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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1724.PDF
488 FLIGHT, 13 October 1949 THE FRENCH AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY PART II; Present Reorganization Schemes : Prospects for the Future FROM the facts given in Part I of this review thesituation of the French aircraft industry at the begin-ning of the present year may be summed up as follows: — (1) The aircraft replacement plan, as well as the work of the flight-test departments, is behind schedule owing to absence of prototypes ready for series production. The test programme was too ambitious to enable the tests of each type of aircraft to be carried to their proper con- clusions, and financial resources were too restricted. (2) Not all the aircraft met the requirements of their users, either because their quality was below expectations or because the performance of the prototypes (which took too long a time to reach the stage of practical application) was in the meantime surpassed by that of foreign models. (3) Quality of equipment and accessories has notably improved, but France is still short of good engines in the higher-powered categories. (4) The financial administration on which the French industry depends, with dozens of provisionary allocations spread over part of the year, considerably hampers a pro- duction programme which ought to be able to expand as time goes by without fear of cuts resulting from budgets belatedly passed by the Government. Credits accorded to aircraft production are insufficient to realize a development and production programme of the wide scope originally envisaged. As has already been remarked, the war made it impossible for France to install experimental plant such as was set up in other countries. Therefore, in addition to the sums necessary for produc- tion, considerable investments for the creation of modern research establishments are essential. For these reasons the Government decided to institute a new enquiry* into the whole problem in the hope of arriving at a really effective solution. At the instigation of M. Jean Moreau, Secretary of State for Air, representa- tives of the different user groups were brought together in a committee under the chairmanship of M. Surleau, Councillor of State and old-time collaborator with M. Dautry on the occasion of the reorganization of the French railways. The task undertaken by the Surleau committee was of a manifold nature: — (1) Enquiry into the different needs of the military andcivilian production sectors. (2) Fixing of a "balance of resources" which could bereserved for the benefit of the industry. (3) Restricting the existing test and production programmesto the level judged to be necessary for satisfying require- ments without overburdening the financial and technicalresources of the country. (4) Reorganizing the industry with the aim of increasingits efficiency. (5) Ensuring proper investment of the sums allocated fordevelopment and production by setting up a five-year plan which should, as far as possible, be freed fromdependence on the annual budgets. This task was accomplished in less than six months. The method of procedure was similar to that of the United States Air Policy Commission, i.e., factories were visited and technicians and aircraft-users interrogated. The com- 'Several enquiry committees have been amalgamated since 1947, including the Committee on the Costs and Efficiency of Public Services, and the Com- mittee of Reorganization of the French Aeronautical Industry (chairman, M. Fouati). IN Part I of this article, published last week, the author reviewed the • factors—particularly those arising from the enemy occupation of France—which have contributed to the unsatisfactory state of the nation's aircraft industry. In this instalment he describes various measures (they include some degree of limitation of State ownership) which have been adopted with a view to putting aircraft and engine develop- ment and production on a sounder basis. The writer has for many years been closely connected with the French industry. mittee also worked on the technical information at the disposal of the Secretary of State for Air and then sub- mitted its suggestions to the Government. They were duly adopted. As a result, it is intended to reorganize the industry on the lines briefly explained below. In the first place, to avoid undue splitting-up of test and production resources the users are to define their requirements explicitly. Air- craft types will be standardized as far as possible, and the same type, with slight modifications, will be made avail- able for similar applications (e.g., civilian cargo-carriers and military transports, touring aircraft and Air Force liaison types, etc.). About 15 different categories emerge from this concentration ; certain too-ambitious designs are being left out and others which are only needed in small TABLE II : CONCENTRATION PLAN FOR STATE-OWNED COMPANIES Company, Factory and No. employed A/(frames:— S.N.C.A.S.E.(Souch-East) Toulouse (3,500) Marignane (1.500) La Courneuve (1.200) S.N.C.A.S.O. (South-West) Courbevoie (1,600) Bouguenats (1,000)St. Nazaire (1,800) Suresnes (1,000) Bordeaux (1,300) Rochefort (500) S.N.A.C. (Centre) Bourges (1,100) Chateau roux (900) Biltancourt (1,800) Fourchambault (700) Colombes (2,000) S.N.C.A.N. /Mnrrkt(IMortn/ Le Havre (600) Les Mureaux (800) Meaulte (800) Sartrouville (800) Issy-I es-Mou! i n- eaux (750) Engines :— S.N.E.C.M.A.Keltermann 0,500) Billancourt (1,500) Gcnnevilliers (1.600)Argenceuil (3,000) Present Work SE.20I0, Bloch 161, prototype devel- opment, parts ofM.D.3I5 Prototype de- velopment, S.E.-inin IUIU Mechanical en-gineering, re- conversion Prototype de- velopment Aircraft parts and reconversionAssembly of S.O.30Assembl y of S.O. 94/95 Maintenance and repairs, spare parts Do. N.C.2II, Siebel N.C.2II Prototype (NC.270) Tool equipment. landing gear Reconversions(tractors) Assembly of Mj MflO1N Q. 1 ^UU Prototypes andlight aircraft Spare parts Nd. 1400 spares Nd. 2200 and 2500 prototypes Piston engines and jet-units of high and medium powers Low-powered en- gines Forgings. tool equipmentAgricultural ma- chinery Factories Left after Reorganization Toulouse Marignane __ . :- _ Courbevoie Bouguenais St. Nazaire , •••:•--. To be returned / to civilian sector J 1 Factory ear- v marked for j S.N.C.A.S.O. To be returned to civilian sec-| tor Le Havre Les Mureaux Meaulte 1 Returned to ( civilian sector j Kellermann Billancourt Gennevilliers — Remarks _ .... ..... Earmarked for agricultural ma- chinery. Factory ceded to S.N.E.C.M.A. Bordeaux factory to be utilized for repairs co civil aircraft. S.N.A.C., as a company, to beclosed down. Agricultural ma- chinery. May later be taken over by Renault — —
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