The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-01-11
Boake Carter
Says:
VIII History Repest7
AirpIane FalIacies.
Scandal Recalled.

- ~
Just 10 keep me pot boiling. be-
cause your interests as a taxpayer
are involved. lets further discuss
M. Roosevelt's proposal for vast
airplane armada and he training
Of 10000 pilots a year
These planes. which it is pro-
posed to build along lines now fol-
lowed By American manufacture
ers will be antiquated before they
are actually constructed Among
other things we also must remem-
Der
The Germans. whose oil engines
outperform our own gasoline air
craft engines. are now going into
production of 900 B. II. p. engines
for their planes.
Heretofore the weight of oil en-
gines has been deterrent to their
use. Now the Germans, through
ten years research. have the weight
down on 750-horsepower engine
to la pounds per horsepower,
against l.51 pounds per horsepower
on our own average 150-horsepowcr
American gasoline aircraft engine.
In other words, their oil engines
are not only safer, consume less
ful and turn out better perform
ance, hut also are now actually
LIGHTER in weight than gasoline
motors.
Wherein. then. lies the sense in
spending tens of millions of tax
payer dollars for the purchase of
equipment upon which the poll
ticians tell us to pin high hopes.
but which, in reality. is inferior
and Anticipated in the blueprint
stage?
Furthermore. the Germans have
a satirical sense of humor. Now
that they are about to produce
1000 B. II. P engines for them
selves they are licensing the Japa-
nese and the Italians to build $50
horsepower Junker oil engines and
licensing the British and the
French to build 600-horsepower
Junker engines,
And they are preparing to build
1000 b H. p. oil engines for their
planes, which weigh less. take up
less space or area than one of our
own highly Wanted 1.2000-horse-
power radial gasoline engines.
The lay public does not realize
that granting licenses and giving
blucprints is but ONE QUARTER
of the problem of turning out any
product, particularly so intricate
and delicate piece of mechanism
as an aircraft engine.
Shop practices which have en-
abled the Germans to produce
these engines. are only found out
after years and years of actual
building.
With all the glib talk about pro-
duclng thousands of planes today
la sausage grinder; the grinding
out of 10000 pilots per year sober
citizens cannot help but wonder
whether the same insane mistake
of 19lI-191S is not about to be re-
peated in 1889.
1t is even more interesting to
recollect that Franklin D. Roose-
welt was a member of the Little
Cabinet of Woodrow Wilson at the
time of the Aircraft Procurement
Board scandals during the World
war and it is the same Mr.. Roose-
welt who, % years later. is an
nouncing that planes, engines and
men are to be ordered up again in
carload lots
Examination of the newspaper
files of those days reveals almost
exactly the same headlines as
those printed today. That huge
American air armada was being
constructed; that within two wears
not only would we be inyulnerable
from the air, but that the planes
were actually 10 be delivered en-
masse to France by FLYING them
across the Atlantic in 1917. The
public ate up the headlines. IL
coughed up billion dollars and
received four engines BEFORE the
war ended and NO PLANES until
AFTER the war was finished,
With the same story being ped
died again today. l wonder if con-
gress will have the sense to slam
the stable door BEFORE the horse
gets out?