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.