Evening star., 1948-03-24
.46 B-24 Engines
Shipped toReds,
Hearing Told
War Surplus Broker
Testifies on Resale of
WAA Plane Ports
COMMERCE OFFICIALS JOIN
probe Of illegal export licenses.
Page Az.
BY the A.soejo,ed Press

ADallas airplane engine broker
told Congress today that at least
46 warplane engines he bought
last year from the War Assets
Administration were eventually
sent to Russia and Poland.
Leroy H. Lucky, the broker, said
they were new engines, built for
B-24s and suitable for bombers or
troop-carrying planes. He told his
story to House subcommittee in
vestigating WAA sales. In brief, it
was this:
Mr.. Lucky was in the business of
buying the engines, fixing them up
and selling them. He bought 1,400
from the WAA last year and does
not know where all those he sold
finally wound up.
Once he bought LOG new engines
for $28,0 900. They had cost the Gov
ernment "over a million dollars"
For all his purchases from WAA he
paid an average of $210 an engine
and sold them for as high as $2,500
to 5000 each. Repair costs we're
about $1,000 each.
Mr.. Lucky said the IS engines he
knows went to Russia or Poland
were sold to Richard r. Fincke,
president Of the Alpine Corp, WASH
ington.
(The Alpine Corp, with Of
fees in the Shoreham Building,
was described by an official of
the firm as "a dealer in airplane
engines and parts" Mr. Fincke,
the president, was reported to
be in New York and could not
be reached for commentD
Stencilled Licenses on Boxes.
Mr.. Lucky said that when he sold
the engines he knew they were to be
shipped to Russia and Poland be-
cause he stencilled the export
licenses on the shipping boxes. The
shipments started, he said, last May
or June land continued through the
rest of the year"
Mr.. Lucky testified after WAA
Administrator Jess Larson told the
committee that he had mo knowl-
edge" of any WAA sales to Russia
or her satellite countries since June
30, 1947.
Mr.. Larson agreed with Repre-
sentative Ridley, Republican, OF
Oklahoma, subcommittee chairman
that it would not me desirable to
send our surplus war materials tc
, countries unfriendly to us"
The WAA head said 1t was up to
the State and Commerce Depart
ments to police" goods sold by the
WAA to prevent them from falling
into the hands of Russia and her
satellites.
$I,415,584 in Sales to Russia.
Mr.. Larson testified that since
July i, 1916, up to the present, Rus
sia has bought WAA materials orig
inally costing S3,232, ,66164 and has
paid $1A15,584.59 for them.
He said these included steel. tex
tiles, machinery and machine tools,
railroad transportation equipment,
footwear, clothes and rubber prod
ucts.
Mr.. Ridley said he had heard re-
ports Of a recent $4,000, 900 sale Of
WAA supplies to Communist-con-
trolled CZechoslovakia. Mr.. Larson
said there had been no such direct"
sales.
Mr.. Larson told the committee
WAA had sold 21.278 combat-type
planes for scrap at scrap prices to
five agencies in the United States.
He added:
"All the planes were flown to the
fields, where they were sold. Some
obviously must have been compare
lively new"
Were a large number of those
planes flown directly from the fac
tory to the fields for sale as scrap?"
asked Representative Holifield,
Democrat, of California.
Il don't know" Mr.. Larson said.
"I7l have to get that information
for YOU"