Evening star., 1941-02-27
Auto Industry Girds
To Turn Out Engines
And AirpIane Parts
Officials Call Defense
No. ! Job of Motor
Production Factories
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

BY JOSEPH s. EDGERTON.
The automobile industry will have
at least 10000 men at work on ma
tional defense contracts, including
orders for aircraft engines, by the
end of this year and will have be-
tween 250,000 and $4,000 employed
next year when the fabrication of
parts for bombardment airplanes
gets under way, according to
progress report by the Automobile
Manufacturers Association made
public here today.
Every company in the automobile
industry now is producing one or
more defense items, according to
the report, and the industry's pro-
gram of contribution to defense is
growing steadily and rapidly.
Apart from the production in
great numbers Of automobiles,
trucks, armored cars and tanks for
the Army, the automobile industry
now is laying the groundwork for
a tremendous construction program
in support of the aircraft manufac-
turing industry.
$50 Engines Month.
One automobile plant, the Allison
Engineering Corp, a General
Motors subsidiary, now is producing
liquid-cooled airplane engines at
rate of more than $50 a month and
is expected to attain a production
level of 1000 a month by November.
These are the only engines of this
kind now produced in America.
Five other automobile plants are
to build airplane engines. two of
them beginning production this
summer. They are the Ford Motor
Co., which will turn out Pratt &
Whitney air-cooled engines in the
2,0O0-horsepower range, and the
Packard Motor Co, now preparing
TO build British Rolls-Royce engines
of approximately 1000 horsepower.
Buick and Studebaker production of
aircraft engines is scheduled to be-
gin during 1912.
The automobile factories also are
expected to produce on large scale
parts and subassemblies for bonn
bardment airplanes, which will be
assembled by the aircraft industry
in four major assembly plants. This
project is not expected to attain
much Importance before next year.
Defining the defense orders as
the automobile industry's mo. l
job" today, Alvan Macauley, presi-
dent of the Automobile Manufac-
turers' Association, in foreword
to today's report said:
From the start the automobile
companies saw this job as one that
must have the right of way. They
voluntarily pledged to subordinate
their forward tooling programs
wherever by doing so they could
expedite defense production. All
along the line the job has been and
is fight against time"
10 Major Defense Projects.
The report summarizes 10 major
defense projects of the industry as
follows:
/. Airplane engines from the
automobile industry have been 60
ing into service since July, 1910;
are coming out now at the rate of
$50 a month; will in a short time
be many times that number.
2. Two new airplane engine plants
are in the final stages of conStruc-
ton and equipment; will be pro-
ducing this summer; two more are
to be in operation by the end of
the year.
3. Ammunition components of
many types, such as shells, shell
castings, fuses, bomb and torpedo
parts are being produced in sew
eral automobile plants: will shortly
be coming out in a steady stream
of large volume. Converted auto
bile equipment is being used on
shell production now.
4. Plants will shortly be ready for
machine gun production, and sew
eral companies are working on parts
and accessories for big guns, such
as breech housings, recoil cylinders,
ammunition hoists, etc.
S. Tank production will begin
well ahead of schedule, If current
rate of progress can be maintained.
A start on actual parts production
work has been made.
6. Six companies are actively at
work on producing or preparing to
produce airplane body, wing and
tail parts. First shipments of sub
assembly units have already been
made. Ultimately from 100000 to