Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II

Four: Aircraft and Aircraft Components

t he production of military aircraft was the archetypical example of the “production miracle” achieved by American industry during World War II. American aircraft production, a paltry 5,856 units in 1939, peaked at 96,318 aircraft in 1944 before falling off to 49,761 aircraft in the final year of the war. This chapter will examine the operation of the procurement system as it applied to aircraft. The aircraft production system and its accomplishments will also be considered in some depth. The chapter will focus on the auto industry’s production of aircraft components and complete aircraft. There will be no attempt to summarize the work of the fifty-three companies directly involved in aircraft manufacturing, much less the hundreds of automotive and non-automotive subcontractors supplying parts and components. The chapter will include four detailed case studies of the production of complete aircraft: the Ford Motor Company’s production of B-24 Liberator bombers at its Willow Run plant in Michigan; the Grumman Aircraft Corporation– General Motors joint venture to produce carrier-based naval aircraft; Ford’s manufacture of wooden gliders at its Iron Mountain, Michigan, plant; and Nash-Kelvinator’s production of Sikorsky helicopters. The only other “automaker” to build complete aircraft was the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, a division of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, which assembled 3,940 vought Corsair fighters for the navy in a large factory in Akron, Ohio. Three companies built the Corsair: the Chance-vought Corporation, Goodyear, and the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation.1 four Aircraft and Aircraft Components 76 chApter four The Evolving Production System The broad production system for military aircraft was first established in the fall of 1940 through an informal alliance of the military services, the airframe manufacturers , and automobile industry (see chapter 1). The Automotive Committee for Air Defense (ACAD) served as a coordinating body and clearinghouse to link automobile manufacturers (as suppliers of components) with aircraft companies, who would complete the final assembly of the aircraft. This method of organizing production was naturally reflected in the procurement system. The basic production system for aircraft established by the ACAD continued throughout the war, with few exceptions. The primary contracts for aircraft went to aircraft companies who would then subcontract most of the work on components, including engines, to other manufacturers , who for the most part were automakers. This was a radical change from the prewar production system, in which airframe manufacturers subcontracted less than 10 percent of the content of their planes. A typical example of the new arrangement was the Glenn L. Martin Company, which assembled B-26 bombers at a new plant in Omaha, Nebraska. Martin bought engines from Pratt & Whitney or one of its licensees and the rest of the components from Chrysler, Hudson, and Goodyear Aircraft Corporation.2 The enormity of the task at hand forced a revolution in the way the aircraft manufacturers and their component suppliers operated. Over the course of the war, the aircraft industry produced 150 different types of military aircraft but a total of 417 distinct models or versions of those aircraft. Each of these models typically underwent thousands of design changes in the course of production. The sheer volume of aircraft produced during the war, slightly more than 300,000 in total, added to the enormous challenges faced by industry. The U.S. Army Air Force purchased 54 percent of the total, followed by the U.S. Navy (25 percent), Great Britain (13 percent), and the Soviet Union (5 percent). In 1938, the aircraft industry operated a total of fifteen plants producing airframes, engines, and propellers. By the end of 1943, there were eighty-six plants in operation, with most of these gigantic compared to prewar factories.3 Before the war, the aircraft industry was highly competitive, with each producer carefully guarding its designs and manufacturing techniques. The companies did a complete about-face during the war, however, in part because of the structure of production mandated by the military services and partly out of patriotism. Seven West Coast manufacturers formed the Aircraft War Production Council to share technical information, production methods, and components. Shortly thereafter, the major East Coast manufacturers followed suit, and in April 1943 the two groups merged to AircrAft AnD AircrAft components 77 form the National Aircraft War Production Council. The military services typically issued contracts to at least two companies and sometimes as many as seven to make the identical product...