New-York tribune., 1919-08-05
Aircraft Plants
Make Wash boards

Pioneer aircraft manufacturers of
the country have been compelled to
turn their factories to making tovs,
wheelbarrows, washboards and other
articles in order to tide over the pres
ent decline in aviation, which is rapidly
driving this country behind all others
N aeronautics, it was said yesterday.
lnglls M. uppercu, president of the
Aeromarine Company, said: eve are
getting no encouragement from the gov
ernment. If we depended upon govern
ment orders we would be compelled to
close our plant tomorrow We have
diverted part of the plant to manu-
featuring other articles. and with the
remainder we are continuing in order
to tide over the period which must in
tervene before commercial aviation be-
comes a success.
We are suffering loss every day.
1T is regrettabe that the government
cannot formulate some means of en-
couraging the pioneers in aviation. A
lot OF mauufacturers came into avia-
ton during the war, not from interest
IN the development of aeronautics, but
Tor the money there was in it, They
came in handsomely and went out hand
somely."
Thousands of Men Dropped
Frank H. Russell, one of the direc-
tors Of the Manufacturers Aircraft AS
soclatlon and recently its president.
sald: The situation as outlined in
The Tribune to-day is absolutely cor
rect. When the armistice was signed
the various plants devoted to construc-
tlon of aircraft and airplane engines
employed directly 100000 people. To-
day there is not a single airplane plant
in the country that employs even 1000.
"The reason for this" he continued,
has been the lack Of encouragement
from the government to produce even
the new types existing on November
IL, 1918. The aircraft plants Of the
country during the war were bound
generally to production of certain
models adapted from European designs,
yet in spite of this limitation we have
the word of high United States officers
who served overseas that we actually
brought out four ships superior to any
thing that had been designed by our
associates.
"These we're: the Thomas Morse
Scout, the Curtiss Model K-1S, the
Looming Monoplane and the Glenn l..
Martin bomber
''Some months after the armistice
was signed, and when it appeared that
q military policy had been formulated,
bids were requested on 200 Martin
bombers. The industry responded, and
although quite a number of compet-
tive bids were returned the order never
developed and apparently the entire
proposal has been discarded. This was
not due to lack Of funds at the time
for part of the last war appropria-
ton was available.
The Industry Embarrassed
"The American aircraft industry has
been left in an embarrassing position.
Individual plants are endeavoring to do
the best they can under the circum
stances.
ut is not to be expected that an
airplane industry is to be maintained
at the zenith OF wartime production,
but it is a fact that the failure of the
country to realize its responsibilities
has resulted in the dissipation of the
engineering stats of virtually every
aeronautical enterprise in the United
States. The few exceptions are COM
PEELED to devote all energies to develop
commercial ideas.
CONNIE ercial aeronautics has a
future but demand cannot be created
quickly enough to preserve to the ma
ton the engineering and production
facilities which in the opinion of many
are essential"