588 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the western variety, or Sitka spruce. There is more than 

 enough of it, but there is difficulty in getting the very 

 highest grades. The Forest Service estimates that only 

 13 per cent, approximately, is available for plane con- 

 struction. Of Port Orford cedar, 10 per cent is about all 

 that can be counted on as good enough for planes ; about 

 8 per cent can be used from the spruce of Virginia and 

 West Virginia, and only about 5 per cent from the small- 

 er trees of Maine. A member of the Curtiss firm is re- 

 ported to have said that only 167 board feet, on an aver- 

 age, goes into planes from each 1000 board feet ; he fur- 

 ther estimates that 117,000,000 feet of spruce is needed 

 between now and next July. 



The Italians, who have made some of the largest 

 planes, have gone farther into the use of Douglas fir 

 than have the other nations, claiming that it has enough 

 of the required mechanical properties and that its great- 

 er weight is no bar in the heavy machines that they are 

 building. Laboratory tests indicate, however, that it 

 may lack somewhat in shock-resisting qualities. A re- 

 cent contract, reported from Seattle, calls for 25,000,000 

 feet of Douglas fir for airplane use by Italy. 



In the New York report of 1913 the average cost of 

 the woods then used in plane manufacture was about $30 

 a thousand board feet, which was high as compared 

 with the costs of wood used in other industries, though 

 some industries far exceeded this cost of raw material ; 

 black walnut for fire arms, woods used for sporting 

 goods, and cigar-box woods were more expensive. Some 



manufacturers reported special prices as high as $100 a 

 thousand, a cost exceeded only by the woods used for 

 cigar boxes. At that time, with the smaller machines, 

 the total cost of lumber in an airplane ranged between 

 $100 and $150, while the labor cost was between $800 

 and $1000. 



Since then, prices have increased enormously. It is 

 said that construction experts of four nations Ameri- 

 can, English, French and Italian have agreed on a 

 price of $105 a thousand for the grades of Sitka spruce 

 which they have specified as coming up to the excellence 

 demanded. The quantity of wood needed for each plane 

 varies, of course, with the size of the machine; few of 

 the present-day types contain less than 250 feet, and it 

 may take 2000 feet in the rough to furnish this amount. 

 One Washington lumberman is making sure of getting 

 only the straightest of straight-grained stuff by splitting 

 it out of the log instead of sawing it. He gets quality 

 at the expense of considerable waste, just as there has 

 always been enormous waste in riving out choice white 

 oak cooperage stock, or hickory for spokes. But the 

 resultant product is sure to have straightness of grain. 

 There is no place where this is more important than in 

 planes. 



There has been an actual dearth of the kind of Sitka 

 spruce that must be had, but the northwestern loggers 

 and mill men, in spite of labor troubles said to have been 

 fomented by our enemies, have begun to catch up with 

 the demand ; before long they should be able to keep up 



Copyright 1917 by Underwood & Underwood, New York. 



WHERE FLYING IS LEARNED BY UNCLE SAM'S AVIATORS. 



With the constant increase in the army aviation corps comes an increased demand for training school facilities. This picture shows carpenters at 

 work on the construction of hangars for the storing of airplanes at one of the Government schools. Skilled aviators are being turned out rapidly 

 at these camps, to man the thousands of airplanes now being built by the Government. Evidence that aviation is perhaps the most interesting 

 branch of army^ service during the present war is given by the way the young men of the country are flocking to join the corps. Every camp 

 in the country is being enlarged to take care of these future warriors of the air. 



