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Show i Correspondent Visits Great i Center of Airplane Production Produc-tion for Aerican Army. ROMORANTIN, Central France. Aug. 25. (Correspondence of the Associated As-sociated Press.) Liberty airplanes darting across the sky, other Liberties were drawn up in battalions across the big plain, and still other Liberties wore puffing and struggling at thoir anchor tests, as tho Associated Press correspondent arrived at this great center of airplane production for the American fighting arnmy. Tho nearby near-by town of Issodoun is the great center cen-ter for American aviators. Crowds of soldiers and workmen had gatheced to see ono of the fighting fight-ing machines completely equipped with bombing machine, wireless outfit, all its guns, and every last device for going into c6mbat. There had been other Liberties turned out, scores and hundreds of them now moving in a steady stream. In this and others which, had preceded, the last step had been taken to give them their final equipment for actunl fighting. The big machine had a spread of wings 43 feet across, aud like all tho others -was of gray cloud-color seen from below, though above the color changed to green and merged into the green fields. Ahead pointed the machine ma-chine gun operated by the pilot, with syncronizing device by which a hundred hun-dred shots a minute flew between tho arms of tho spinning propellor. Further Fur-ther back, in tho observer's nests, two ! more machine guns had a swoop of ; both broadsides and upward and rear- ' ward. There was no angle they could j not reach, and oven tho Gotha trick of ( shooting straight dpwn through a floor tunnel wns moro than matched, though j details of how this is done cannot, of course, bo given. It is sufficient to say that this new type, Jong and anxiously awaited and now a reality, armed for combat was as formidable as any car ever produced, ahd in the judgment of these experts was far moro formidable than any of them. Climbing into tho pilot's Beat there was an opportunity to sec tho workings work-ings of this big car the pioneer of tho fighting squadrons soon to come. Tho powerful motor with all its pistons pis-tons Jumping was just ahead with two long- oxhausts sweeping back toward to-ward tho 'tal' Within the seat wero straps to hold the pilot in a headlong flight, and all the delicacy of mechanism mechan-ism one sees in an automobile speed indicator, gas meter, oil pressure, throttles, switches and much more besides; lights for signalling, height-meter height-meter nnd compass, and fire extinguishers extin-guishers to fight a blaze. "This is the joy-stick." said Captain X., as he swung the lever controlling tho tail and ailerons for vertical movement. move-ment. And he pointed out that the foot-rudder, whicn controls the horizontal hori-zontal movement, worked on the same principle as the bob-sled. "Truly It is a wonder." he said, fondling fon-dling the mechanism. "I know them all English, French, Italian and there is nothing like this for power and speed Why " And then he gave an instance of j what had been accomplished in a straight rise from the ground, which constitutes a record far exceeding anything any-thing hffnro Thic h-qc morln ;n of the Liberties recently turned out , here. It was not regarded as one of i the best of the machines, and the j workmen oven dubbed It "False i Alarm." But it soon proved its rights, i It was sent to one of the training fields, and on one of its first ascents it shot up straight from tho ground ; to the height of 20,100 feet in 35 min- nutes. . "It is the fastest time a. human be- ing has over gone up," said the cap-! cap-! tain, "and it gives an idea of what s ahead when these squadrons are in line." ! If details could be given on the number num-ber of these planes and the squadrons equipping for the battle line it would either cheer tnoso who havc grown heartsick with waiting and charges and investigations, and would let them know the day of real accomplishment was at hand in. the thick of the fighting. fight-ing. Without giving numbers, it can be said that wo saw these machines crowding a vast workshop in such arrays ar-rays that their wings touched and covering cov-ering much moro tha ntho area of a city block. Thoy were not piecemeal cars, but all ready to go forward. They have been passing by tho scoro daily into the hands of tho aviators, and squadron after squadron was being be-ing made ready for tho front. We saw them in combat formation over the flying fields of Issoudoun. There was no longer a vague promise of the remote future, it was at hand and wo saw these 'machines in vast number arming and starting for the battle front. The testing of tho engines gave an idea of the tremendous power of the new cars. The cars wore anchored by heavy chains, and workmen gripped tho long body to keep it from plunging plung-ing as the propeller started and tho engine gave out a long -wail. The men, gripping the chains and rigging, wore swept as though in a tornado, tho grass was fattened and great clouds of dust roso like the smoke of batteries! bat-teries! There is an awe in the power of this engine and Its whirling propellor, pro-pellor, and a danger, too, which the men have learned. Tho suction of tho propeller whilo Lhc car is on tho ground is far greater lhan lias ever been known with other :an. A workman was drawn in and tilled tho other day, and the great I maelstrom of rushing air sucks in eve- B rything coming within ten feet of its I mouth. But this is merely a detail of ! testing and has no bearing on the ca- Q pacity of the car for flight. Like the M I power of the engine, the propeller is H 'much larger and heavier than in other cars" u 1 1 This turning out of the new tvpc of I Hi American Liberties is only one of the I If : activities of this mammoth air service m f production center located here, with m huge shops and warehouses, 2700 men, wl 200 officers and 1200 Chinese laborers. 9 ! All the cars made in America come jl here in parts, to be assembled, tested; jV j armed, and all the other makes of cars Mi. I are mobilized here preparatory to go- Wit j ing'ibto use on the flying fields and jBi tho front There is besides, the huge: w work of receiving tho wrecked cars as 9 they are shot down and smashed. They V I come here riddled with bullets, their S wings lorn off, which tells of a fierce 'M contest. Such as can be made spit. 'IMl iceable again are sent back lo the 01! j field, while the wreckage of those be- Wt yond repair strews an immense field flj' and is a ghastly reminder of the heroic fBfj sacrifice thoir pilots havc made. mtf The process of assembling the cars 9L as thoy come from America was fol- w l lowed through its various stages, in tim tho six huge "bays" of the workshop, fflU each by having a capacity of 18 ma-' fl j chines, or over 100 machines going 9 ' forward at the same time. Nino huge vm g , boxes bring the different parts. First vjM I the fusilage or body is set up, tho mo- 'II tors installed, the landing wheels at- jBI tached, the wings and tail adjusted, Hkl the gun racks and armament prepared, K and soon a complete car ready for iBi1 flight grows out of the scattered parts. How many arc turned out dailv can- 91 not be stated, but it can bo said that 9jj the capacity of this big airplane cen- 9 ter working in eight-hour shifts is 50 W' complete airplanes a day. And in these tfajl days when the mobilizing of machines follows close on the mobilizing of men i 19 j the actual production is not far from - W i the full capacitv. j , : jw |