Warm-Up

The U.S. aircraft industry this week pulled out of its long dive. The Air Force promise to spend $4.4 billion on new aircraft orders (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) set aircraftmakers furiously scurrying for the men, tools and materials to flesh out their skeleton assembly lines.

Both the Air Force and industry clamped down on specific details of orders, quantities and types of planes to be produced. The take-off signal was flashed to 200 planemakers and suppliers. The biggest orders undoubtedly were earmarked for the companies now in biggest production: Boeing, whose order backlog ($336 million) is already the industry's largest, will step up production of B-47 jet bombers and C-97 transports; Consolidated Vultee (backlog: $250 million) its B-36 bombers. Douglas (backlog: $216 million) will get bigger orders for its C124 transports for the Air Force and its Navy F-3-D fighters and AD attack bombers; Lockheed (backlog: $225 million) for its jet-powered F94 Air Force Penetration fighters; Grumman (backlog: $144 million) for its F-9-F Navy jet fighters. Pratt & Whitney, Curtiss-Wright and General Motors' Allison Division were all souping up engine assemblies.

The new orders were designed to step up the aircraft industry's 1950 production goal to 100 million Ibs. of airframe weight, v. the 36,600,000 Ibs. on order prior to the outbreak of war in Asia. In terms of planes, it meant an increase from the 2,372 aircraft already on order for the Air Force and Navy to more than 6,000 planes. For the aircraft industry it was no longer a battle for money but against time. It would take at least nine months to double current plane production.

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