Evening star., 1939-04-23


days later and emerged with the
plans for what later came to be
known as the Liberty engine. they
had accomplished their task. Thirty
craftsmen from various automobile
plants were assembled at the Bu-
reau of Standards to convert the
rough plans into blueprints. AS
each drawing was finished, it was
rushed to manufacturer to produce
and send to Detroit, where the ex-
perimental engines were assembled
In the Packard plant. The first mo-
tor was finished % days after the
drawings were started. Many delays
followed; many changes were made
in design. But it eventually came
to be recognized as the best aero
nautical engine Of its type, and the
lightest per horsepower In the world.
BY November, 1918, more than $4,000
Liberty motors had come off the as
sembly lines, and orders for $4,000
more were on hand. Production was
at the rate of $50 day and increas-
ing rapidly.
Motor Triumphant.
The story of the Liberty motor
Is the one bright chapter in Amer
lean aviation in the World War. In
dividual feats of valor, important
Accomplishments by squadrons at
the front in the face of overwhelm-
Il Ing difficulty were merely interludes
in the record of heart-breaking fail
ure in the aviation program during
the first year of Americas participa-
ton. Yet the picture is not entirely
black. The program set for accom-
-plishment by the summer of 1918
was far behind schedule, even at
the time of the armistice. From
January to November, 1918, we had
produced more than 1000 planes,
most of them types used in training.
BY November we were turning out
planes at the rate of 10000 a year.
Had the war lasted until the follow
ing spring, there is little doubt that
the goal of 202 squadrons by June,
1919, could have been attained, al
though only As were actually on the
front when the armistice was signed.
In its own history of aviation ac-
complishment during the World
War, which is brutally frank when
the occasion requires, the Air Corps
cites three outstanding lessons
learned from bitter experience and
the expenditure of more than
$1,000, 100000. They are:
l. The absolute necessity of keep
Ing abreast of aeronautical develop
ments at all times;
2. Provision for a group of skilled
pilots to act as the nucleus of our
schools and flying units, and
3. The maintenance of an aero
nautical industry capable of in
definite expansion.
Burden of Industry.
The first two phases of this pro-
gram already have been discussed in
previous articles in The Sunday Star.
The fight for adequate appropria-
tions to expand research facilities
in proportion to other phases of
President Roosevelts program has
been partially, but not entirely. won.
The program for increasing person.
mel is proceeding smoothly with
every prospect of success. What
then of aeronautical industry? Will
it bog down in a morass of con-
fusion and delay, repeating the ex-
perience of 1917? Can it bear the
burden of the new expansion pro-
gram without breaking down? On
the answer to these questions may
hinge the success or failure of the
policy Of resistance to aggression by
preparedness, and especially pre-
paredness in the air.
In the most recent, and in view Of
a self imposed censorship, probably
the last statement of Americas
aeronautical production capacity,
Leighton w. Rogers, president of the
Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce,
stated that approximately $500
planes were produced in the United
States in 1888, of which about 1900
were military types.
Can Double Figure.
Not all aircraft plants are manu-
featuring military planes, but those
d. which are could double this 1900
figure by hiring more men and in
stalling certain machinery to pre-
vent bottlenecks in production lines.
he explained, bringing annual pro-
duction to the rate of approximately
$500 year. If the plants now en-