Evening star., 1927-10-31
FLYING WITH GEN.PATRICK
RY MAJ. GEN. NJ. NJ. PATRICK.
Chief of the Army Atr Corps.
Aviation and the World War.

The advent of America into the
World War. necessitated immediate
and hitherto unprecedented expansion
in all branches of our military estap-
lishment. Our allies realized that
much time would elapse before we
could raise, train. equip and transport
armies capable of producing decisive
results on a battlefield 1000 mics
away. Moreover, at that time it was
not considered that vast American
Army was either possible or necessary
for victory. France believed that
America could most effectively aid IN
winning the war by providing large
air force and proposed program m
yolving the formation of flying corps
Of $500 irplanes-personnel and ma
teriai included-to be sent to the
French front during the campaign OF
1918.
To this program was added the task
of producing some 10000 training
planes required for the training of the
personnel necessary TO man the serV-
ice machines. To visualize the mag
nitude of this undertaking it is neces-
sary to recall to mind the rather puny
nucleus which had been IA years in
developing and which it was now
sought to expand, virtually overnight,
into the greatest aerial army Of all
| time.
Number Enrolled April 6, 1917.
On April 6. 1917, the American Air
| Force consisted of 65 officers, Of whom
| 35 held flying ratings. and 1,oS7 en-
listed men and had only two estab-
iished flying fields. 1t had practically
no material, personnel or experience
in designing, producing or use Of aero
| nautical equipment.
The official records show that prior
TO 1917. a total of 142 airplanes had
| beer delivered 70 the L. S. Army. A
large portion Of these was already OBJ
soete and many had been destroyed
! Not one of them was suitable for use
on tie battle front. Effective censor
ship excluded Americans from any
knowledge of the closely guarded Sc
crets Of European military aircraft
and their extensive development up TO
this time. Although several COM
panics and individuals had been pro-
ducing. in a small way, very simple
| planes and engines OF limited ca
pacity. adequate manufacturing IA
cilities for the production of aero
! nautical equipment of war type did
not exist in this country.
| Another obstacle TO quantity pro-
| duction of planes was the lack Of
| ready availability of necessary raw
materials The knowledge of military
! aircraft cleaned by our allies from
| three years of warfare was now at
our disposal. yet it required time to
| obtain and assimilate this knowledge
and to adapt it to American methods.
| Money, the magic lubricant of the
wheels Of industry. was now available.
vet. as the president Of the national
advisory committee very apt!y re-
marked, no amount Of money will buy
| time.
Air Force Growth Cited.
The details OF this struggle against
time are too many TO he recounted in
| This brief article. How well American
brains and initiative backed by Ameri-
! can dollars reacted TO the task, under
pressure Of war conditions, is best I
related by the results attained. On
he date Of cessation of hostilities,
slightly more than IA year and Il half
later. oar air force had grown to the
strength of 20 56S officers. a large per-
centAgc Of whom were qualified air.
plane pilots, and an enlisted and
civilian personnel Of 174.436 equipped
with 1852 airplanes Of all descrip.
tions and operating IS flying fields.
The one great project Of the air.
!
others in its conception. its execution
and its ultimate importance as an
american contribution toward the win
ming of the war was the Liberty en-.
gino. The difficulty Of obtaining sat.
isfactory aviation engines in quantity
had limited the size Of all air services
abroad. Increased power and better
performance were inccsSan ntly demand
| ID. our problem was TO develop an
engine with increased horsepower,
and To- produce it in greater quantity
than ever before attained. Through
| the collaboration Of some Of the best
engineering minds of America. the
plans for this remarkable engine were
completed in the short period of five
days. The first engine was built and
ready for test % days after the draw
ings were begun. Many changes in
details were necessary, but the general
principles were proven successful be
yond the expectations of the most op
timistic. The plans were finished on
June 4. 1917. BY November II. 1918
production had reached $50 engines
per day and over 10000 had been built
tCopyright. 1927