UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE PRODUCTION FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR SERVICE
The best rapid survey of the organization of the United States Air Service and the part which it played in the Great War, as well as statistics touching upon the materials used in aircraft production, the number of planes and engines made, and also the number of machines used for training purposes, and actually put into service at the front, is contained in the following extracts from the reports of Secretary Baker, Justice Charles E. Hughes, General Pershing, and Major-General William L. Kenly.
SECRETARY BAKER’S AIR SERVICE REPORT
In his annual report for 1918, released December 5, the Secretary of War reported on the Air Service as follows:
Air Service
ORGANIZATION
The Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, which had charge of the production and operation of military aircraft at the outbreak of the war, was created on July 18, 1914. To assist in outlining America’s aviation program, the Aircraft Production Board was appointed by the Council of National Defense in May, 1917. In October, 1917, the Aircraft Board, acting in an advisory capacity to the Signal Corps and the Navy, was created by act of Congress. In April, 1918, the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps was separated into two distinct departments, Mr. John D. Ryan being placed in charge of aircraft production and Brig.-Gen. W. L. Kenly in charge of military aeronautics. Under the powers granted in the Overman Bill, a further reorganization was effected by Presidential order in May, 1918, whereby aircraft production and military aeronautics were completely divorced from the Signal Corps and established in separate bureaus. This arrangement continued until August, when the present air service, under Mr. Ryan as Second Assistant Secretary of War, was established, combining under one head the administration of aviation personnel and equipment.
RAW MATERIALS SECURED
One of the most important problems which confronted the aircraft organization from the start was the obtaining of sufficient spruce and fir for ourselves and our allies. To facilitate the work, battalions were organized under military discipline and placed in the forests of the western coast. A government plant and kiln were erected to cut and dry lumber before shipment, thus saving valuable freight space. To November 11, 1918, the date the armistice was signed, the total quantity of spruce and fir shipped amounted to approximately 174,000,000 feet, of which more than two-thirds went to the Allies.
The shortage of linen stimulated the search for a substitute possessing the qualities necessary in fabric used for covering aeroplane wings. Extensive experiments were made with a cotton product which proved so successful that it is now used for all types of training and service planes.