Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-05-30
BUILDING OF AIRPLANES.
American Energy Met With Greater
Difficulty Than II Expected.

american Energy Met With Greater
Difficulty Than It Expected.
Admission that both military and
civilian experts overestimated the
country's capabilities in setting out
lin 1917 ito accomplish the impossible
task" of producing $4,000 airplanes
in 12 months is made in the official
history of the governments efforts to
build up the industry made public a
few days ago by the war department.
Retaliation of this error resulted al
lmost Immediately in the placing of
contracts in France for 5,S75 planes OF
the Spad. Nieuport and Bregeut types.
The report shows that by May %,
Isis, American factories had delivered
5,27O planes, or "a per cent of the am
bilious program while the French had
delivered 81 per cent of the number
promised on that date. UP to Novem-
ber IL, total of 11,364 airplanes had
been produced in America, but these
were largely training machines, fight
ling planes completed during the war
period totalling only S,32S.
Broadly stated" the history says,
"the United States produced for the
army alone in her second year of man
ufacture, as many airplanes as Eng
land produced for her army and navy
in her third year"
Organization of the manufacturing
industry is declared to have been the
smallest of the air services problems,
an alarming shortage of cloth and
varnish, or dope" for the wings de-
veloping at the very start. Lack OF an
adequate supply Of linen was over
come quickly through the assistance
of the United States bureau OF stand
ards which evolved special cotton
fabric with a tensile strength of 80
pounds to the square inch. Production
of this material was soon at the rate
of 100000 yards per month.
Cotton proves not only to be an
admirable substitute for linen, but
even a better fabric than the origi-
lnal CLOTH" the report says. mo mat
ter how abundant the supply of flax
may be, it is unlikely that linen will
ever again be used in large quantities
for airplane wings"
Search for varnish to protect air
plane wings resulted in the establish
ment of 10 large chemical plants to
produce acetone, the principal ingred-
| lent.
Had the war continued" says the
history, these new plants would have
taken care of all American and Allied
military needs, allowing the produc-
ton of private plants to fill CONNER
cial needs
| Development Of aircraft was so rapid
that frequent changes in modes and
designs were before the service ex-
perts for consideration. At the time
of the armistice, the whole production
machinery had been, or was about to
be. turned over to putting out new
De Haviland, known as 9-A; the Le-
pere, two-seater built around
the liberty engine, and the great Hand
lley-Pege machine for bombing work.
Experiments also " ere under way with
1.-THE Italian Caproni, to be driven by
three liberty engines.
But American invention was able
| to bring out strictly American bomb
| ing plane that promised to supercede
all other types in existence" says
/
plane which, with a wing spread of rs
feet, attained a speed of 11S miles per
hour against 100 for the. Handley-
Page and Caproni. Where the for
eigners required 46 minutes to climb
Is, 900 feet, the Martin craft took 30
minutes"
One entire chapter of the history Is
given to the evolution and prepara-
tions for the production of the liberty
engine. First drawings were made
May 20, 1917 and the S-cylinder
engine was delivered July 4, 1917. On
August 25, the first liberty twelve
successfully passed so hour test.
"As an achievement in speed in the
development of successful new en-
gine-this performance has never been
eaualled in the motor history Of any
country" the report declares, quoting
a British officer statement that more
than one year from the conception to
completion must be allowed in such
cases. The performance was possible,
| it added, because all the inventive and
manufacturing talent Of the country
was turned over patriotically to the
government for use without stint, even
secret patents and processes pelng
thrown into the common pool.
Deliveries started with % motors in
December, 1917. This was increased
to 80 in January, 1918, 70 In Feb
ruary, 122 in March, 416 in April and
go in May. BY October the daily
production was 130 complete machines.
The report asserts that as fair stand
ard of comparison it could be said
that the most famous British aviation
engine never reached a larger produc-
tion than 10 machines day.
Liberty motors comprised about one
half of the aviation horsepower pro-
duced in this country, the remainder
being divided between the Hispano-
$dizas, lie Rhones, Gnomes, Curtisses,
Hall Scots and one or two experiment
tai types. Disappointing results met ef-
forts to produce the British Rolls
Boy,e and the French Bugatti engines
in this country, this being attributed
largely to insufficient data obtained
from the originators.
| Vivid description is given of the
development of the various special
equipment for war planes, such as
the synchronizing device, permitting
the aviator to fire through his propel-
Ter, the special compasses and sights
the camera gun" and many types OF
bombs. AS an illustration of the adap-
liability of American factories, the re-
port cites the case of a manufacturer
"