AMERICAN EMBASSY

OFFICE OF THE MILITARY ATTACHE

ADMIRAL-VON-SCHRODER-STR. 8

BERLIN.

July 8, 1938.

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh,
Illiec,
Penvenan,
Cotes-du-Nord,
France.

(By Pouch, C/o Military Attache,
American Embassy, Paris.)

Dear Charles:

The atmosphere is clearing here considerably and I now think I can make a definite proposition to you.

Mr. Kindleberger and Mr. Martin have left, but the visit of Mr. Bell is impending and will continue until about August 15th. Vanaman is planning to take some leave in September. I asked him the other day to make a definite proposition to me with regard to your visit and he came to me to-day with the idea that you should come to Berlin at the time of the Lilienthal Society meeting about October 10th, but that you should not restrict your visit to a few days but plan to stay this time two or three weeks. In the course of this visit we would plan to have you see not a few plants, as has been the case in the past few years, but a dozen or fifteen plants, both motor and air, but principally airplanes.

I understand that you have been asked to make a short address at the air conference. I suggest you do it, as there are many technical subjects on which you are well qualified to talk and of course, as you know, all they are interested in at these conferences is pure technique. Why not a talk on trans-oceanic commercial flying? If not that, then why not a brief talk on the rocket?

Vanaman has just come back from a long trip with Kindleberger, in which he saw the new Aschersleben Plant of Junkers and the new Oranienburg Plant of Heinkel. He also has seen the A. T. G. at Leipzig, the Erla Plant at Leipzig, the Messersmith Plant at Augsburg, and the Dornier Plant at Friedrichshafen. As most of these names are unknown to you, you will no doubt follow our course in adding a few figures to our previous estimates of aircraft production here. As a matter of fact, our estimate for present aircraft production of all types, is 29 a day, with a potential production without increasing the number of factories but by adding shifts, of between 17 and 18,000 a year. These figures are probably a little lower than the actual figures, because there are probably still a number of factories which we don't know exist.

Major Vanaman believes that the new Messersmith two-motored pursuit is one of the finest planes in the world, bar none. He has seen

it fly and says aerodynamically it is a peach.

As you probably have heard, the Junkers Motors Works have solved the problem of the injection motor and their new 211 motor is of this type. You will remember last year at Lilienthal that a Junkers motor engineer got the Lilienthal medal for the year. It was for this development that the medal was accorded.

Of course you will bring Anne when you come. In case October does not suit you and you would like to come here in August, it can be arranged. However, I am of the belief that the October visit would be the most fruitful, as I am sure Milch will open all doors to you if you come at that time.

We need your help as badly as ever. Our air industry and air corps in America are finally aware that something is on in Germany. They had better be. They are two years late.

Mr. Martin left here with the belief that within two years he would not be able to sell a plane abroad, and this was also the opinion of Mr. Kindleberger. Both these gentlemen feel that Germany has now caught us technically - not of course in every matter, but by and large in most fields.

Well, don't be afraid to come forward with an August proposition in case October does not suit your plans.

With best wishes,

Sincerely yours,

Truman Smith,
Lt. Colonel, G.S.,
Military Attache.

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