HELICOPTER PASSENGER LINES DUE in 1953 Plane Industry's 'Copter Air Mail Working Capital : MORE EFFICIENCY PER POUND Now Reaching 92 ~-·Held in Jeopardy U.S
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HELICOPTER PASSENGER LINES DUE IN 1953 Plane Industry's 'Copter Air Mail Working Capital : MORE EFFICIENCY PER POUND Now Reaching 92 ~-·Held in Jeopardy U.S. Communities·-- Written Especially for 'PLANES An operating loss of only four By Per cent on military orders could L Welch Pogue wipe out the working capital of 12 · Three major helicopter pera tors~------' representative aircraft manufactur in Los Angeles, Chicago and New ers, the National Credit Office re woRLD WAR II York today are furnishing helicopter ~ ·- .»- -cently reported. mail service to 92 American com- Calling for a more effici ent gov BOMBER munities- and will, in the immedi- ernment aircraft procurement pol ate future, expand this service to icy, the NCO also pointed out that -the 12 companies which reported on include the entire New York City t heir operations for the first half of metropolitan area. These three operators, currently 1952 "disclose a 77 % sales increase using a total of 13 rotor era ft, al lbut only a 30% gain in earnings. ready have carried more than 28 The ratio this year is 2.1% on sales, .afte r t a x es , compar ed with 2.8 % a million pounds of mail while flying v-ear ago." almost 2.5 million miles. The low earnings are explained Next year, at least two of the y a number of circumstances, the MODERN operators-and possibly all three oQ rganization reported, which "com plan to begin the nation's first b ined to retard output, reduce pro JET BOMBE.R scheduled helicopter passenger and -ductivity and consequently distort freight service. Already armed with •budget expectations." developed authority for carrying passengers The report said: machines, new production techniqll8 s ound .... by manage- N ew for·P "'~"h " The priority system did not al nd modern methods have cut pound- ld War II ()urs in air- L. W elch Pogue, author of t/W men t , a . • lor • lh ·ways function smoo thly-inevitably roduction to a level below that of V" f air is industry article, is one of the nation's leading f rame P sts o cr~ft oS ome components were delivered too . vement is a positive ·step in cutting cO ate • that today authorities on aviation. Head of the late to be incorporated in to the ac h1e d gre r p oi () Was hington law ust have increasingly higher performance a~ t protection ·Planes at the proper station in the m d I the taxpayer, se firm , Po g u e & in air con)bat. The savin<JS, passe a ong to , • I . tve partially .assembly line. Installati on at an • • f dd1t1ona eng1n . N eal, he is legal 'improper time is always more cost to offset the hi-gh costs o f (I) m1 11 1ons o a eer1ng hours . d · ( ) greater quanrt· f ad visor t o t he .lly. Delivery schedules were altered requ ired for sonic an supersoniC panes,1 2 I 1es o ma- fi eli copter Coun 1:o accommodate design chan.ges. 'terials needed for the larger planes of todaY• and (J) the intricate cil of the J4ir ra;t,......-~----... " Simultaneously a major re-em- equipment and components essential ·for operation of revolutionary new l ndnst r~' es Associ . -p loymf nt pr ogram was in progress. aircraft . ation. rom 1942 - . The absorption into the fac tory to 194 , Pogue -organization of such an influx of ' PLANES' Source: Typical Aircraft Manufacturer was head of the 'trainees temporarily lowers produc- Civil A eronautic;, 1:ivity. B oard, t lie c~~o::-.:v:..- -----.__,, "Similarly, plant facilities were Pogue emment's highe3·t •undergoing urgent alterations or agency for supervising and regulat • .add itions. More space is required Cost -Cutting Program Gives Nation ing air transportation. His intere31 >t o bui'ld the present-day airplane in he(ico pters has led to his becom- lbecause of its larger physical di- ing an ontstanding specialist in t~U& (See CAPITAL, page 2) One 'Free' Plane Out of Every Six The American tax payer gets one planes. It already has saved the fi eld. .Airlift Plays Big Role fr ee fi ght er plane for e v e r~ six air American tax_payer "millions of dol craft produced by a maJOr East lars," accordmg to an Aircraft In and freight, Los Angeles Airways, In Build ing Thule Ba se Coast manu facturer, as a resul t of dustries Associatiofl survey. Inc., and New York Ai rways, Inc., a continuing all-out drive to cut expect to begin passenger ope ~a ti o na During construction of th e strate- These millions in savings, how ~ i c U.S. polar air b~ se at Thule, production costs on mo dern war sometime durin g 1953. Helicopter planes. ever, have been more than absorbed Air Service, Inc., in Chicago has an -Greenla-Nd, approxim ately 2,100 by an accelerated Sp J· ral . round tri ps were fl own from the I f cost-c utting methods had not o. 'd m pnces application for authority to ca~r_y WL11 ch are' outs! e the aircraft man- bee n devised and put into effect, this passenge1-5, but as yet the C1V1l ··u.s. to supply workers and equip ufacturers control. For ·ment. manufacturer estimates that each . examp 1e Aeronautics Board has not held labor r.a tes m the aircraft m· d ustry' Mor- e -th an 19,000 passengers, in plane wou ld cost tax payers 15 to 6 heari ngs on it. 20 per cent more at today's prices . have n sen 0% since the end of These operators are pioneering a . eluding 3;000 workers, were trans World War II, copper ha ported-and 12.500 tons of cargo. The aircraft industry's cost-re . s gone up dramatic new fi eld for the commer ··During -over 65,000 hours of fl yin g duction effort is a imed at partially 75%,_ alu mmum 25%, steei 64% , ci al helicopter, which already is be •in one o'f the world's worst fl yin g off settin g the nati onwide price rise ~ h e m1 ca l s ?S%, texti les 60 %, bu ild in g used in such jobs as agriculture, . areas, only t wo minor aircra ft acci whi ch has jumped the cost of all In g matenals 97%, machine tools police work, forestry, mining, high • ,tJ ents -oocuned. ingredients which go into modern (See INDUSTRY, page 3 ) (See HELICOPTER, page 4) PLANES PLANE VIEWS Planes is published by the Aircraft Industries Association of America, Inc., the national trade association of the manufacturers of military, transport, and personal aircraft, helicopters, flying missiles and their accessories, instruments and components. The purpose of Planes is to: F oster a better public· understanding of Air Power and the requirements essential to preservation of American leader ship in the air; lllustrate and explain the special problems of the aircraft industry and its vital role in our national security. Publication Offic e: 610 Shoreham Building, Washington 5, D. C. A SU'P~~S New York Office: 350 Fifth Avenue, New York I, New York. "R'EScA~ ONJ c u.s. Los Angeles Office: 7660 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles 36, California. •I"(Cit 'PLAN~ ALL MATER IAL MAY BE REPRODUCED-MATS OF ALL CHARTS ARE AVAILABLE fLitS Twtct AS 'FA AS A 'PISTo L 'BU LL~T ••• Lyndon Johnson ~ s ••Point to ~ ~ By DeWitt C. Ramsey (Admiral, U.S.N., Ret.) President, Aircraft Industries Association ·SO!ne three months ago, members of the Senate Preparedness Sub conimittee urged that the American people be given a plan for achieving minim~ long-range air preparedness at the lowest possible cost. · '~ We:; have long been aware," the committee's discerning report said, "of the many inadequacies in America's defensive position. These inadequacies are born of many factors. They can be traced to the too-hasty demobilization that followed .World W~ r II ; the r elative tardiness with which m any of our leaders -recognized the aggressive intentions of the Soviet Union ; the national distaste for armaments in a period that can t ec~nically be called peace. "But whatever the r easons, weaknesses undoubtedly exist. They are present- as a potential column of enemy strength- in the air, on the ground, in the seas." This able group of senatorial leaders, headed by Sen. Lyndon John son of Texas, pointed out ways to preserve the aircraft industry's emergency capabilities. In "Point 10," the committee recommended that Congress be furnished with: " .. • r ecommendations to maintain the aircraft in dustry in a healthy state in periods of peace as well as in p eriods of defense mobilization." Aircraft Industries Association of America This request is not a new one; nor does it carry with it the stuff of which headlines are made. Working Capital Yet it shows a penetrating recognition of two of the basic long PLANE FACTS range problems of military procurement: ( l ) the pattern of wasteful Held in Jeopardy build-up and tear-down to which our defense establishment has of • Approximately 1,000 dif (Continued from page 1) necessity, been tailored in the past, and (2 ) the fact that a quick tr ~ n s ferent kinds of skilled and fusion of big money cannot force a weakened industry into high pro semi -skilled jobs, not includ meosions and since its growing in g professional or supervi duction overnight. C r!lp lexity in design slows down sory skills, are required to th0 e pro d uctwn.