The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-08
BUILDING PLANES
 TASK FOR U. s.

Washington, D. C., Apr. 8.-State- ments by Gov. Henry Allen of Kan sas that the 35th Division and other American Contingents were without adequate support from the air dur ing the battle of the Argonne give pertlnency to the official account of the work which was requisite to the design and construction of airplanes employed by our armies in France.
 The building of airplanes on the scale which the exigencies of the war neCessitated meant the development of several large industries, because these ma maChines are a composite of wood, ia brics, steel and other metals, and many accessories. The produc- ton of planes therefore depended on the possibility of evolving In large quantities a proper type of power ful engine, and upon the availability or manufacture of accessories such as instruments, armament, bombing equipment radio equipment, photo graphic equipment, oxygen appara- tus and special clothing and personal equipment for aviators.
 From the day when the first line was drawn in the design of the Ldb- erty engine-May 29, 1917-until the 27th day of May, 1918, there were produced and delivered into service HOO Liberty 12 cylinder motors. This is considered an accomplish sment which had not been equalled in this CT any other industry in the United States or elsewhere. At the time of the cessation of hostilities there had been designed, developed and produced over 5000 of these en- zines and a grand total of 31,1S4 en-
 zines of all types.
 Along with the production of these
 engines there were manufactured and shipped, within less than twelve
 months, 3O.OOO Lewis. flexible type,
 and 25, 900 Marlin, field type, aircraft output of engines, guns and equip ] ment gives no idea of the bafling | problems that had to be solved be- 1 fore production could begin. For eX- | ample, there was the difficulty o1 | synchronizing the Marlin gun; that | is, to time the shots from the ma 1 chine gun so that they would fire | through the propeller without strik. ! ing the blades revolving at a speed
 varying from 600 to 1850 revolution! | 8 minute. This difficulty was sue
 cessfuIly overcome.
 Big Problems Solved.
 The use of radio telegraph appara tus' and fire control work early il
 the war gave rise to a remarka bI
 development in radio communication The United States Government pro
 duced the airpIane wireless telephon' by means of which the commande
 of the air squadron could direct b.
 voice the movements of the entir
 group of machines under his com
 mand. This made the air squadron
 a true military unit.
 Another remarkable achievement
 was that of applying oxygen to tn
 human factor in air fighting. Of tn
 earliest English air casualties, 2 pc
 cent were due to the enemy, pc
 cent. were attributed to the plane an 90 per cent. were ascribed to the air men. A study disclosed that practi cally all of the personnel were sui fering from oxygen fatigue" or lac of oxygen, as a consequence Of flyin
 for many hours a day at high alti tudes.
 Although the invention of this ap paratus is accredited to foreign coun tries. the development and engineer , ing of an oxygen apparatus to mee
 American requirements and to f } American methods of manufa ctur l was accomplished under the direcio . of the Medical Research Board ( l the Medical Section of the Divisio 3 of Military Aeronauucs and the Br e reau of Aircraft Production.
 , The apparatus was adapted to tal y care of two men, and was installe .I,oc y planes. In this category were a l military planes flying at attitudes l excess of 1O.00O feet. By October u 8 production of this apparatus had a @ tained a rate of 1000 sets a mont d In the manufacture of the plaI = itself the principal difficulty was tn v of obtaining sufficient quantity = spruce of the proper grade to kee @ pace with the program undertake
 by this country. In October, 191
 | these requirements were 5.00o,0
 feet a month, with only half tn
 quantity being produced in a like p = riod. In October, 1918, the requir 2. ments were 2o,4O0,00O feet Q mont l. Production was at the rate of 25, ,00C - GOO a month. Credit for this | n crease in output is given to u : Spruce Production Division of Il e Bureau of Aircraft Production. whit n subsequently, became the Unite e States Spruce Production Corpor n ton.
 q Industries Developed. IL The task of cutting and shippiI e this quantity of spruce involved u It labor of about 3O,OO0 men in u D northwest. To obtain lumber of u -e proper quality it became necessa II rot only to conduct logging oper ss tions on a very large scale. but al u to establish and run the largest sa' mill in the country and to handle | " sale of spruce to commercial firms. A development to insure the pr
 duction of airplanes according
 program was that of cotton fabi