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Show fensive power. The president's program for plane production calls for 60,-000 60,-000 this year and 125,000 next year. However, it should be remembered re-membered that military planes include both fighting craft and training ships, and that about half of our present production (30,000) consists of training ships. The ratio of training ships built in the future will decrease, and consequently of the 60,000 military planes to be built this year, over two-thirds of them will probably be combat ships. Our ever-growing air ar- mada will be one of the main factors in saving the world from barbarism. i i i , i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i' FORWARD MARCH By n. S. Sims, Jr. i i i i i i t i i i i iii i n iiii.ii i in TO MEET 60,000 GOAL PLANE CONCERNS POOL FACILITIES AND CONCENTRATE CONCEN-TRATE ON FEWER TYPES Without the stimulus of war, the aircraft industry in the Unit-, Unit-, ed States was expanding very satisfactorily. sa-tisfactorily. In fact, today we are probably assembling aircraft at the rate of 30,000 a year. The exact plane output is a military secret. For the year 1942, Presi dent Roosevelt has set a new and even larger goal than was expected. We are to produce 60,000 military planes. This Is a big order. This means that we must practically treble present production figures by the end of the year. Reaching our present goal will require an all-out effort. Already a number of trends are apparent in this all-out effort. In fact, within with-in the aircraft industry there is a tendency toward pooling facilities. By pooling, it is meant that all concerns producing aircraft or aircraft parts will work together to-gether for the greatest possible total production results, rather than operate in competition with each other. For example, one large auto maker is supplying sup-plying parts for his own assembly as-sembly plants and, in addition, will supply parts for other i plants now being built. j edly will continue. The record of the Bell "Air-cobra" "Air-cobra" makes it a "must" for our army. This plane has no equal in attacking ground targets tar-gets and the middle-altitude fighting. The army and the navy use the same dive-bomber, called the Douglas Doug-las A-24 by the former and the "Dauntless" by the latter. They believe be-lieve it to be the finest in existence. The pride of U. S. production, produc-tion, however, is the heavy bomber. Here we have the "Flying Fortress B-17" and the Consolidated B-24. Both of these are four-engine jobs and it is generally agreed among military observers that the enemy has nothing to compare with them. In the future it is likely that emphasis will 'be placed on producing pro-ducing the heavy bombers, because be-cause of their long distance of- Pooling will make it possible for the various automobile and aircraft air-craft concerns to specialize in certain cer-tain parts for aircraft, and thus go into mass production at the earliest possible date. Another effect that pooling is having on the production of aircraft is that production is being concentrated on only a few types of fighter planes which have been adjudged the best by the military services. Those companies whose fighting planes are considered inferior will be forced to produce planes most desirable. In other words, the United States is going in for the mass production of the best two or three pursuit ships, dive bombers, medium bombers, heavy bombers, etc. This concentration on fewer few-er types does not mean that improvements will not be made or that there will be no new airplanes. The truth is that research re-search and experiment will continue at an accelerated pace, but there will be a limitation limit-ation on the number of planes for the same purpose. Take fighters, for instance! We produce in the United States many different fighters, including the Lightning, Aircobra, Republic D-47, D-47, Curtiss P-40, Warrior, Vanguard, Van-guard, Mustang, Buffalo, Martlet, etc. The Lockheed "Lightning" is a low-wing monoplane with tricycle tri-cycle landing gear and two 1,150 horsepower engines. This plane is considered the fastest military plane in the world, with speed well in excess of 400 miles an hour. Another U. S. fighter that is about to be put into mass production produc-tion is the Republic P-47. This is considered the fastest single-engine airplane in the world. The production produc-tion of these two fighters undoubt- |