OCR Text |
Show Each Battle Plane Needs Extra Men and Equipment After three years of warfare the total number of airplanes able to take the air at any one time on either eith-er side of the. western front has not been over 2,500. Each plane in the air requires a force of 46 men, two replacement planes on the ground, and one training plane for every pilot who eventually reaches the front, with an extra engine for each plane. The life of a plane is not more than two months, and the engine must be overhauled after each 75 hours. Now that American battle planes are going overseas, the great problem is to secure the thousands of skilled mechanics, enginemen, motor repair men, wood and metal workers needed to keep the planes In perfect condition. - This engineering and mechanical force at the airdromes, air-dromes, the flying fields, and repair depots, both here and behind the lines in France, is a vital industrial link in the chain to air supremacy. |