The Fowler Aircraft Factory at San Francisco had fifteen planes in construction when their plant was destroyed by fire in May, 1918, with a loss of a million dollars.
Other factories which were building aircraft to submit to the government were the Lawson Aircraft Factory at Green Bay, Wis., The Whitteman-Lewis Company at Newark, N. J., The Alexandria Company at Alexandria, Va., to mention only a few.
The S. S. Pierce Company at Southampton, Long Island, had an order for 300 “penguins,” as the training-machines were called, but they were not delivered.
The Goodyear and Goodrich Tire and Rubber Companies built a great many kite, observation, and propaganda balloons for the army, and blimps for the navy. Their exhibit at the Manufacturers Aircraft Show, described elsewhere, gives an excellent idea of their product.
The Naval Aircraft Factory
Owing to the fact that the United States Government gave little support to the aircraft industry, despite the fact that we had been on the verge of war with Mexico, and that the Great War was on in Europe, when the United States was finally forced into the struggle the aircraft manufacturers were not tooled up to manufacture seaplanes and flying-boats in quantity, so the navy immediately made plants to establish a naval aircraft factory at Philadelphia.
When war was declared on April 6, 1917, only 93 heavier-than-air seaplanes had previously been delivered to the navy, and 135 were on order. Of the number that had previously been delivered, only 21 were in use, the remainder having been worn out or lost. The seaplanes were of the N-9 and R-6 types, which are now considered as training-seaplanes.
After eliminating types which had been tried and found unsuitable, the Navy Department fixed upon two sizes for war purposes, which had been perfected in the United States in anticipation of the development of a high-powered engine. The engine developed was the Liberty. The flying-boat is an American conception, and it has not been found necessary to copy foreign patterns to insure our flyers being supplied with the best.
With the development of suitable planes and engines the navy was able to select the type of aircraft which was best suited for its service, and to frame a large and complete building programme. As a result over 500 seaplanes were put in use at naval air-stations in the United States, and up to December, 1918, over 400 seaplanes had been sent abroad. Other aircraft at stations, both in this country and abroad, included airships and kite-balloons.
The demand for aircraft necessitated an enormous increase of production facilities, and, as a part of this extension, the Navy Department undertook to build and equip a naval aircraft factory at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard. Within 90 days from the date the land had been assigned the factory was erected and the keel of the first flying-boat was laid down. In August, 1918, the factory was producing 50 per cent more seaplanes than it had been two months previous. In addition, at least five plants were devoted to navy work, and a large proportion of the output of several other factories had been assigned to the navy.