V. E. 7. EQUIPPED WITH 180-HORSEPOWER HISPANO-SUIZA ENGINE.
An American designed training plane.
It was evident that at the start we must turn our entire manufacturing capacity to the production of training planes, since we would need these first in any event, and we were not yet equipped with the knowledge to enable us to make intelligent selections of service types.
In taking up the manufacturing problem the first step was to divide the existing responsible airplane plants between the Army and Navy, following the general rule that a single plant should confine its work to the needs of one Government department only. There were, of course, exceptions to this rule. This division gave to the Army the plants of the—
- Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.
- Standard Aircraft Corporation, Elizabeth, N. J.
- Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation, Ithaca, N. Y.
- Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif.
- Sturtevant Aeroplane Co., Boston, Mass.
The factories which fell to the Navy were those of the—
- Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.
- The Burgess Co., Marblehead, Mass.
- L. W. F. (Lowe, Willard & Fowler) Engineering Co., College Point, Long Island.
- Aeromarine Engineering & Sales Co., New York.
- Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation, New York.
- Boeing Airplane Co., Seattle, Wash.
Of these concerns, Curtiss, Standard, Burgess, L. W. F., Thomas-Morse, and Wright-Martin were the only ones which had ever built more than 10 machines.