MILITARY ·AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION DECLINING Rails, Steamships ·Long-Range Plan Losing Travelers Held 'Essential' To U.S. Airlines / For Air Power T he past 10 years have brought a By DeWitt C . Ra msey (Adm., USN , Ret.) revolution in the travel habits of Presid ent, Aircraft Industries Ass ociation Americans. ' The airlines have captured the U.S. ·military aircraft production biggest part of the Pullman-airline has started a gradual decline in the travel market. And they have also past few months, under the nation's gone into a substantial lead over long-range plan for an orderly tran ships in carrying travelers between sition from "buildup" to "sustain the United States and foreign coun ing" rates of production for the tries. armed services. Only a decade ago, the airlines Last year, output reached a peak a ccounted for a small fraction of of about 1,000 planes per month. this total traffic. Today, production is slightly less than 900 planes per month and will Air Lead J umps continue its gradual decline to a In 1953, the latest year for which level adequate to maintain full mod complete figures are available, the ernization of the planned U.S. mili airlines fl ew 14.7-billion passenger tary air strength. miles while Pullman travel in the Goals /or 1957 United States amounted to only 8.2- billion. In carrying this 64 per Although these goals (137 Air cent of the airline-Pullman total, the Force wings and commensurate Na Continuing cost control practices in the U.S. aircraft val aviation strength) are not sched airlines for the third straight year industry save tax dollars-and make the military air pro captured more than half of the com uled to be achieved until mid-1957. bined mileage. curement doll ar go farther. Typical example: a 62 per cent military aircraft production is ex reduction in over-all asse mbly time on a new pilotless pected to level off several months The same pattern held true for air earlier. and sea passenger travel between bomber. This reduction in man-hours wa s accomplished under a Unit Cost ContJol syste m which' pin-points produc From that point, under present the United States and other coun planning, production 1vill be on a tries. The U.S. Immigration and tion de lays by allotting specific time goals for each level adequate to provide new and Naturalization Service reports that production item. aircraft for the military 60.7 per cent of all passengers com mod~ rniz e d serv1ces and to preserve a mobiliza ing into or leaving the United States ' PLANES ' Aircraft Indu stries Association tion base sufficiently broad for rapid during fiscal 1953 went by air. Air expansion in event of emergency. lines carried 1,714,618 while ships Current goals call for an· active in carried 1,112,117. 'Million Dollar Ideas' Reduce Cost ventory by 1957 of 40,000 military Fly U.S .-Built Planes planes, more than half of which will be jet-powered. In this international transporta Of Nation's Air Production Program Orttlook f or Future tion field, the U.S. air carriers Most "million-dollar ideas" turn time between overhaul on a jet en usin u safe, dependable American out to be worth considerably less. gine from 15 hours in 1948 to 1,200 _Although pla!lned output of planes huil; transports- have acquired a But the million-dollar ideas turned hours in 1953. This permitted a will be lower m future years it is , ·orldwide reputation for the safety 1 out by cost-reduction experts in the substantial cutback in the number not anticipated that · employme~t will of their scheduled operations ov er aircraft industry have been worth of engi nes required. be reduced in proportion to the cut ocean areas. The international oper every cent- and frequently more. A saving of $1.5-million at a large back in unit production. Several ators at the end of October complet And, what's more important, aircraft company through an inten factors will tend to keep the air ed 12 months of flyin g without a they've all meant savin gs to the sive materials conservation and rec craft labor force at relatively high single passenger fatality. During American taxpayer. lamation program. levels. Among them are the fact that time, they fl ew 2,670,000 p~ sse n ~h a t mounting weight and complex gers more than 3,660,00?,000 pa_ssen Industry-W ide Program Improved Techniques Ity of mod ~ rn supersonic military ger miles on scheduled mternatwnal Under continuing cost-reduction A $1-million savings in a nine planes reqwre more man-hours per fli ghts. programs at aircraft plants through month period by an engine manu plane. Moreover, the industry is ex out the na tion, thousands of ideas facturer, through improved manu pected to devo te increasing effort Years of Research have paid dividends in lower costs facturing and mass production tech and time toward guided missile de The design of a modern multi-jet to the Government. A large number niques. velopment and production. The importance of continuity in I rnber required more than 76 times of them have paid off spectacularly, Another $! -million savings at an programming, research and develop JO much wind-tunnel research as the in the million-dollar brackets. aircraft plant, resulting from a new ment, and production, once the as ·un of a typical World War II Among these million-dollar ideas technique in making one small air desJ., have been : plane part: a stainless steel end for strength goals are reached, cannot boftb~~· ~k more than 19,000 hours, A savin g to the Air Force of over hot air ducts. The new technique be over-emphasized. In the past, undue optimism about ared with 24.S for a fo ur-en $100-mi llion, resulting from an air cut fabrication time from three hours th e course of world affairs and events c?rn ~ bomber that was operational craft engin e manufacturer's accom to less than fiv e minutes, reducing gJn e ly World War II. pli shment in increasing allowable (See MILLION, page 2) (See 35,000, page 3) in ear PLANES Planes• is published by th e Aircraft Industries Association of America, Inc., the nationa;I t rade association of the manufacturers of military, transport, and personal aircraft, h elicopters, flying missiles and th eir accessories, instrumen ts and components. · The purpose of Plan es is to: Foster a better public understanding of Air Power and the requirements essential to preservation of American leader ship in the air; illustrate and explain the special problems of the aircraft IN TWELVE SECONDS industry and its vital role in our national security. A MOOER.N RE~EARG\-1 Publication Office: 610 Shore ham Building, Washington 5, D. C . New York Office: 350 Fifth A venu e, Ne w York I, New York. PLANE C. AN FLY 5}2 Lo s Ange les Office: 7660 Beve rly Bo ulevard, Los Ange les 36, Californ ia. MILES. \T TOOK i~ E ALL MATERIAL MAY BE REPRODUCED-MATS OF ALL CHARTS WRJG HT BROT~ER~ ARE AVA.I L:ABLE FREE ' FIRST PLAN& TWE:~VE SE-CONDS TO rLY Mail By Air 40YARDS Throughout the years the United States Post Office Department has taken pride in its record of delivering the mail by the fastest and most efficient method possible. From the post riders of the 1780's through the eras of the stage coaches, the barges, the pony express and the railroads, the most expeditious means of transportation has been used by the Department. The time has now come when the airplane should assume its place as the carrier of first-class mail. The policy which historically has guided the Post Office Depart ment was summed up back on November 29, 1834., when Postmaster ' Barry stated in support of the "mail by rail" campaign that "the celerity of the mail should always be equal to the most rapid transition of th e traveler . . ." At that time, as a railroad official remarked recently, "we wasted no sympathy on the stagecoach and the canal boat." Present offi cials of the Post Office Department have recognized the demand for the faster transportation offered by the airplane. More than a year. ago, they began experiments in carrying first-class mail . ustries Assoclation by airline on a space-available basis between some of the nation's larger cities. 4,000 Subcontractors Letter writers already have been saved nearly 10 billion hours as PLANE FA·CTS a result of these experiments and hundreds of millions of letters are Build Parts That Go reaching their destinations on an average of lllh hours sooner than • Each year, a typical aircraft Into One Jet Engine manufacturer receives and ships those being moved by the railroads. More than 4,000. subcontracto rs 14·7,352,000 pounds of products During the first year of these mail-by-air trials, the Post Office wor k f or a ~a] or . aircraft engine and materials. It takes 1,164 manufacturer .m bu1ldin g the , freight cars and 14,940 trucks, received $29,500,000 in postage fo r the air carriage of first-class mail. 8 854 pa1t s that go mto a new J· et engme.. not counting airliners and ships, Of this sum, the airlines were paid $1,830,000-and 94 per cent ($27,- Th e co mpany r epo r~ s th at 60 er to handle the traffic. 670,000) was retained by the Post Office. cent of each defen se dolla · .t P. · d d . 1 1 re- • More than 2,500,000 persons ceive urmg the Korean buildu arrive or take-off on flights from Additional cities are scheduled to participate in these three-cent went to subcontractors and su l' P for parts. PP Iers Lo s Angeles International Air mail-by-air experiments during the months ahead, as the Post Office port each year. That's equal to Moreover, 82 per cent of th b attempts to determine the value and expense of the service. the entire p0pulation of Los An co n~r ac t ors and suppliers were es ~~ li geles - plus an add itional half busmesses, employing Certainly there is a place in the great transportation system of the 500 million people ! or I ess. Tl1e pnm. e cont persons United States for all types of carriers- air, rail, truck and water. Each d I ractor as- • Safety note: Befen·e a mod sume · t 1e res. pon sibility for t ramm. . g can perform certain functions better, more efficiently and less expen an d mtegratmg these s ll b . ern bomber takes off, the crew . I rna USJ- nesses mto t 1e product· checks more than 300 separate sively than the others. Each should be concerned with exploiting the 10 n program. items on the plane. opportunities which exist in the fi elds for which it is physically bes t 'Million-Dollar Ideas' p • The Air National Guard to suited. D . 'd d ay day has a strength just tmder 50,. lVI e.n s to Taxpayers 000 men, the highest in its his· Methods of assuring a stable rail system are of nati onal importance, ( Contmued from page 1) tory. There are more than 600 deserving serious consideration and study. But it does not appear cost of produ cin ba new J·et a· f · 1rcra t Federally recogni zed Air Guard that exclusive carrying of first class mail by rail (which accounts for An d ' d ur mg all of last yea . units. l·educt1'o n suggestiOn· s fro r' cko st- only about two-fifth s d one per cent of the railroads' net income) ]2 . m wor ers • U.S. airlines today have ap at . typical aircra ft industry pl t prox imalely 115,000 employees would prove to be a lasting solution to their fin ancial problem. saved more than "53 ·u· an s ill . -1111 1011. and 200,000 stockholders. Throughout history, few people or organizations have long with- A· s partd of an unrelent'1n g cam- paign un eltaken by the aircraft . • A modern supersonic resea rch d the :)ressures of progress and new inventions. It is high time dustry to produce US . . m- plane ca rries mo re than half a stoo ' . . . · · 111 11 Jtary d that the auplane take Its full place in the history of mail transpor- P1 a nes at t I1 e lowest pos 'bl ton of complex instrumentation · Sl e cost to help solve problems of faster to . ay The airplane and mail-by-air herald another era of advances t h ese ~Im e- and money-savin id • tatJOn. help give the nation more a i l~ eas than·so und fli ght in the strato sp here. for America. per procurement dollar. power 'Engineer Shortage ' 8 TIME FOR AIR LEADERSHIP ... Opens Up New Jobs For U.S. Women 8 million design hours American women didn't waste much time getting into aviation af required to design ONE t er the Wright Brothers made their fi rst fl ight a half-century ago. Now they are turning up in the modern bomber e ngineering offi ces of the nation's aircraft manufacturers- a new fi eld f?r _women that 'appears to offer un limited possibilities. Aeronautical E ngineering And th e U.S. Department of Labor reports th at a study now being con ducted indicates that aeronautical engineering may be the most popu l ~ r co ~r se being studied by girl en gm eenng students this year. The _last survey conducted by the ~ gen c y disclosed th at civil engineer m g. which in the past has attracted the largest numbers of both men and women, is declining in interest ~or men but is still increasing in Millions of engineering hours must go into modern aircraft to insure lmportance to women. At the time of this survey about that America's planes fly higher, faster and farther than those of any 24. per cent of the total male engi possible enemy nation. Design of a modern heavy bomber, for example, neers were working in this branch of engineering co mpared to 30 per took about eight million hours. That's equal to a team of 15 engineers ?e.n t for women. Electrical engineer working eight hours a day, every day of every year from 1776 to 1954. ~n g , which is rapidly increasing in 1mportance, ranked second with women. In fa ct, the Department of 'PLANES' Aircraft Industries Association Labor reports that although the number of female engineers is small at present (only 1.2 per cent of the total employed engineers) the field 35,000 Military Airplanes Produced Industry Studies is wide open fo r women because of the critical national shortage of all New Ways to Use types of engineers in the U.S. By Aircraft Industry Since Mid-'50 • Opportunity Unlimited ( Co ncinued from page 1) tion volume could meet the military's 'Wonder Metal' The opportunities offered in this has led America to dismantle its de needs. The aircraft industry itself new field for wo men is emphasized fense industries and demobilize its invested more than $1.2-billion in Every ounce of weight cut from a by the fact that during the scho armed forces prematurely. The head expanding and modernizing its fa modern airplane means faster speed, lastic year 1953-54- only 816 women long disarmament and destruction cilities in the years 1950 through greater payload, and higher maneu- enrolled in undergraduate enaineer of our defense potential at the end 1953. verability. ' That's one reason aircraft design ing com·ses out of a total enrollment of World War II (even though we Output Since Korea had ample warning of the ambitions ers today are so interested in titan of nearly 171,000 students. Fortunately, the nation had time There are 210 schools located in and objectives of Russia) is a good ium-the so-called "wonder" metal example. to acco mplish this task-time which th at is roughly as strong as annealed all parts of the U.S. offering engi eertainly ·would never again be neering education . Practically all It is encouraging that, while - all steel, yet weighs only 57 percent as programs are subject to change as available in the event of direct at much. that are coeducation al admit wom tack from the air. As a result of en students into the engineering the international situati on develops, th e current peaceti me schedules pro this cushion of time, the aircraft llold I ndustry Meeting classes. industry has no t only been able to And the pay upon graduation is vide for the first time in history .a At an industry-wide meeting held long-range blueprint of action for produce more than 35,000 planes recently in Cleveland, it was esti good , too. The Society of Women since the start of the Korean War, Engineers says that in 1953 a fo urth American air power and the aircraft mated that the substitution of titan industry. Such a blueprint enables but has constantly improved their ium for steel in the aircraft built of its members were paid at a rate performance and strikin g power. greater than $6,000 per year. th e consistent and orderly planning last year wo ul d have resulted in th at is essential for maximum effi The industry also has increased its over-all savin gs on the order of ciency and economy in the produc research and develop ment activity, 600,000 p ounds. tion of aircraft. leading to entire families of new Nearly 400 industry and govern SAFE! fi ghters and bombers with unprece Am erica Caught S hort ment representatives attended the A Navy pilot visited th e man dented combat capabilities . . Nati onal Ai rcraft Standards Com agement office of the National More important, lon g-range plan In addition, the industry has re mittee's Symposiu m on titanium Aircraft Show in Dayton this year ning is essential today to the crea created the large and effi cient man standard parts, at which 23 papers during a particularly busy mo tion of strength adequate to meet agement, engineerin g and production on meth ods of handling titanium in ment when the telephone rang. our defense needs and our interna teams that are essential to the vol aircraft fasteners (bolts, rivets, etc.) All hands bein g occupied, he ti onal commitments. When the Ko ume production of fi ghting planes. were presented by leading engineer picked up the 'phone and listened rean War began, America was These industry teams provide a sol ing executives and titanium produc for a moment to the complaints caught far snort of its requirements id base from which vastly ex panded tion authorities. of an ira te resident of Vandalia. both for military air power in heing production co uld be latmched if re R eport Available "This is a dreadful thing !" and fo r aircraft producti on poten qu ired. she said. "These airplanes are ti al. The Air Force had only 42 An assurance th at, once rebuilt, A comprehensive report and tran making so much noise I can hard- effecti ve wings, and the aircraft in our national air power will not be script of the meeting is being r e 1y hear myself think!" dustry was building only 215 mili allowed to fall into impotence and leased this month by the NASC, "Are they Russian planes?" tary planes per month. The indus disrepair has been given by Adm. which is a committee of the Aircraft the pilot asked. try, with a work force of about 257,- Radford, chairman of the J CS, who Industries Association. Copies of the "Certainly not! They are Amer 000, ranked llth among the nation's has said: "Once we reach our report are available at 4·.00 per ican planes. I can see them." manufacturing employers. strength goals, it is up to us to keep copy from C. H. Bennett, National "Thank God!" said the Navy It took several years, and billions these fo rces intact and modernized Standards Association, 527 Wash fl yer, and hung up. of dollars, to rebuild the indus try . . . through the critical years which ington Loan & Trust Building, to the poin t where aircraft produc- lie ahead.'' Washington 4·, D. C. Nation's 7,000 Agricultural Planes Save Five Billion Dollars Annually One out of every 10 acres under cotton defolients, fertilizers and cultivation in the United States is seeds. treated fo r insect control by agri For some of the work, the agri cultural airplanes. cultural airplane has become almost Use of these planes on the farm indispensible. For instance, the ap lands of America accounts for sav plication of insecticides to forests, ings of nearly $5-billion annually. mapping of forest areas requiring insecticidal treatment, the spraying Planes Save Money of rough range lands for grasshop Typical of ways aircraft save per control and the application of money: herbicides and fertilizers to rice • In control of the gypsy moth in field s. Northeastern States, one twin-en Among the. newer uses of agricul gined plane sprays a larger area in tural aircraft is the application of a single day than formerly could be granulated insecticides for the con covered by 40 power sprayers in an . trol of soil insects. entire season. And the work is done more effectively. • On a comparative timber in sect survey in Colorado, one pilot Business Aircraft and two observers covered 2,500 acres in 15 minutes' flying time. A survey of the same area by a ground Mean More Profits ENGINE CHANGE ON MODERN- BOMBER crew required the time of six men for two weeks. (The aerial survey was 75 per cent accurate, consid To U.S. Executives Clean design of modern jet engines saves time and ered satisfactory for the purpose.) America's fle et of business planes money in maintaining ~ he nation's military air forces. A Throughout the country, approxi literally save millions of dollars for mately 7,000 planes (worth $500,- their operators every year. · jet bomber crew recently made one complete engine 000,000) are operated for the appli Of a total of 21,500 planes owned change in only 25 minutes-about one-eighth the time cation of pesticides. The aircraft by • businesses throughout the na it took to change a World War II bomber engin:e. These range from single-engined utility tion, including fixed-base operators new jet engines are durable, too. Jet bombers in a typical planes to helicopters and converted and flyin-g schools, it is estimated Air Force Bombardment Wing have flown the equivalent World War II bombers and patrol that approximately 12,000 are used planes. About one half of the planes exclusively for flying on business of 15 nonstop flights around the globe without a single are older type biplanes, although trips by executives and essential engine change. considerable attention is now being business employees. 'PLANES' Aircraft Industries Association given to development of aircraft de signed especially to meet the needs Variety of T ypes these traveling executives flew a · of farmers. These planes range in size from distance equal to more than 1,800 trips· to the moon. The total operat 2,000 Applicator Firms light single engine planes with a seating capacity of just two passen ing costs amounted to $35,550,000, Approximately 2,000 applicator gers to large airline-type aircraft but the time saved totaled the astro "More than a year ago, the • firms are engaged in agricultural seating more than 20 p