Evening star., 1944-03-05
Two New Warp|anes
Under Production,
Committee Reports
BY thu Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Two new Navy lighting planes Of
unparalleled design and . new Army
light bomber were disclosed yester.
day in a Senate committee report
on the war program.
Discussing the B-2s superfortress
the Truman Committee investigat-
ing war production said that "sev.
eral other types Of heavy multi
engined bombers" were being built
but that as yet the "factual details
should not be set forth in a public
report"
Use Of the phrase "multi-engined'
could mean planes with more power
plants than the four-engined super
fortress.
The new planes listed were:
The F7F, described as a two
engined fighter being built by
Grumman Aircraft e. Engineering
Corp. and scheduled for early
production" This is the first men
ton Of a two-engined carrier based
fighter. Presumably it would be a
single-seat plane with folding
wings.
BID Improved.
The BID, described as "a rad
ically improved model" Of SID
Dauntless dive bomber, obviously
intended for a wider range Of uses
than the plane it will replace.
The letters BID mean bomber
torpedo, built by Douglas" while
the SID is a scout bomber" Of
Douglas manufacture. There is
presently no combined dive bomber
and torpedo plane designed as such
in service on carriers.
The third new plane was not
given letter designation, the re-
port saying merely that "a new
Douglas light bomber, which is con-
sidered to be greatly superior to
the A-20, will soon come into pro-
duction and in the future will be
the principal light bomber pro-
duced."
Fighters Refined.
The Douglas A-20 Havoc is a
highly rated two-engined plane used
for numerous purposes, including
that of a night fighter. The "a"
stands for attack.
The Truman report disclosed that
the North American Psi Mustang
and the Republic PAT Thunderbolt,
already rated as tops among single
engine fighters, are being improved,
and that a greatly improved ver-
sion of the Bell Airacobra Is coming
into production.
Production of the Lockheed P-38
Lightning, described as "the finest
plane of its type in the world" is
being increased by contract with
Consolidated Vultee.
Thus far the versatile twin boom,
long-range fighter has been built
only by its designer, Lockheed. Ex-
tension of the program to a second
company is the first time that the
Army has done so with fighter
planes, although it follows that prac-
tice with bombers.
Navy Design Delayed.
The committee reported the
Navy's largest dive bomber program,
planned around the Curtiss SB2C
Helldiver, had been delayed for a
time by design, production and other
problems a. in the Curtiss- Wright
Corp. plan at Columbus, Ohio
However, the committee said,
Substantial progress" has been
made recently and production is
now under way in substantial num-
bers." 81 s~
Because of the delay in the He'll
diver program, the report said, it
had been necessary to continue and
expand production of the Douglas
SID Dauntless, which had been
considered relatively obsolete.
In addition to Curtiss- Wright
Corp, the Helldiver is being pro-
duced by Fairchild at Montreal,
Quebec, and by the Canadian Car
& Foundry Co.
The report also disclosed that the
Army is dropping its single-engine
light bomber program and will dis
continue making the Curtiss-W Wright
AIS, a version of the Navy's He'll
diver and the Consolidated Vultee
A-35 Vengeance.