Evening star., 1942-08-09
Officials SkepticaI
On Kaiser's S Plan
For Giant Planes
DecIore Cargo Corrjer
Proposal Would Hinder
Present War Production
CONTINUED From First Page.)

| flying boat. Mr.. Martin refused tf
say whether or not he thought Mr.
Kaiser would be able to work out hi.
program.
In his own plant, Mr.. Martin said
a minimum of 20 months would be
required to reach production stage
with the big flying boat. This, de-
spite the fact that his is the only
plant in the Nation large enough to
build the ship and that his engineers
and skilled workmen know the plans
we'll.
The Mars, Mr.. Martin pointed out
was built as military plane, and
as such could transport men and
materiel, but no materials of any
great bulk. To convert the ship
to the cargo-carrying type only ION
paper" would require four months
work of 600 engineers. After COM
pletion of designs another 16 months
would be needed to put the Mars in
production.
One Big Question.
The thoughts expressed are those
of other aircraft men, of production
men and of military experts. Now
that official Washington has recov-
cred its breath, the one big ques-
ton being asked is:
If the Government, or more spe-
cifically the Navy. desires the Mars
to be placed in quantity production
for transport purposes, why not let
Mr.. Martin, himself production
man of stature who is familiar with
the plane, do the job?
A fact to be faced In considering
the Kaiser plan, it was pointed out,
Is that the existing plane program,
which includes some cargo planes,
has fallen behind schedule largely
due to limited available materials,
as evidenced by the Office of War
Information statement yesterday.
AN official high in maritime cir
cles said it is evident that materials
have placed certain ceilings and
limitations on the all-out production
effort of the country. Without men,
tioning the Kaiser plan as such, he
said material used for experimental
purposes would have to be drawn
from a vital program. He described
the idea as '.robbing Peter to pay
Paul." and said the country should
not 60 of thalf-cocked" and make
commitments without a thorough
and conscientious analysis OF the
subject.
The official said that to those
connected with the production pro-
gram, 1T appeared doubtful pa
triotism for some Of these so-called
miracle men to carry on their
publicity drive when they do not
tell the whole story, the net re-
suit being that they are deceiving
the American people which in
times like this is very close to
criminal"
Calls Plan "Far-Fetched."
Chairman Vinson of the House
Naval Affairs Committee, the one
official who permitted quotation,
told The Star:
I'm my humble opinion the Kaiser
plan is far-fetched. Aviation COM
panies are better qualified to build
cargo planes than shipbuilders. If
the Mars is to be built I want to
see Martin, not Kaiser, build them.
Mr.. Kaiser will interfere with the
military plane program"
Aircraft experts, men with years
of experience in airplane design and
construction, referred to the Kaiser
proposal as fantastic"
Skeptical officials of the Army,
Navy and WPB maintained an atti-
tude of watchful waiting. They
thought the Kaiser plan was i'm
possible" but were willing for him
to gather data on facilities and
needs and see what the result
would be. They were fearful of any
move that might result in slowing
output of bombers and fighters des-
perately needed on far-flung bat
tlefronts.
Mr.. Martin, in giving The Star
some data on the job of building
the Mars in volume, made the fol-
lowing statement:
"I can, and am willing, to buile
the Mars for transport purposes or
any scale the Navy wishes, whether
one a month, one a week or one q
day, provided the Navy will foo
the bill, assure materials and fur.
nish cooperation necessary for thi.
tremendous task"
Required Four Years.
The plane builder said it required
more than four years to design ant
build the Mars. A couple more
months will be necessary before tn,
craft has completed its tests for de-
livery to the Navy.
Mr.. Martin for years has been {
leading advocate of giant cargo
planes. In q recent statement he
envisioned construction of plane.
that would dwarf even the Mars
worlds largest flying boat. Mr.
Martin spoke of 200-ton planes, ane
his shop has done preliminary work
on craft nearly that large Mr.
Kaiser said he hoped to get Gov
ernment consent to build 200-tor
| planes.
| An aircraft engineer OF highest
qualifications told The Star that
four years would be the minimum
time to design and build a 200-torl
plane. This was largely due, he said
to the fact that engines and pro-
pellers of a size needed to drive
such craft have never been made
To make Mars plane from non-
critical materials such as stainless
steel, low-carbon steel or plywood
experts said, would require perhaps
years of experimentation, since ii