Evening star., 1951-11-01

type fighter now in production
which can out-perform the F-S'
or other American jets in thel
almost daily duels with MICS il
the high, thin air above the Yal'
river boundary area. The F-8'
and the MIG-15 are rated abou
equal.
There are in the U. S. bette
planes and engines in develop
ment or approaching the produc
ton stage-as there probably arr
in Russia-but they aren't read.
now although they may have ad'
vanced to the experimental mode
stage several years ago.
The warplaneS coming out o.
American factories now are air.
craft designed and ordered before
or in the early days of the Korean
war.
A recent news conference re-
mark by Secretary of Defense
Lovett points this up. He Sail
We'll begin to get early in 1885,
completed aircraft which were
provided for by funds appropri.
ated in 1850 (either before the
outbreak of the Korean war OF
soon thereafter.
Because there is some f1exibility
in the design of a plane ever
when mass production lines have
started, certain changes made II
equipment or parts may produce
some degree of improvement
Therefore, the present series o.
North American F-86's flying II
Korea will not be as good as F-8t
"E" series planes now starting u
come off the line.
Moreover, specialized types o.
Jet fighters, like the Northror
F-89 and the Lockheed F-94, "all.
weather" planes, are in produc'
ton. They are particular -purpos'
planes, equipped with extensiv,
radar to help them find a targe
in any kind of weather, day o.
night.
The performance and genera
characteristics of the two je
fighter types which engage eacf
other most frequently are strik
ingly alike (Which is not strange
since many of their features grew
out of the same common design b,
Germany's Luftwaffe engineers il
the latter days of World War II.
Here they are:
The MIG-15-speed at higf
(25 900 feet or more) altitude 60t
to $50; rate of climb, in feet pc
minute, between 5000 and 5000
range, with extra wing-tip tanks
about 800 miles (although the Rec
f1iers in Korea have not beer
using their full normal range)
total weight with fuel and arma'
ment about, II 900 pounds: angle
of sweep back to the wings Ito al.
low more speed about 80 degrees
guns apparently include one g.
millimeter and two 20 millimeters
engine 5000 pounds thrust il
original design copied from Brit
aims Rolls-Royce Meme engine, al.
though this probably has beer
stepped up lately.
The F-86-speed and rate Of
climb approximately same as MIG
range slightly longer. perhaps by
about 100 miles; weight slightly
over 1900 pounds; sweep-bach
angle 35 degrees; armament. 81,
so caliber machine guns, up tc
16 five-inch rockets; power. $500
pound thrust.
Why does it take so long to builc
today's warplanes?
The Air Force and the industry
have a handy, cover-all phrase tt
answer the question: lead time.
Actually, lead time" isn't th'
whole answer but it accounts fol
a large part of the interval be-
tween a Congressional authorize
ton to start buying a certain typ
plane and the time when the frs
production model rolls. shiny ant
new, out Of the factory.
The lead time for fighter i
about 18 months. For a bomber j
is "a months.
Much of this lead time encom
passes the tedious process 0
getting together the material
tools and people to build tn
airplane. It takes time to max
the tools to make the plane, some
times more than two years to ge
a type of machine tool needed TO
a special type job.
Tools used for World War I
plane production often are useles
for today's warplane production
because even the basic plan TO
building the wings and fuselag
have changed in a few years. NJ
longer is the load carried entirel,