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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 2083.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER FIRST AERONAUTICAL WEEKLY IN THE WORLD •• FOUNDED WOQ Editor C. M. POULSEN Managing Editor G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. Chief Photographer JOHN YOXALL A Editorial/Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.1 Telegrams : Trudltur, Sedist, London. COVENTRY : 8-10. CORPORATION ST. Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telephone: Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM. 2 : GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, NAVIGATION ST. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone: Midland 297 1 (5 lines). Telephone: Waterloo 3333 (35 lines). MANCHESTER, 3 : GLASGOW, C.2 t 260. DEANSGATE. 26B, RENFIELDST. Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telegrams: Illffe, Glasgow. Telephone : Blackfrlars 4412. Telephone: Central 4857. No. 1809. Vol. XLIV. c Registered at the GJ'.O. at a Newspaper. August 26th, 1943. The Outlook Thursdays, One Shilling Aircraft Production " /%T present, with the exception of spares . . . there /~\ is no single field of production where a serious bottleneck threatens to retard output." When one remembers the lean years before the war expansion, when orders from the Air Ministry were few and small, this statement from the Tenth Report of the Select Com- mittee on National Expenditure is not merely gratifying, it is astounding. That the industry and the M.A.P. should have reached such a satisfactory organisation of the vast network of aircraft production is something to be proud of indeed, and reflects the very greatest credit on everyone concerned. That there is still room for improvement goes without saying but, as the Committee states in its report (a summary of which will be found on pp. 223-225), since the major bottlenecks are being removed, and since the limits of expansion of the labour force are being approached, it follows that increase in output of aircraft must be sought mainly by all-round improvement in the efficiency of the industry. The exception to the generally satisfactory state of the aircraft industry, that of spares production, evidently causes the Committee some anxiety, and it comes to the conclusion that although the contractor (i.e., the aircraft constructor) is, under the present system, responsible for making out lists of minor spares, the ultimate respon- sibility rests on the Ministry of Aircraft Production and the Air Ministry, and that the Ministries " should ensure that contractors submit lists of minor parts required as spares without delay and should consider them promptly." That sounds to us rather a counsel of perfection. The problem of spares is extremely complicated. How can an aircraft manufacturer about to go into large-scale production of a new type know just which "minor parts'' are most liable to damage and therefore likely to need spares ? Not until actual operational experi- ence over a long time has become available can it be known which components will be wanted. The initial spares contract details deliveries of such parts as wings and tail units, but as to the smaller parts the constructor is left to guess as best he may. In the old days, when new types were tested at Martlesham and then went on squadron trials, it was rather a different matter. For such leisurely progress there is no time at present. Thus it is a little difficult to share the evident surprise of the Committee at the fact that " The average period between the date of the airframe contract and the sub- mission of these lists was four months, and in one case the period,was as much as nine months." To us it seems that an average time of four months must be con- sidered remarkably short, bearing in mind the difficulties of judging which parts are likely to need renewal. Efficiency of the IndustryH AVING examined the possible sources of bottle- necks, the Committee on National Expenditure turns its attention to the possibility of improving the efficiency of the aircraft industry, and a number of proposals for doing this are contained in the Keport. We welcome the very succinct appraisal of the diffi- culties which arose out of the panic expansion of Ihe aircraft industry in the years immediately preceding the war, "Success," the Report states, "depended on the merit of the design and the performance of the aircraft. As a result, firms tended to concentrafe on design ; ease of production and efficiency in methods were regarded as of secondary importance. To this is due in large measure the pre-eminence of British aircraft design. But equally as a consequence the industry was with one or two exceptions not adapted in its outlook and organisation to large-scale production."
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