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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0862.PDF
396 FLIGHT APRIL 23RD, 1942 Nakajima T.97. Mitsubishi T.98 special ferro-alloys. To counteract this deficiency the Government established special training centres and acquired plants where large numbers of workers could become proficient in various skilled trades. v Nevertheless, the problem of skilled labour remains a constant deterring factor in Japan's air expansion. The Japanese aircraft industry is lacking that depth of skilled labour resources on which the aircraft industry in Wes tern countries can draw in the hour of rapid expansion. Although at pre sent this shortage is not acutely felt, it will undoubtedly impress its stamp 011 Japan's air potential with the continu ity of the war and the manifold calls on the limited resources of skilled and mechanical labour. Farming-out System The advance from utter inferiority to the present state of development has been remarkable, but the absence of domestic demand for motor vehicles prevents a substantial growth of the motor industry, which is at present limited to large assembly plants and plants working for army orders. A large proportion of the industry en gaged in the production of components and instruments is concentrated in the hands of small workshops spread all over the country. The system is based on the farming-out of work by mer chant employers to such workshops employing from five to 30 workers and equipped with presses, lathes and machine tools. The products of these shops are then assembled in the '' mother firm '' which also supplies them with the necessary materials, drawings, etc. But while from the point of view of vulnerability to air attacks such dis persal of the production may be an advantage, the atomising of the pro duction process carries serious disad vantages ; it allows for a greater laxity in inspection, reduces the uniformity of the finished product, hinders a scheduled balancing of production, and prevents a rapid acceleration of the output. The main drawback of this system, however, is in its failure to produce cadres of skilled labour, so Mitsubishi T.96 Army and Navy Dive-bomber. important to any further expansion of the Japanese air power. Practically right up to their treacherous attack on Pearl Harbour and the outbreak of hostilities, the Japanese have continued to benefit from the generosity of American and British suppliers. Despite embargos, '' moral '' and other strategic materials continued to reach Japan from sources outside her sphere of in fluence and outside the control of her Axis partners who, at any rate, had nothing to offei. Since these deliveries have been continuing for some years in quantities surpassing the current consumption of Japan, it is evident that with the help of British, Ameri can and Dutch suppliers, she managed to accumulate stocks which will feed her air power in the present struggle against the Allied Nations. Such is the ironic fate of appeasing laissez faire. But this dependence on foreign sources of supply for strategic materials seriously weakens Japan's air potential. For, despite the large resources of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, it still remains problematic to what extent she will be able to utilise them for her aircraft industry. The stocks, however—no matter how large—cannot ensure the production capacity of her industry commen surate to the heavy requirements of pro tracted modern war fare. Not only did the Japanese live on the material resources of their present foes, but to a great extent on their technical skill and ingenuity. While there is no doubt that certain late developments were held back by the very firms which sold the proto type licences, Japan has managed to pur- Kawasaki T chase aircraft which has a range was already in quan- T.98 Heavy bomber (Army and Navy). tity production in the supplying countries. Thus in 1938 she purchased 80 Fiat B.R. 20 twin-engined bombers from Italy. In the summer of 1939 five Focke Wulf 200-Condors were- ordered from Germany, of which two are certainly known to have arrived. In August, 1939, the Douglas Aircraft Co. is said to have sold (despite the embargo) the prototype of DC 4 to ba manufactured in Japan. She is further reported to have acquired the building rights for Messerchmitt 109, and pos sibly Heinkel He 112 single-engine fighters, the Me no, the Junkers Ju 87B single-engine dive bomber, and the Ju 88, as well as the He in. Equipment While these reports have to be treated with due caution, it is unlikely that the above types have already gone into production to any consider able extent. The equipment of the Japanese Air Force still presents a rather " mixed bag," with some type/j^ completely obsolete, while the majority of it limps behind the up- to-date American and European de velopments. Perhaps in their attempts to intro- 91. This light reconnaissance bomber of 490 miles and a cruising speed of 206 m.p.h.
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