Industrial Research 



131 



Government policy has also iiitoiisiliod the trend 

 toward concentration because the safety of human life 

 is so dccidedh' involved that only the very best design 

 and workmanship can be certified as "airworthy" by 

 the licensing authority, and because the procurement 



Table 1. — United Slates aircraft production, 1926-40 ' 



Year 



1929. 

 1930. 



1931. 

 1932. 



1933. 

 1934. 



1935. 

 1936. 



193S. 



1940. 



Product 



/Planes. . . 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes... 

 \Engines.. 

 t Planes. .. 

 \Engines.. 

 rPlanes. . . 

 \Engin6S.. 

 fPlanes. .. 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes. . . 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes. . . 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes. . . 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes. . . 

 lEngines.. 

 /Planes... 

 \Engines.. 

 fPIanes. . , 

 \Engines.. 

 f Planes. . 

 lEngines.. 

 fPlanes. . . 

 'lEngines.. 

 /Planes... 

 \Engines.. 

 I/Planes... 

 jlEngines.. 



Units 



Number 

 1,186 

 842 

 1,995 

 1,410 

 4,346 

 3,496 

 6,193 

 6,S04 

 3,437 

 4,356 

 2,800 

 3,864 

 1,396 

 1,959 

 1,324 

 1,830 

 1,615 

 2,545 

 1,568 

 2, 965 

 2,700 

 4,237 

 3,230 

 6,084 



Dollar value 



(including 



parts} 



DoUars 

 13,000,000 



4,000,000 

 20, 000, 000 

 10, 000, 000 

 43,000.000 

 20,000.000 

 62, 000. 000 

 25, 000, 000 

 35,000,000 

 22,000,000 

 33,000.000 

 14,000,000 

 20, 000. 000 

 14,000,000 

 23,000,000 



9.000,000 

 26,000.000 

 16,000,000 

 22, 000, 000 

 13, 000, 000 

 40, 000, 000 

 22,000,000 

 56,000,000 

 30, 000, 000 



! 115,000,000 

 ' 225, 000, 000 

 " 500, 000, 000 



■ War Department restrictions prevent issuing details of production Tor last 3 years. 



^ Planes and engines. 



3 Estimated planes and engines. 



policy of the Army and Navy awards contracts for the 

 best performance rather than for the lowest price. 

 When the volume of orders is based on performance 

 resulting from engineering development, a great pre- 

 mium is placed on intensive research. Only the success- 

 ful bidder recoups his engineering expenses and is in a 

 position to extend his facilities. The result is naturally 

 to concentrate manufacturing of a particular type of 

 airplane in the hands of the most competent firms. 



There is nothing to prevent a new concern going into 

 the business, but the new concern must have ample 

 capital and very competent engineers, and be prepared 

 to spend both time and money on applied research in 

 order to offer a product to compete in performance with 

 the leaders. A new concern may begin as a design 

 and research group and continue as such until it can 

 offer an important improvement. 



There is nothing in the basic patent situation to 

 prevent more airplane firms being started. The air- 

 plane of today is fundamentally the concept of the 

 Wrights, and their jia tents have e.xpired. While a large 

 number of patents cover modern methods of airplane 

 construction, these are pooled with the Manufacturers' 

 Aircraft Association in a cross-licensing agreement open 

 to all mnnufacturers who wish to join. 



Government Influence on Research 



The dominant position of research in aeronautics is 

 essentially no difl'erent from its position in other fields 



TOTAL ROUTE MILES 



-At o( Jun» 30. (qjq 



SO 40 



THOUSANDS OF MILES 



DOMESTIC 



INTERNATIONAL 



Source. Air Commerce Bulletin 



- Ai of Jun« 10. "9J9 



THOUSANDS OF MILES 



FionKE 23.— Total Route Miles 



321835—41- 



-10 



