Figure 1.--This Curtis aircraft plant in Buffalo, New York is manufacturing P-40 Warhawks in 1939. At the time of World War II in was the Army Air Corps mainline fighter. It was not up the demands of the more nimble Japanese and Germ n fighters, but more advanced fighters we on the drawingboards. Notice that there isno assembly line. Image courtesy of the Military History of the 20th Century website.

The United States at the time of World War II had an advanced aircraft industry. Quite a number of American companies produced aircraft during the War, including companies that had nothing to do with aviation before the War. Commercial aviation and airmail contracts helped support the development of signficant industrial capacity. And war orders in the late-30s further supported the industry. Quite a number of companies were involved. Here there are two types of companies to consider, the air frame manufacturrs and the engine manufacturers. Companies thought of as aviation compnies are actually just the airframne manufacturers. The engines were manufactures buy othher companies. Their pre-War designs did not match those of the Germans and Japnese, especially the fighters. This was primarily a matter of 1) financing and 2) the United States had no combat experience until Pearl Harbor, and 3) the addition of British technology. When more adquate funding becamne available and conbat reports came in from far-flung battlefields, extemely effective planes began rolling off American production lines. With its industrial capabilities intact and safe from attack, the United States aircraft companies played a key role in the American war effort. A process of manufacturing specialization began during the War. Boeing, Douglas, and Martin had built civil aircraft before the War. As they were experienced in building large, heavy aircraft, they became the principal developers of bombers and in the case of Doulas, transport aircraft. The Douglas DC-3 airliner became the military transport workhorse--the C-47. Douglas Aircraft turned out C-47 transport every 5 hours. By the summer of 1944, 15 airframe builders were producing 23 types of combat aircraft. Boeing produced mearly 4,000 B-29 Superfortresses capable of reaching the Japanese Home Islands from the Marianas. The B-29 has a ceiling high enough that it did not need fighter esorts to bomb Japan. It was the B-29 that carried the two atomic bombs. Other companies specialized in fighters like Gruman, Lockeed, and Vought. Lockheed produced the P-38 Lightning fighter-interceptor which first appeared in 1939. Some manufacturers had a more varied output. Curtis made some of the inferior Navy planes before the war and the P-40 Warhawk fighter. Its Helldiver had a very good dive bombing record in the last 2 years of the war. North American not only make the P-51 but they also produced the best American and possibly the best of all nations medium twin engine bomber, the B-25 Mitchell. The North American company was only created about 5 years before the war but went on to make some of America's finest and well known planes during World War II and the Korean War: the P-51, B-25, and F-86. In addition to aircraft companies, American production was conracted out to other companies as well leading to enormous priduction runs. Here the automobile companies were in a unique position to mass produce. The Ford Motor built a brand new factory at Willow Run which alone produced 5,476 B-24 bombers in 1944–45. Goodyear even produced aircraft. Many of the manufacturing companies merged after the War. Here are the major companies, although quite a number of smaller countries produced aircraft during World War II. Given the manufacturing campability surveyed here, once gets an idea about what RAF Bomber Commander Sir Arthur Harris mean whent he stated, "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else, and nobody was going to bomb them. After Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put this naive theory into operation. They sewed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind." And that was even before Amnerica entered the War. The Japanese followed the Germans in turn under the same delusion.

American Aircraft Industry

The United States at the time of World War II had an advanced aircraft industry. Quite a number of American companies produced aircraft during the War, including companies that had nothing to do with aviation before the War. Commercial aviation and airmail contracts helped support the development of signficant industrial capacity. And war orders in the late-30s further supported the industry. An important factor here is that the American aviation after initial government support (air mail contracts) was primarily built by America's consumer free market economy--the demand for commercial air travel. .

Quality of American Production

Companies thought of as aviation compnies are actually just the airframne manufacturers. The engines were manufactures buy othher companies. Their pre-War designs did not match those of the Germans and Japnese, especially the fighters. This was primarily a matter of 1) financing and 2) the United States had no combat experience until Pearl Harbor, and 3) the addition of British technology. The American aircraft operated under a very tight budget environment. Only at the endcof the decade did more lucrative government contracts become available to supplement commercial airline contracts. The factthat American militry aviation ws as advanced as it was is primarily due to te priority given to it by President Roosevelt. And unlike the Germans and Japanese, the contracts came from a peace time Navy and Army Air Corps. The same kind of domestic complaints we here today about military spending were very common in the 1930s. The early American planes that were in service (1940-41) were designed with 1930s technologys. When the P-39 and P-40 were being designed the Americans had no idea of really how far ahead were the Germans with the ME-109 of that era. By outbreak of World War II in Europe the Germans had already improved the ME-109 which was used in Spain and with the Japanese the Zero did not see much action in China until later in the war because it was mot only a new plane, but a naval plane and the Army was using the Nakajima Ki-27 Kate which was designed in 1936 to be mostly used in ground support. The Oscar in 1940 was a major improvement almost as good as the Zero but with the same vulnerabilities. And the American Wildcat for the Navy were also designed to fight against aircraft that were made before the Zero. When more adquate funding becamne available and conbat reports came in from far-flung battlefields, extemely effective planes began rolling off American production lines. Given the manufacturing campability surveyed here, once gets an idea about what RAF Bomber Commander Sir Arthur Harris mean whent he stated, "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else, and nobody was going to bomb them. After Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put this naive theory into operation. They sewed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind." And that was even before Amnerica entered the War. The Japanese followed the Germans in turn under the same delusion.

Individual Airframe Companies

With its industrial capabilities intact and safe from attack, the United States aircraft companies played a key role in the American war effort. A process of manufacturing specialization began during the War. Boeing, Douglas, and Martin had built civil aircraft before the War. As they were experienced in building large, heavy aircraft, they became the principal developers of bombers and in the case of Doulas, transport aircraft. The Douglas DC-3 airliner became the military transport workhorse--the C-47. Douglas Aircraft turned out C-47 transport every 5 hours. By the summer of 1944, 15 airframe builders were producing 23 types of combat aircraft. Boeing produced mearly 4,000 B-29 Superfortresses capable of reaching the Japanese Home Islands from the Marianas. The B-29 has a ceiling high enough that it did not need fighter esorts to bomb Japan. It was the B-29 that carried the two atomic bombs. Other companies specialized in fighters like Gruman, Lockeed, and Vought. Lockheed produced the P-38 Lightning fighter-interceptor which first appeared in 1939. Some manufacturers had a more varied output. Curtis made some of the inferior Navy planes before the war and the P-40 Warhawk fighter. Its Helldiver had a very good dive bombing record in the last 2 years of the war. North American not only make the P-51 but they also produced the best American and possibly the best of all nations medium twin-engine bomber, the B-25 Mitchell. The North American company was only created about 5 years before the war but went on to make some of America's finest and well known planes during World War II and the Korean War: the P-51, B-25, and F-86. In addition to aircraft companies, American production was conracted out to other companies as well leading to enormous production runs. Here the automobile companies were in a unique position to mass produce. The Ford Motor built a brand new factory at Willow Run which alone produced 5,476 B-24 bombers in 1944–45. Goodyear even produced aircraft. Many of the manufacturing companies merged after the War. Here are the major companies, although quite a number of smaller countries produced aircraft during World War II.

Engine Manufacturers

An important part of a plane's performance was the engine. Sevreral American manufacturers produced aircraft engines. And because of the huge autmobile industry even more companies produced other engines, which provided both transferable technology and production capacity. In addition to engine manufactuers, the Curtis-Wright Wright Aeronautical Corporation was a major engine manufacturer. And added to this was the transfer of British technology--especially the Rolls Royce Merlin engine. The marriage of the North Americam air frame and the Merlin created the P-51 Mustang the premier propeller fighter of the War. P-51 squadrons destroyed the Luftwaffe in only a few months (early-1944).

Electronics

World War II ws the first war in which electrionics played a major role andc this included the electronics with hich aircraft were equipped as well as ground support instaationsd. And hre Amnerica had a huge advantage. The American electronics was the largest in the world. American aircraft production exceeded that of the Germnas. The American electronics industry dwarfed that of the Germans. And in addition, when Winston Churchill became primeminister (May 1940), he proceeded to supply the United States with British secret weapons research, much of it on electronics. Much of this involved equipment that Britain did not have the industrial capacity to produce, but American companies did. The Germans had advanced technoloy, but not as good as the British and a limited production capacity. Partiucularly important in the Battle of the Atlantic was the ability to put American-built radar sets on aircraft. Electronics would eventually becoming so integral to aircraft perforamance that aircradt companies became deeply involved in electronics. This process began in World War II. In the Cold War, the American superiority in electronics would provide the critical difference in aircraft performance.

Created: 8:52 PM 2/15/2013
Last updated: 8:52 PM 2/15/2013