Committee on Public Information 



PUTTING THE FINAL TOUCHES ON AN AIRPLANE) PROPELLER 



Like the screw of the ocean liner, the air propeller of the flying machine is the primary 

 medium of locomotion. It must be able to withstand a terrific air pressure, estimated at 

 several tons, and must revolve with sufficient rapidity to drive the machine at incredible 

 speeds, up to 150 miles an hour. These propeller blades are not made of single pieces of 

 timber, but of from 10 to 25 pieces of walnut, mahogany, white oak, or cocoa-wood, all care- 

 fully laminated. It takes ten weeks to make a propeller, three weeks of that time being 

 required to allow the parts to set after having been glued. 



barometer, an air speed indicator, an 

 aerial compass, an inclinometer, an altim- 

 eter, etc., the finest kinds of implements, 

 practically non-existent in this country 

 before the war? The mere names of the 

 instruments and the skill which every 

 layman would associate with their manu- 

 facture open up what has been another 

 tremendous industrial problem in our Air 

 Service. 



Earlier in this article I used the word 

 "intricate" in connection with airplane 

 manufacture. Perhaps the foregoing 

 statements will have demonstrated its 

 correctness ; but let me add a few other 

 considerations. This program spells vic- 

 tory or continued deadlock abroad. Its 

 completion means thousands of lives 

 saved. Yet overprecipitateness means 

 defeat and terrible losses. The two must 

 be harmonized — a superhuman speed in 

 building up a series of new industries, 



together with an absolutely infallible me- 

 chanical judgment and skill. Naturally 

 the strain on those responsible is great. 



I only wish the country might catch the 

 romance of our new air industry. It is a 

 day-and-night race against time along a 

 course only semi-lighted and full of pit- 

 falls. So far we have been fortunate in 

 that the delays, the mistakes, and the diffi- 

 culties have been largely offset by the 

 unanimous effort and good-will which 

 have met us on all sides. The race, how- 

 ever, is not yet over and will not be until 

 peace is signed. And until then we need 

 the intelligent interest of the public in the 

 baffling but fascinating work before us. 



THE EVEN 



GREATER PROBLEMS OE 

 PERSONNEL 



If the problem of providing machines 

 and equipment for a great Air Army is 

 one to tax the industrial and natural re- 



57 



