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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0471.PDF
FEBRUARY 20TH, 1941. 159 t GIVE US THE TOOLS, AMERICA!" (Continued) he saw of the bombing of some of our towns and how he learnt to play darts. By the time you read this he will have given his evidence in regard to the Lease and Lend Bill, and, as most people over here confidently believe, the Bill will have been passed. The passing of such a Bill means the linking of arms, both figuratively and liter- ally, of the two most democratic nations in the world, and there are many of us who hope that the bonds which at present unite us will grow into a permanent union. DATA ON U.S. AIRCRAFT EXPORTS r 1939 Jan. Feb. . Mar Apr May .. June July.. Aug... Sept. . Oct. Nov... Dec... • Total for 1939 1940 Jan. Feb... Mar... Apr... May .. June.. July.. Aug... Sept. . Oct. ..- Nov... ' . Total for 11 months .. To United Kingdom 20 43 44 50 75 53 42 44 34 0 4 53 462 4i 2 23 19 97 *73 278 136 177 190 1.155 To France 25 29 36 10 15 52 .53 57 0 0 19 171 467 66 47 122 168 95 193 0 0 0 0 0 691 To Canada 3 3 1 8 3 2 10 15 5 0 16 2 68 14 11 11 ' 4 5 27 85 75 68 102 48 45o Total 48 75 81 68 93 ' 107 105 116 39.' 0 39 226 997 121 77 135 195 119 317 . 258 353- 204 279 238 2,296 Total U.S.exports to world 72 114 130 108 156 148 121 137 . " 60 43 62 294 1.445 • 233 I«O 210 • 2'33 3O9 372 ^8 383 284 335 284 3,161 he first table in this article gives a summary of data U.S. aircraft exports, the second of engine exports. Examination of the first shows that American exports are rising substantially. This is a comforting fact and augurs well for the future, for we know that your production has not yet got into its wartime stride. Those of us who are engineers know well the difficulties of making aircraft in large numbers and just how long it can take to double the output of a factory, let alone multiply it by five or six or seven times. But we have great faith in your undoubted ability to tarn out aircraft in large numbers, and know that these »iU ultimately be forthcoming in sufficient volume to satisfy our most exacting demands. What we wish to urge upon you, however, is the need for speed, for a glance at the column of exports to the United Kingdom shows that these monthly totals are not large, not even now, when the war has been going for some 17 months. Striking1 rough average of about 190 per month for the later months of 1940, this is only a small fraction of our own pro- duction. (No official indication of our own rate of produc- tion is given, but from visits to factories one can obtain some vague ideas.) : ^ou will probably raise your eyebrows at a request for from this side of the Atlantic, from we British who " a reputation—well deserved, I am afraid—for being er slow off the mark. But that is merely so that this unfortunate mess can be cleaned up as soon as possible and we can be free to return to our life's work and carry on with the things which we like doing. We know you are getting on with the job of production, for figures show that the value of aeronautical exports during the first ten months of 1940 was just over three times as great as the total for the same period of 1939. The respective totals are $252 million and $81 million. But we don't care how much faster you go. DATA ON U.S. ENGINE EXPORTS 1940 May.. .June . July.. August . September . .October To United Kingdom 5 25 77 248 256 379 To Canada 68 26 315 105 123 142 To Australia 19 6 0 27 — •— It is interesting to observe the increase in size of aircraft exported. During 1939, a total of 1,211 aircraft were exported, valued at $65,513,000. This gives an average price of $54,000 (^13,400) each. But during August, 1940, the 278 aircraft valued at $22,665,000 averaged $81,600 (^20,200) each, showing that they were bigger aeroplanes. So in judging the rate of increase of American exports, one should compare not only numbers but also take into account the size, which is very nearly directly proportional to the--cost. The total aeronautical exports of U.S.A. during the first eight months of 1940 were made up thus: — To the United Kingdom .. $62,092,000 (^15,500,000) . To Canada .. '.. $16,435,000 (^4,100,000) . To Australia .. .. $10,845,000 (^2,700,000) ' " $89,372,000 (^22,3O0,O00) This shows that the British Empire is getting nearly half of the U.S. export total of $198,640,000. ("Aeronautical exports" includes complete aircraft, airframes and parts, engines and parts, and all accessories.) Present Rate of Production Our daily papers are becoming full of names of new American types, more than our memories can retain. Tomahawk, Liberator, Ventura, Lightning, Catalina, Mus- tang, Vanguard, Buffalo, Boston, Martlet, Mohawk, Mary- land and Baltimore—more and more of them, and if names were hundreds, the war would be as good as over. But we know that the figures which have been quoted at various times by our daily papers as " round " and " approximate " and "just under" and "nearly" and "attained soon" have not been borne out by the figures of exports which your official sources in the U.S. Department of Commerce have published. This is not your fault, as your responsible engineers at the head of your big aircraft factories have not drawn exaggerated pictures of what they could produce in any given time. They also know the great difficulties confront- ing an enormous expansion programme, when men have to be trained to do new jobs, when enormous machine tool purchases have to be made and huge new buildings erected to house men and tools. Your total production of all aircraft, both civil and mili- tary, during 1939 was at the rate of 488 per month, but this has now increased considerably, as it was announced that during December, 1940, a total of 799 of all types was made. But more than half of each of these figures consists of small civil aircraft. Mr. T. P. Wright, whose position as a technical head of one of your great aeronautical companies ensures that his words will be listened to with respect, has made some esti-
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