even
use poplar now and several other kinds OF
wood. When the lamnated piece has been
completed in the rough it is turned over
to a machine that automatically cuts out
all the irregular and compound curved sur
faces. Only the last stages Of finishing are
done by hand
In all the metal parts Of an airplane
machine and quantity production methods
are used to the nth degree. The handling
Of the wooden parts has been carried almost
as far. Everything has been ssandardised.
Nothing is left to the work,nen to patch
up or crowd into fit. Every part is made
exactly for its place. Jigs and patterns are
used universally
AT one time it was believed that rothing
tut the best Irish linen could be used for
the wings. Now American cotton cloth has
been found to be just as good. The In
perial Valley Of California contributes the
best raw cotton for this purpose. No ma
chine has yet been found to take the place
OF the deft fingers OF women workers 10
sewing the cloth on the wings. "Dope" and
paint are likewise applied by hand. MOI
has tacking machine been evolved IS yet
But the American plane, like the Ameri'
can motor, is essentially a machine proeucL
Long before any factory turns out single
complete machine it makes and accumuiates
identical parts for hundreds or thousands
These ara classified and stored IN hun
drcds of bins. Then comes the assembling
Of units. and finally the gathering scgsshM
OF the units into the whole. don't th'hk
1t would be an eSaggcration to say thar ~
per cent of the work en a contract is deps
before the first machine has been seat o.
its trial trip. The casual observer atwsv
desires to see the finished product. 4Ps
experienced manufacturer is always mess
concerned with tho thousands OF yivnisa
Of parts. When the parts are ready ~ -
umo the resn is like opening The sauss
gates. The rivulets are running seit -
In all tho plane factories. The Asee
follow. E