Evening star., 1941-02-11
Pratt & Whitney P|anl
Making 1000 Plane
Engines a Month
Factory Space Doubled
Since May by Miracle
lnConstruction
(22d OF a SerieS.)
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,

oldI nNAhtiph 1uitti'
HARTFORD, Conn, Feb. IL
Having doubled its factory space
since last May through something
of a miracle in plant building, the
Pratt & Whitney Division of United
Aircraft Corp. already has stepped
up its aircraft engine production
rate from 1000 engines for the entire
1910 calendar year to a present rate
of more than 1000 engines month.
The corporation holds contracts
for approximately 1900 engines,
covering requirements of both the
Army and Navy for the fiscal years
1941 and 1912. The engines are of
various types ranging from 500 to
1000 horsepower and the value of
the contract is approximately $780,
900 900. All 1900 engines are to be
delivered by the end of the 1912
fiscal year June 30, 1912, under
terms of the contract. Actually, at
the present rate of expansion. the
contract may be completed well in
advance of the specified time.
Three Huge Additions.
The writer was visitor to the
Pratt e. Whitney plant last June.
The contrast, seven months later,
is startling. Areas which were open
fields today are acres of humming
machinery. Three huge factory ad-
ditionS, totaling 100000 square feet
of floor space. have been completed |
One of them, the 400, 00-square foot |
British section, was completed |
within 40 working days-a record for
even these days of mushroom like |
defense factory projects. Total floor
space in the Hartford plant today
Is in excess of 100000 square feet !
and additional floor space has been
rented on the Long Island Sound |
coast so miles away to provide space |
for personnel training and propeller |
production.
Preparations now are being COM
pleted to transfer engine assembly |
operations into the newly completed |
400 ,000- -square-foot American" sec
ton, into which machinery and
equipment are now being moved.
At the beginning of 1889 the |
Pratt & Whitney personnel roster |
in the engine factory totaled 2,700 |.
regular employees. At the time of /.
my June visit, there were 5000 en-
ployes. Today there are approx
mately 10000 employees in the en-
gine plant and total of $4,000 in
the engine and propeller plants.
The total United Aircraft Corp. |
pay roll for the u months ending
last November amounted to S22,-
900 900.
More Work 'Farmed Out"
But this plant and personnel ex-
panSion review in itself does not |.
tell the story. Pratt & Whitney
has been increasing steadily the
amount of work on its engines per-
formed by sub-contract outside its
own plant. Today, company Cffic- |
ials say, approximately so per cent /
of the manufacturing collar" is !
sub-contracted. That is, half of |
the money spent in actual manufac-
turing processes goes into the out !
side purchase of ,aStingS, gorgingS, /
smaller parts, bearings, valves, car /
buretors, magnetos, spark plugs and .
even some machine work. This |
practice of farming out work is |
on the increase in virtually all !
national defense plants and is in
accord with Federal policy. This |
method provides for maximum pro- |
duction with existing plant facili-
ties and permits more rapid ex-
pansion of production than would |
be possible with all manufacturing |
concentrated in the parent plant. !
The American" section. most |
recent addition to the Pratt g. Whit
ney plant, is of the same type of |
construction as the most modern |
airplane factories, which is regard |
ed as significant. 1t is so designed .
that it might be converted, after
the existing emergency, for the pro-
duction of small airplanes. Pratt
& Whitney officials, however, had .
no comment on this possibility.
Present construction also includes /
many new test cells" for engines. |
among them several unusually large
cells which are capable of accom-
modating larger engines than any
now in operation. Pratt Il Whit
ney now is beginning production
Of 2000-horsepower air, cooled en-
gine and its carefully guarded ex-
p-rimental labora tories, among the
lorrest in the INDUSTRY. are at work
on new projects of which no inkling
h9S been permitted to reach the