Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-29

course, is stag $500
nation of pro-
duction of COM David Lawrence.
mercial airplanes which cannot but
be reflected in a retardation of air.
line growth in America.
If the expansion of commercial
aircraft were not in itself virtually
related to national defense the
country would not suffer. But the
United States leads the world in
commercial aircraft production to-
day and can contribute more to the
defeat of the Nazis than any other
country because commercial avia-
ton has required a highly-skilled
industry to make airplanes to ny
long distances and in all sorts OF
weather conditions.
A large supply of commercial air
planes is needed for national de-
tense, especially for the movement
of troops and for the emergency
movement of coast defense units, so
anv increase in commercial planes is
a direct addition to the Nations
safety.
Stimulus to Industry.
But most important is the stimu-
lus which a steady flow OF COM
mercial orders gives to the aircraft
industry Britain would not today
be CRYING for more planes Of military
and naval types if the United States
had been able to place with the air
craft manufacturers orders alongside
of those which the commercial COM
panies placed.
The record shows. for instance,
that in January, 1899, engine pro-
duction had fallen to a low point
and that the aircraft manufacturers
were greatly in need of Army and
NAVY orders. Then 18 months later
the aircraft industry is called upon
to multiply its production many
times in order to satisfy the military
requirements.
It begins to look as if the War
Department officials who are re-
sponsible for an insistence on
priority at this moment have taken
an arbitrary attitude, forgetting
that it was the War Department
itself in 1918 which encouraged the
present system of commercial air
lines as national defense measure.
Might Prove Deterrent.
Information from reliable quar-
tiers is that to stagnate the produc-
ton of commercial planes is not
substantially to increase the number
of war planes produced, but 1t may
have deterrent effect on planning
for the next three years.
The manufacturers cannot de-
pend permanently on military
orders and can only make sys-
tematic plans if they can figure
on a steady growth of the COM
mercial air lines. With the rapid
development of air travel and air
mail, the steady increase in pro-
duction of commercial planes be-
comes the backbone of the aircraft
production industry for the long
run.
Here the latest improvements are
designed, and on the airlineS, too,
are the pilots trained for all kinds
of flying. 1t will be recalled that
about five years ago the War De-
partment endeavored to operate the
air mail lines and tragic results
followed
Interference with the commercial
aviation industry is one of the
first serious evidences the country
has been given of the unco-ordi-
mated nature of the defense pro-
gram operation. Instead of sum-
moning the engineers and aircraft
makers several months ago to plan
. long-range program which would
provide for commercial as well as
military expansion, the whole prob
lem Of production is tackled in hit
or miss fashion and then when
the demand for speed arises, the
only suggestion Is to cut down on
commercial planes.
Little thought is apparently given
to the fact that it takes long
time to re-tool from commercial to
military planes and that the two
operations do not overlap very
much.
Capacity Is Adequate.
The United States has sufficient
potential capacity to take care Of
all aircraft expansion provided
there is adequate and careful plan
ming and provided that the Gov
eminent itself does not fiddle away
months with amortization plans and
punitive tax plans while the indus
try itself struggles to move ahead.
The incident will prove of con-
structive value if it focuses public
attention on the loose way in which
industrial operations are handled
by governmental authorities in con-
nection with the defense program.
The present need for accelerated
expansion should have been fore
seen last summer. But it wasn't.
And now somebody has to be the
scapegoat for the failure of our
military aircraft program to live
up to the ballyhoo about large pro-
duction figures by January, 1941
And the net effect may be to bring
confusion into an industry that Is
fearful anyway of sudden stoppage
of military orders and which can
only rely on steady increase in
the demand for commercial air
planes. Surely it would seem that
conference Of engineers and
manufacturers and Government Of
ficials long ago might have planned
against sudden stoppage or stag
nation of aircraft production for
commercial purposes. especially when
these purposes are so closely re-
lated to the national defense itself.
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