 |
| * |
R_. C_.,
Crown Point Hotel,
Trail, Canada.
Dear Father:
I do so hope that this package catches you in your hotel in a timely way --but that is only because I hope that you will not be there long, that you are, or shortly will be, on your way to Santa Clara. Christmas preparations are in full swing. This will be the first celebration under Arcadia's roof in almost twenty years, and I want to make it a "big house" Christmas to remember! Space is filling up quickly. Well, not "filling," unless thirty or forty relations find an excuse to come over, but you know what I mean. Your youngest has seemingly flown-by-land across the continent to be here in time to help "Miss V.C." swot for her examinations. They are reading a textbook together in front of the fire in that strange antechamber to the nursery as I write.
It's an odd place to choose in such a large house, but I don't mind keeping my eye on them. The whole thing wouldn't be my choice of a way to spend my holidays, but your son obviously remains infatuated, while she is anticipating the arrival of "Mr.A." (For we can no longer call him "Lieutenant A."). Central Intelligence takes a break at Christmas, but not as long as the students of the Institute.
Speaking of the Chicago "Cs," while they will not stoop to stay at relations, they are engaging a house in San Jose for the holidays, instead of San Francisco, and we can expect to see more of them, and their daughter, of course. This, unfortunately, means less reason to travel to San Francisco for the rest of the household, although my appointments will call me up there, and if you have gifts for the younger set there --and you should, not to be a nag, notwithstanding that your wife has covered off the matter-- you can forward them here and I can carry them up, as I will be seeing Queenie and the former "Miss v. Q." on these occasions of the higher feminine mysteries.
Flight, 5 December
1946
Leaders
“Talking Safety” The paper is skeptical about the new Air Safety Board, which will probably just be a big talk shop. The paper thinks that the real problem is certain un-named new,
fast aircraft with poor low speed handling, as they cannot properly use all the
expensive new blind-landing equipment.
“Civilizing the Service” The Air Force should be nicer, and
that means higher dress standards. Since it is hard to be nice while yelling at
people over their turnout, there should also be nicer uniforms, so that warrant
officers will have something to yell (nicely) about. Also, toffee-apples of
different colours are not appealing???
.
“Fido and G.C.A.” It has recently been decided that an RAF
station will revive FIDO experiments, and that an experimental Ground
Controlled Approach radar is going to be tested at Heathrow. (Which is what we
are calling London Airport today.) The paper offers a big, fat, “I told you
so.”
 |
| Coincidentally, it's Aviation's annual maintenance issue, too. Here's some pictures to remind us of the importance of learning-amd-innovating-by-doing. Eh? Eh? Sigh. Forget it. Let's just keep on giving 30% of the population student loans they'll never repay, instead. |
“Background to Maintenance: A Visit to BOAC’s Experimental
Factory: Developing Practical Time-Saving Equipment” The chairman of BOAC
recently said that twenty-five percent of every ticket went to maintenance.
That seems like a lot, so the paper is off to Brislington to investigate. There
follows a two page article that skims the “Maintenance Shortcuts” pictorial in
every number of Aviation. Maintenance
requires specialised tools and equipment. Often, the equipment does not yet
exist, and has to be invented. Here are some examples.
“Kibitzer,” “Cleveland Aero Show: Support Rather Disappointing: No Outstanding Products” Mr. George Bird’s Majorettes were there, but “People poured in in ones and twos,” as sarcastic reporters assigned to bad trade shows like to say. Some helicopters, the Navion, the Bonanza, and Northrop’s Turbodyne I were there, as well as a mockup of Lycoming’s new 5000hp engine. Are shareholders allowed to stone boards of directors to death? Because that seems to be what’s called for. However, there were lots of nice shows and demonstrations.
 |
| It's hard to over-stress just what a terrible idea and wastte of stockholders' money this was. Though at least Lycoming didn't do it mulptiple times, like Northrop. |
Here and There
The paper notes that Group Captain A. F. Bandit’s proposed
“aerial attack on Mt. Everest,” recently discussed on the radio, will take
three years to organise. Group Captain Bandit is currently “attached” to Miles
Aircraft and is flying off to Australia in a Gemini.
 |
| Miles Gemini. By TSRL - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28684408 |
The R.Ae.S. will hold a
special meeting on December 20th to revise its bylaws. A
Constellation flying LaGuardia-London Airport (that’s what Heathrow is called
in this week’s Here and There),
piloted by Captain Cameron Robertson, set a new record for the route of 10hr
12min. It is a mystery how Airship License No. 1, issued to the late Major G.H. Scott in 1921, came to be found by a schoolboy on the roadside near
Cardington. Australia’s airborne anti-dingo drive continues. Boulton Paul has
received a nice contract to convert wartime bomber aircraft into trainers.
Northern Aluminum is to build a £2.5 million continuous rolling mill on
a 100-acre site at Rogerstone, near Newport, Monmouthshire, it will have an
annual production of 50,000 tons of sheet aluminum.
 |
| History check: The child that Captain Scott asked Ted Stupple to "look out for" when he embarked on R 101 for its India trip would have been 15 this year. Source: https://www.carnetdevol.org/actualite-ballon/Spirit/hangar-anglais.html |
“Operation Sealion –A Flop: The German Invasion that Never Came Off: Thanks Largely to the RAF” In answer to questions on the subject in
the House of Commons, the Prime Minister has provided a written reply, in which
he explains that the Germans didn’t invade because they couldn’t win the Battle
of Britain, first.
“American Newcomer: some Details of the Smallest of Three
Cameron Light Aircraft Engines” Mr. E. S. Cameron, of America, has three new
light aircraft engines, of which the 125hp, air-cooled Cameron C4-I-E1 flat
four is described here.
“Airline Pilot: The Need for Standardized Qualifications: An
Examination of the Present Requirements: Efficiency Essential for Prestige”
Everyone is BUNGLING airline pilot hiring.
“Polar Report: An Official Record of Aries’ Arctic Flights
has been Issued by E.A.N.S.” With armament removed and extra tankage added, Aries took off last May from Prestwick
at 72,000lb auw, 3,944 gallons avgas aboard, with a calculated maximum range of
4,800 miles for a series of flights over the Arctic regions to test various
navigational concerns. All paint and dope had been removed to reduce weight,
and with the extra fuel stored in bomb bay tanks, various things had to be
moved around, making centre of gravity problematic, especially as fuel was
pumped around various tanks to maintain trim. Unexpected icing from a
thicker-than-expected cloud layer cut initial speed by as much as 70 to 80mph,
and after five hours the plane aborted back to Meeks Field, the long runway 25
miles away from Reykjavik, or two hours over Icelandic roads. The second flight
required a series of diversions as far east as Jan Mayen Land to avoid cloud,
but accomplished the goal of flying over the north coast of Greenland on the
way to the North Pole, before returning. Lack of oxygen plant at Meeks Field
meant that it had to be rationed, and the flight was very tiring. The third
flight saw a series of electrical faults, beginning with a blown fuse in the
H2S set that removed navigational radar, followed by the loss of the starboard
generator. The port generator than reversed polarity, and had to be restarted.
Once restarted, power supply was inadequate to keep the magnetic detector
working, and the plane diverted to Goose Bay, fortunately enough, since the
starboard engines began to vibrate on the approach to Goose Bay due to faulty
plugs. The next flight, May 19th, had fewer weather problems (one
narrow front two hours out from North Labrador caused some icing), which was
good since this was the most scientifically interesting part of the operation,
with a flight over the calculated location of the North Magnetic Pole showing
that the Astronomer Royal was right, and the Canadians wrong. It also showed
that the gyrostabilised compasses could be relied on in these latitudes, with
reservations, while regular compasses were predictably useless, pointing due
east for the entire orbit of the North Magnetic Pole. The plane then diverted
to Montreal, and soon experienced an autopilot failure due to a damaged plate
casing, so that Aries had to be flown
by hand back to Dorval, then on to Whitehorse, and finally back to Shawbury
“over the top.” Fully fueled for this 3710-mile flight, Aries unstuck at 130mph IAS, in spite of Whitehorse Airfield being
located on a convenient plateau. A failure of the high-range radio altimeter
approaching Greenland discouraged a “sounding flight,” but the weather opened
up over Scoresby Sound and the Aries was
able to fly over Greenland, confirming that claims of high ground reaching up
to 20,000ft there, were incorrect. A radio blackout occurred between Iceland
and England, and there was a weather front with some icing, but the remainder
of the 18 ½ hour flight was uneventful.
Overall, engine performance was good, and fuel consumption
was a calculated 50 ton-miles per gallon. There was no instance of irregular
cooling, and icing sometimes affected the engines, but not the oil system.
 |
| You're supposed to read this while thinking about the role of "VLR aircraft" in the Battle of the Atlantic. |
Basil R. Clark, “Radio at Paris: British Firms Well
Represented: High Standard of Equipment” The paper liked the new Pye/Marconi
blind-approach guide, which employs a VHF beam with the usual marker beacons,
and can fly within a few feet of the prescribed glide path. Uncle George can’t
help pointing out that every major airport in the world will be under
irresistible pressure to buy this, or an equivalent, and that it will break
down all the time. It’s not the manufacturing that will make Marconi rich(er).
It’s the service calls! We should definitely jump on the American rival,
whenever it emerges.
Standard Telephone and Telegraph showed a nice new radio,
and the VHF cathode-ray-tube direction finder it has developed for the
Admiralty for aircraft carriers, which it cannot tell us anything about. Sadir Carpentier showed four pieces, including a VHF direction finding equipment with
accuracy within 2.1%.
“Power Installations:
Future Aircraft Requirements Classified: Possible Propulsion Arrangements:
Precis of a paper given to the R. Ae. S. by F. M. Owner[!]” Mr. Owner oversees
turbine development at Bristol. He thinks that military aircraft will need more
fuel-efficient engines long before they are atomic rockets. Military transports
will continue to be low-speed and long range, and internal combustion and
turboprop engines are the way to go there. A long range maritime patrol aircraft will need new internal combustion engines. For civil use on major
airliners, better fuel efficiency is, once again, useful. Turboprops are the
immediate future. He does not think that turbo-compounding engines have much of
a future, due to their being complicated mechanical contrivances. Owner
believes that “anti-icing” is still far from a settled problem. It occurs in turbine fuel injection systems. Air filtration is a large
problem, and will be a larger one in axial compressors due to greater blade
erosion. Turboprops are being held back
by the fact that the compressor must “accelerate” the airscrew. I think that’s
a clumsy way of saying that the airscrew tends to stall the compressor. Except
in the Theseus, with its free airscrew, which is why Bristol went to all that
trouble.
Civil Aviation News
“Air Views in the Lords” The House of Lords debated
nationalisation this week. The Minister announced the new Air Safety Board and
also proposed a National Civil Aviation Consultative Council, to make up for the dangerous recent lack of talking
about talking about civil aviation. He admitted that the Tudor II was
overweight, and couldn’t fly south of Nairobi or east of Calcutta due to
airport limits. He said that negotiations on buying the Marathon were ongoing,
and Lord Swinton said that the Ministry should just get out of civil aircraft
purchases, because it was too much bureaucracy and regulation.
Navigation Aids” The president of PICAO addressed the Radio
Technical Division in Montreal recently. He said that there was no suitable
universal short range navigation device yet, but that omni-directional VHF
beacons and measurement devices should be installed on all international trunk
routes as quickly as possible. Low-frequency Loran was the most nearly suitable
long-distance navigation aid. PICAO wants full Loran station coverage of the
North Atlantic by 1949, and the rest of the flying world by 1951. PICAO wants
high-definition radar to solve the old problem of aircraft getting lost after they’ve landed due to it being
dark and dim on runways at night. Perhaps foghorns would be cheaper? The
United Kingdom delegation replied by saying that it was a wonderful speech, but
that everyone should buy GEE.
In shorter news, the paper is pleased that Instone is back
in flying, and reminds us that the Government BUNGLED private flying. British
European Airways is buying five helicopters to experiment with “services.” The
paper disapproves, then approves, and finally disapproves because five is too
many, and 2 should have sufficed. Some American airlines are experimenting with
GCA. Air India is now flying daily services with DC-3s. The Chislea Ace is
still going to exist. The Constitution is amazingly large, and there must be
plans for it to be fitted with more powerful engines in the future, because the
company prospectus describes it as being able to fly.
Correspondence
"Bristol 142" takes advantage of the Alps rescue to point out
that Admiral Nelson invented looking for things. Erik T. W. Addyman, the Hon.
Sec. of the Aircraft Club, is upset at the way that regulators keep trying to
prevent would-be ultra-light aircraft enthusiasts from committing suicide. T.
N. Walker agrees. L. W. Crawford thinks that recent anonymous complaints about
the state of maintenance are right. B. J. Hurren cannot back up the claims he
made in his book about the Swordfish. A. E. Pettijean, of 2093 Squadron, Air
Training Corps, thinks that it is the Government’s fault that 2093 Squadron has
no cadets. Several writers are upset about medals and terms of service.
Foreign Service News
The Navy is experimenting with carrier deck trials with
Lockheed P-80s with strengthened undercarriages. The Swiss are showing their
wartime D-3802 fighter development, which combined French and German influences
and featured a Saurer (Hispano licensee) 12Y engine driving an Escher-Wyss
airscrew, giving a speed of 375mph. The new French SE 2400, previously reported
as a bomber, is actually an attack type. New B-29s equipped with the Pratt and
Whitney Wasp Major engines will be designated “B-50s.” The paper notices the
Electropult.
 |
| By OwlCastle - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25161763 |
The Economist, 7 December 1946
Leaders
“The Transport Bill” The Government is going to nationalise
the railroads. The paper doesn’t like the idea, but of course cannot come out
and say so. It is especially upset about the new scheme of
haulers’ licenses, which produce a “monopoly,” which I thought was the point of
licensing road freighters? Also, all the railways will be merged, and this will
create too much administration. Also, political interference is inevitable. The
paper wants a scheme that “fully integrates” all forms of transportation and
thereby achieve full technical efficiency.
 |
| There's a lot of good images in this month's Fortune, and I'm squeezing them in where I can. |
“Progress at New York” Uno delegates like peace. Further
bulletins as events warrant. No, that is not fair. The Uno has achieved an
agreement on Trieste, and that is important. There are also preliminary talks
about disarmament, which Uncle George confidently predicts will go nowhere.
Easy for a man who has just bought options on Air Research shares to say. (I do
not want to know how he arranged it, but I can’t disagree that it would be very
nice to have some of the first Air Research shares when they do finally
appear.)
“West of Honolulu” What’s west of Honolulu? The East, where
a “quarter of the population of the globe lives.” On first glance, it appears
to be undergoing the rapid end of colonialism, but, in reality, all the new
states are weak, and America is strong, and Russia is also strong, and China is
weak. So if America and Russia are strong and China is weak, and Japan is weak,
then clearly something might happen.
Notes of the Week
“Departure from Indonesia” English troops are out of
Indonesia. The paper congratulates them for not running amok during the
occupation.
“Fusion of the Zones” The economic administration of the
British and American zones have now been merged, and will be handed over to the
Germans as soon as possible
 |
| Now who's up for a game of Power Grid? |
“Coal Comfort” Mr. Morrison, urging the coal miners to work
harder, etc., raised the prospect of “permanent austerity.” This is bad enough
considering only heat and light, but if coal exports are not increased, imports
cannot be. Shinwell’s Christmas address was even gloomier, says the paper.
Considering that this was the announcement of the 2 ½% cut in coal supplies
–that is, coal rationing, although no-one is willing to call it that-- to
industries other than transport, I agree!
“The Professions and the Closed Shop” The paper detects a
creeping closed shop policy in local government and is upset that professionals
will be included.
“Civic Restaurants” The government wants to continue British Restaurants in peacetime? Tease me all you like about being the last
Californian Progressive, but this is too communistic even for this bleeding-heart
liberal!
“Indian Talks in London” There should be talking about
talking about Indian independence in London, for a change.
“France Seeks a Government” “Wanted: Government. Must have
at least a century and a half of experience in republican rule, good anti-Nazi
credentials, three letters of reference . . . (Just to completely ruin my
little joke, Uncle George tells me that after the
Revolution settled down, for the next seventy or so years, France was run by an
assortment of kings and emperors. Good to know!) The paper takes time out to
gush about Mr. Monnet’s four year economic plan for industrial reconstruction.
 |
| Jean Monnet is The Economist's new boyfriend. |
Persians, Poles,
Romanians and English divorcees are excitable.
“More Houses” The paper is pleased by the rapid increase in
the number of houses built by local authorities.
In shorter notes, there is not to be an inquiry into the
Services’ demand for manpower, the paper is pleased by the Severn Bridge,
Jarrow Tunnel, and lower Thames tunnel and hopes that the Ministry of Transport
starts work on them soon.
In Parliament, a government answer about food
subsidies revealed that their total cost is about one-third of the present
standard rate of income tax. Sheffield University, which last year was
proposing to double its size to 1500 students, has considered the Barlow report
on scientific manpower and revised its plans to envision an increase to 3000 students
over 10 years and to provide residential accommodation for 1500 of those. The
paper is pleased. The paper is not pleased that the first batch of emigrants
approved by Australia and South Africa are nearly all from the skilled building
trades, as they are in short supply in England as well as the Dominions.
Correspondence
“Critic” of Dundee, proposes a scheme of “nationalisation
stocks” so that private capital can invest in the nationalised transportation
system. T. Balogh of Baliol College believes that international trade is being
mishandled by “doctrinaire laissez faire
economists,” and thinks that the Draft Charter of the ITO, if approved, will
worsen the hard currency shortage. Peter J. Blake, of the United States Army at
Frankfurt, defends the Nuremberg Tribunal’s decision to hand the acquitted war
crime defendants over to German courts. F. H. Masters is upset
that the New Towns scheme does not envision rail work, as his commute to the
City is very slow already. (He is very specific. I think this is probably his train.)
American Survey (From
Our Washington Correspondent)
“No Coal” You were dying to hear more about John Lewis, the UWM, the CIO, communists, strikes, yellowlegs and injunctions, weren't you?
American Notes
The bipartisan consensus in American foreign policy is under
stress due to disagreements between Byrne and Vandenberg. Surplus war property
isn’t being liquidated fast enough, except for the plants which have been,
which were liquidated too quickly. 260 American corporations own two-thirds of US manufacturing facilities
and hold options on $9 billion in war plant, and this is obviously too much.
The World Overseas
“German Currency Reforms” Would be a good idea, the paper
thinks. With prices rising and the black market out of control, something must
be done. Productivity is collapsing, even
though nominal employment is high. Prices will have to rise, and if a new
balance between costs and prices can only be achieved in this way, than inflation
is inevitable. If a “controlled and moderate inflation,” as the occupation
authorities say, that is one thing, but demands for increased wages will doom
this hope. Doom it! Everything is doomed!
Australians are having a budget. The paper sees black clouds
on the horizon!
“Ethiopian Development” By close examination of their
history, the Ethiopians have discovered a historic claim to vast stretches of
African territory that does not currently belong to them. At home, various reforms are mooted. The
paper sees black etc.
The Business World
“The Transport Bill Dissected” The leader had not nearly
enough to say about the bill, which, to be fair, is something that the paper
has to talk about at length. I don’t,
however.
Scots are excitable, and far too many of them are unemployed.
Some highlights of the story in no particular order: Everyone hopes that the
hydroelectric projects in the Highlands will help by reversing the drift of
population from the region. The exhaustion of the Lanarkshire coalfields is
causing economic and social dislocation. The Forth Bridge will help with
tourism. The Scots blame Westminster for all their problems.
 |
| The Forth Bridge under construction, July 1962. By Alan Findlay, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6733233 |
Business Notes
The paper is on about taps and bonds in its usual way of
talking around the point that the Chancellor is reducing interest rates so that
the rich will pay for the war, apart from those rich people who were clever
enough to make alternate arrangements. There is also to be aid for the
cotton spinning industry, railway dividends were impressively high this year,
with the GWR paying 5%! Coal production is up, although consumption is up even
more. Manpower has held almost steady, although some of the departures included
Bevin boys and “incorrigibles,” which rather improved the statistics. The paper
thinks that Eugene Meyer’s abrupt departure from the International Bank means
that Bretton Woods is in trouble. This is because there is still no agreement
about the nature of the securities it will issue, and, what is more, some
American states are moving to pass legislation to prevent their banks from
investing in them, which could become a problem. (For the record, the bank is
thinking of 25 year shares. What do you think,? You were saying that we
should have more securities in our portfolio.)
The cotton bill is debated in the House, the price of silver
is fluctuating stably (I don't know, I just repeat what I read) around 55 ½ d per ounce, and arbitrage has all but
removed the difference between the London and Bombay markets, where silver has
been on a predictable tear. The British balance of payments continues to be
strong in sterling areas, weak in hard currency ones. The paper does not think
that the Australian pound will be revalued, and is concerned that controls on
radio valve prices are unwarranted. Unilever plans to invest almost ten million
pounds in Africa in the next three years, spendthrifts that they are. Christmas
currency demands have led to an increase in £12 million in notes, although
the total in circulation is still below the August peak. Black clouds, etc. The
US Government is withholding its stock of base metals, and prices continue to
rise. The President may waive the import tariff on copper and reduce the one on
lead to alleviate the pressure. (Fortune has better coverage, if you need something to wave under people's noses at your meeting.)
Flight, 12
December 1946
Leaders
“Aircraft Propulsion” Aircraft need propelling. In the past,
they used internal combustion engines, some of which were liquid-cooled, and
others air-cooled, and no-one could agree on which was better. In the future,
they will have all sorts of jet-type engines, and perhaps we will never agree
on which of those is better, either.
I've always wanted an excuse to post this.
“Anglo-American Collaboration” Anglo-American cooperation
would go better if the American public would just accept that the English are
right about everything.
“Research Reorganisation” Air research will go better now
that one directorate has replaced the other committee, or possibly vice versa,
and several people have been promoted.
“Bridging the Gap: The Work of the Empire Test Pilots’
School” Test pilots are very important people and the School trains very good
ones, with very handsome moustaches that still do not measure up to the
standard set by the Engineering Branch of the Royal Navy.
 |
| Google Search result for "Most RAF mustache ever." Source. |
“Britain’s Test Pilots, No. 17: Wing Cdr. Reginald AlfredCharles Brie, A.F.Inst. A.E.S. (Amer.) “Reggie” is not technically a test
pilot, as the Cierva autogiro is as tested as it will ever be. A good thing,
too, as his moustache is decidedly sub-par. He has been trying to persuade
someone, really, anyone, to buy autogiros for years now, but has now moved on
to selling the kind of helicopters that are very nearly autogiros.
Here and There
The Short Solent exists more. Group Captain Bandit is still
on his way to Australia. There will be a jets exhibit at Charing Cross Underground
Station on 3 January. Lord Abercrombie,
the Chairman of Westlands, gave a nice rundown of its research efforts in his
speech to the annual company meeting. Dr. W.B. Lewis is to be Director of
Scientific Research at the Chalk River atomic energy plant in Ontario. The
paper milks another story out of
Irish racehorses being flown to America. The last Halifax was just delivered to
the Air Force, which will give it to Airborne Forces, because no-one else needs
it.
It's not clear to me that Group Captain Bandit even made it back to Australia, or that his name was actually spelled "Bandit," but that doesn't mean that I'm going to let the country live Yahoo Serious down.
“’In My Opinion:’ Reginald G. Standerwick (GEC) and Geoffrey
Smith (Flight) Compare Notes on
Future Aircraft Design and Propulsion: A Two-Way Trans-Atlantic Broadcast”
Mr. Standerwick is an American, and begins by pointing out
that the P-80 is the holder of the world’s long-distance record, and that the
P-84’s still-secret top speed is even higher, and that the Army Air Force has
even more jets in development, and that the “XZ-1” is expected to break the
sound barrier and eventually reach 1700mph; and that another type in
development can climb 20 miles high in one minute, and that, if the power is
turned off, it will soar vertically another 20. America is amazing, and England
is terrible.
Smith replies that all of this is “fantastic,” and cheating,
since Standerwick is referring to rockets and implying that they are aircraft.
Britain will not break the sound barrier for a year or two, because of
controllability issues. The Meteor is really fast. Rockets are fast. Americans
should admit that they’ve run out of steam with civil airliners.
Mr. Standerwick replies that all of those jet bombers will
soon result in jet airliners. For example, a jet version of the Consolidated
Vultee C-99 will carry 400 soldiers or a medium tank. Thin wings are the coming
thing, and, before long, American planes will have five, ten, twenty or even
fifty thousand pounds of thrust. The English should admit that they have
nothing like this up their sleeves.
Mr. Smith responds that Britain has a jet flying boat and
will be putting a jet engine in the Supermarine Spiteful soon. As for
commercial aircraft, Americans are far too optimistic, especially about speed
gains. Jet airliners will have to fly in the stratosphere, and they are nowhere
near there yet. He points out that the English already have a jet engine in an
airliner, the Nene-Lancastrian, and will have a four-jet Tudor liner next year.
It will be followed by several turboprop airliners, including the gigantic
Brabazon, a “Queen Elizabeth of the air.”
Americans will have to admit that English maintenance is better, and
that they have nothing to compare with the prospective English 10,000lb thrustengine or diesel-compound, and so have no idea what the aircraft of the future
will look like.
 |
| At least it got some use as an oil rig power plant. |
Mr. Standerwick replies that the future is uncertain, but
that those fifty-thousand pound thrust engines that are surely coming will
power 400,000lb airliners which could reach 120mph in a twenty second run of
half-a-mile or so. They will have sweptback wings of 350 to 400ft span, some
kind of a tail, two ramjets to take over when speed is over 600mph. However,
really quick service will be provided by rocket-jet aircraft soaring 100 miles
above the Earth in order to make 3500 miles/hour. (Under four hours to Canton?) Also, there will be atomic planes, and,
anyway, it is quite silly to be on about national rivalries when the future
holds international cooperation for peaceful progress in the field of
enormously big airplanes going absurdly fast.
The P-84 exists more.
“Aircraft Propulsion: Net Thrust Horsepower as a Basis:
Progress in Power/Weight Ratio and Thermal Efficiency: The Discussion: Ceramic
Materials Suggested for Turbines: Precis of a presentation made by Major F. M.
Green and Mr. Wallington to a Joint Meeting of the R. Ae. S. and the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers” Large military piston engines really are
not that different from large piston engines developed for civil airliner use. Simply
adjusting supercharger speeds will adapt the big military plants for civil use,
although the day of the piston engine is over. Turboprops are the most
efficient turbine engines up to a speed of 450mph, as everyone keeps saying,
and ducted fans have potential for long-distance civil use. Ramjets are only
practical at supersonic speeds. In the discussion, Dr. Ricardo, and later Air Commodore
Banks, made a case for the turbo-compound again. Mr. Davis, of Bristol, made
his for the heat-exchanger turboprop. Mr. Cheshire pointed out that even if jet
engines remain more fuel-hungry than piston engines, they also have the
advantage of being much lighter. He also thinks that the turboprop has no
future due all of its complications. Mr. James Hodges pointed out that jet
turbine engines were quieter and vibration free.
“Kibitzer,” “Cleveland Aero Show” The Navion, various
helicopters, and models of the new Vought jet fighter for the navy were there.
“Short Solent: Exclusive Photographs of the Addition to
BOAC’s Flying Boats” Not shown: angry, very cold woman being taken off in a motor boat.
Civil Aviation News
“Air Traffic Discussions” Because there cannot be enough
discussing.
“Meteorological Services” PICAO thinks that they are
important, and advises that national meteorological departments do a better job
of collecting weather information from above 40,000ft before civil airliners go
there.
“More About the Rainbow” It is even faster and more
excellent than it used to be. It will cruise at 413mph at 40,000ft on 3000 mile
trips carrying forty passengers, their baggage and 1000lbs of freight. Much of
the speed comes from the “special exhaust arrangement.” It will not be
delivered to civilian operators before 1948, and its all up weight will be
114,200lb.
In shorter news, British European is doing icing trials with
the Viking, Stansted has been designated London’s freight airport, membership
in the British Charter Association is up to 30, PICAO is talking about
standardising wireless abbreviations, BEA is considering a version of the
Handley Page Hermes, the Solent exists more, the Fairchild Packet is
“unsatisfactory” due to loading difficulties, there is an Anglo-Swedish air
services agreement, the Australians are fiddling with their licensing scheme,
Australia and New Zealand have signed bilateral agreements with the United
States on Pacific routes and there is to be a Scottish advisory committee on
air-things. Various new services are announced in New Zealand, between New York
and Santiago and Rolls Royce has introduced fixed ignition instead of variable
timing on civil Merlins. The Standard Beam Approach equipment at GardermoenAirport in Oslo has broken down, so it will be another week before British
European starts landing there.
F. M. Owner, “Power Installations: Part II of the Paper
Given Before the Royal Aeronautical Society” For pressurisation and
refrigeration, current arrangements are not very satisfactory when the
compression ratio is in excess of 2 to 1. In other words, we have pressurised
aircraft, but they’re not very pressurised at 40,000ft. Currently, a
centrifugal compressor driven by an engine auxiliary does the work. A
multi-gear change speed engine with super-charged two-speed clutches might work
better. A four-speed system would be satisfactory at 40,000ft, where a
compression ratio of at least 4.5-1 is desired. Turboprops operate best at full
load and so will cruise within 2% of it. Turbine engines are not right now
cheaper than piston engines, but it is often pointed out that they are simpler.
However, the Theseus has been designed for a mere 1000h life between overhauls.
The problem is that not enough work has been done on blade creep and other
failures associated with extremely high rotational speeds. For peak fuel
economy, either compression or inlet temperatures will have to rise even
further. New materials and better compressor designs, especially for axial
compressors, are wanted. Also, better bearings and seals. An enormous amount of
research, design and especially development is needed before the turbine engine
is in any way comparable to the internal combustion engine. Modern internal
combustion engines have reached their potential and are highly reliable. This
has taken 40 years, and the ”mature” turbine engine might be as far away.
Correspondence
P. Hurball wants more air shows. “474” thinks that British
workers should see the Paris Air Show somehow, because all that competition
would make them realise that they need to work harder. R. P. Denton thinks that
“mixed” propeller and jet installations might be the way to go, at least for
experimental development. Janet Ferguson calls for a new Civil Air Guard, which
is silly, because they had awful hats.
The Economist, 14
December 1946
Leaders
“Plans and Democracies” The paper complains that French
politics are deadlocked, which is the democratic part, and that Mr. Monnet’s
plan for the French economy is wonderful, which is the “plan” part. The paper
wishes that England had one, too. It complains that finding enough capital
expenditure to fund a substantial investment in production means high savings
and low consumption, and, so far, the voters aren’t keen on this. The Russians
have solved this problem by not having democracy. The Monnet plan proposes
investing 23 to 25 percent of the gross national income in the four leading
sectors of coal, steel, housing and transport, without making allowance for
military capital expenditure on top of that. Since Britain invested only 14% of
the gross national income on investment in 1938, this seems very challenging. A
redistribution of workers into productive industries from distributive, for
example, would seem to require substantial wage increases, thus prices,
inflation, doom. Can any democracy achieve anything like this? Well, Britain
achieved a 55/45% split of “consumption and civil government expenditure” to
“productive effort” in 1943. Is this
possible in peacetime? Perhaps, with savings movements and tax concessions and
budget surpluses. So, in conclusion, the Monnet Plan might be nice but impossible?
Or does that only apply to a similar, British plan. (Which is what
nationalisation is, the paper concludes, just if you were wondering where it
was going. Labour, BUNGLING.)
“Peace Making: The First Round” Peace treaties have now been
signed with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland. They’re not allowed
to be bigoted any more, except against people against whom it is still acceptable, give up territory, and also sometimes money. Italy does not, however, have to give up Trieste. That’s to be dealt with at a
later date. I wonder what Marshal Tito has done to so upset Marshal Stalin?
Worn more medals to a party at the embassy?
“British and German Tanks” (by a
Correspondent)
A Report of the Select Committee on
National Expenditure on this subject appeared earlier this year, and the paper
has found a Correspondent to take the issue on. I do recall this controversy
two years ago, both from the press and from raging rumours, but it mainly
focussed on American tanks, with people saying that the Sherman was useless and
dangerous. To the extent that English tanks came up, it was along the lines of,
“Well, of course English tanks are even worse!” James fills in the details, on
the excuse that he is an engineer, although more that he is a man who was once
a boy, and, well, tanks, boys.
So now I know about Crusaders and Cromwells and Cavaliers and Shermans and Stuarts; about the difference between the 76mm high velocity gun
and the 77mm High Velocity gun; and about the relationship of armour thickness
and glacis slope. Anyway, the Select Committee finds that the English made
quite enough tanks, and if they were short in 1939/40, it was because the
Germans had already chosen their designs and were ready to begin flow
production, while the English had delayed design much longer. This is why
English tank production only overtook German in 1941. As to why it fell behind
so decisively in 1944, the paper supposes that this was because of the
introduction of new designs, such as the very exciting Centurion that James and
your youngest subsequently discuss, loudly, in the excessively large anteroom
that for some reason, leads into the nursery. Victorians.)
The paper notes that high German
production was not because of
standardised designs in “mass production,” since they were able to maintain
high production when the new “Panther” and “Tiger” designs came in. It was
because the German General Staff understood what was required of a tank: gun,
then armour; then manoeuvre. Then, they had correct organisation for full
technical efficiency, the paper is pleased to report. (Or make up the facts to
meet its prejudices, whichever.) Dispersal was countered with ingenious
single-purpose machine tools and organisation “[T]hus providing German troops
with first-class vehicles in large numbers. Fortunately, it is not by tanks
alone that even twentieth-century wars are won.”
Notes
of the Week
“Paul Pry and Statistics” English
business have decided that the Statistics of Trade Bill is a case of Government
prying.
“Willesden on the Mat” Willesden
Borough Council has given up on its resolution making trade union membership a
condition of employment, and rescinded the dismissal notices sent to all the
nurses and doctors who would not join one. In other freedom-related news, the
BBC monopoly was debated in parliament. The paper is afraid that the BBC will
favour politicians for good shows, and so ruin democracy, unless competition is
allowed.
“Uno’s Busy Days” Uno delegates like
to keep busy. Further bulletins as events warrant.
“Is Uno Intruding?” Uno delegateslike sticking their noses into South African business. Further bulletins as
events warrant.
“Dr. Schumacher’s Visit” German
Social Democratic leadership visits England. Russia, France upset.
“Cross Purposes over the Sudan”
Egypt and England are still fighting over the Sudan, and the paper reminds
everyone that Egypt is, after India, the largest foreign sterling holder.
 |
| Kurt Schumacher at Nuremberg |
“Anglo-Danish Price Argument”
England is trying to buy food from Denmark, but is unwilling to meet Denmark’s
price. The paper blames the “unsatisfactory state of the Danish economy.” The
Danes need to import fodder, and are having inflation due to all those wartime
wage increases, which has not yet been effectively checked. This is why food is
more expensive in the Dominions, so that when England offers the same prices as
it gives the Dominions, the Danes refuse. It’s all the Danes’ fault, you see.
In other news, England is to have a Tourist Board, to better welcome
foreigners.
“Dockers –A Drastic Cure” The
government recently punted the problem of dock labour organisation to Sir John
Forster, who was to prepare a report. It is now out, and “puts two rather agile
cats amongst the pigeons.” The first is that the dockers’ union should have
equal representation on the committee that runs dock labour (good for labour);
the second, that the Government should have the power of “directing” dockers from
one port to the other. (Bad for labour.)
“Zionists in Conference” The annual
World Zionist Council just re-elected Dr. Weismann as their head, with David
Ben-Gurion, head of the socialist wing, coming in second.
“The Indian Constituent Assembly”
The idea behind the Constituent Assembly is that it is going to write a new
constitution for India. The Moslem League does not believe in this work,
because it does not believe in India. They are not represented in the Assembly,
which is expected to write a constitution that Moslem Leaguers will hate. The
suggested compromise is that provincial assemblies meet first, write their
constitutions, approve them by majority vote, and then go to the Assembly. In
this case, the Assembly should not be meeting now, but it is. Whose fault is
that, people are asking.
“—And the Chinese” The Chinese are
having a Constituent Assembly that one large group is boycotting, too. The
difference is that this group is the Communists, who are not separatists. The
Americans are pressing for a more democratic constitution, and the Assembly is
going along with this. It remains to be seen whether this will entice the
Communists to Nanking.
“Between Albania and Corfu” The
Royal Navy’s examination has ended with the conclusion that the Albanians laid
the minefield that damaged Saumarez and
Volage on the 22nd, and
has demanded compensation.
“Milk Distribution” Currently, 10.5
million gallons of milk go to priority cases including, in order of amount
distributed, hospitals and schools; invalids; expectant mothers;
five-to-eighteen-year-olds; and under fives. 9.5 millions go to non-priority
users It has been suggested that more milk go to some categories of invalids,
and the suggestion is that this come from other priority users. The paper
disagrees.
 |
| Austerity advertising. The one on the lower right is automating brain-work by the way. Can mass unemployment be long behind? |
“Pressure for Larger Universities”
The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee has just published a report that
agrees with the paper and the “recommendations of the Barlow report.” Britain
will need to increase its total number of scientists from 55,000 to 90,00 in
1955. The Committee thinks that this will require more than doubling the number
of students, but thinks that this can be done without going on a spree paying
for new teaching facilities, residences, and teachers. The paper disagrees, and
thinks that the Government should spend like a drunken sailor.
 |
| Actually from the December 21st number, but I couldn't resist including it. |
In shorter notes, the paper notes
that, in the wake of Mr. Strachey’s “very grave statement about future
deliveries of grain and bacon last Friday,” there will be no statement at his
Tuesday press conference. This might be because the coal stoppage in the United
States has freed up railcars to deliver more bacon and grain to American ports.
The paper is disappointed by the terms of the new Hendon Police College.
Correspondence
John Jewkes has harsh words for Mr.
Balogh about “trade make believe.” R. P. Kahn, of King’s College, Cambridge,
writing about “Exports and Manpower” takes issue with the idea that the best
exports always involve the most added value of labour applied to imported raw
materials, as some exports are inherently more valuable than others. He hopes
policy is not too draconian, because it might damage some or another
import/export industry. J. S. Tapsfield, of University House, Victoria Park, disagrees
with the Rushcliffe Report’s revision of the Poor Persons Procedure. Walter T.Fisher, of Chicago, on the other hand, thinks that the problem is best resolved
by law offices achieving full technical efficiency.
American
Survey
“Discipline and Democracy –I”
So now the UMW is back at work, and
“the country sighs in relief.” There will be coal at Christmas, but probably
not at Easter, as 31 March is the new deadline. The new Senate Labour Committee
Chair is likely to be Taft, who will take a harsh view of “labour monopolies.”
Along these lines is the National Association of Manufacturer’s proposed “antitrust law for unions.” Mandatory arbitration for “work stoppages that jeopardise the
national economy and safety” is also suggested, and, in general, a democracy
requires its citizens to accept some level of discipline, further see next
issue.
American
Notes
“End of the Housing Drive” Wyatt is out, and there is no longer a Housing Expediter., or much of a housing programme. But do not mourn him. Mr. Wyatt extracted $400
million from Congress. He aimed for 1.2 million home starts in 1946, 700,000 completed, as compared to 937,000 in 1925, the all-time high for free
enterprise, and 245,000 in 1945, 500,000 originally expected in 1946. The end
of price controls washed away dreams of a $6000 home, and now the $10,000 home
(and $80/month rental) ceiling is set to fall, the target for 250,000
pre-fabs is unlikely to be met, there will not be that $50 million loan to eleven new “pre-fab”
concerns, but there will be more than 600,000 homes built. (The paper doesn't say so, but I thought that looking up the estimate at the library was easier than rewriting the sentence.)
“The CIO on Profits” The CIO wants
wage increases paid for out of “staggering” corporate profits, but the paper
does not believe that corporate profits are likely to turn out to be
staggering, unlike in the 1920s; or, for that matter, 1936-9. Because profits were high in the late 1930s, whatever unemployment or production,
The
World Overseas
“The Monnet Plan” Further details on
the plan that will take France "from decadence to modernisation."
The paper: “On the eve of
World War II, almost a third of French productive capacity was not employed.” and “[t]he spirit of enterprise had been weakened to such a point that
investments of capital barely covered the needs of replacement.” Productivity
was below that in other countries in both industry and agriculture, the
standard of living was low, and even that was partly met out of income from
foreign investments. The war damaged much more of it. World War II was more
destructive than WWI, with twice as many buildings destroyed or damaged (1.8
million versus 900,000.) On the other
hand, since 1942, the French birth-rate has been rising, and, in 1945, for the
first time in half-a-century, exceeded replacement level. Does that look like good news? Of course it isn't! Dark clouds are gathering. If it continues,
the working population will have to support both more old people, and more
children. France has also to pay for the import of 25 million tons of coal, 8
million tons of oil, up to 98% of some of its base metals, 87% of wool, 60% of
fats and 50% of wood pulp.
A programme of modernisation is needed, and Monnet's plan calls for restoring the
1938 level of production of coal, electricity, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, provision of transport and of power by the end of 1946, and reaching that of 1929 by the
middle of 1948.
Before the war, France consumed much less coal per
head than its trading partners, but also imported about a third of its fuel:
198 tons of coal equivalent per head in England; 670 in the United States, 86.5
in France. The plan for 1950 calls for French consumption of 117.5 tons of coal
equivalent per head in France.
Country
|
Total Consumption (millions of
tons)
|
Kg per head
|
USA (1937)
|
48,614
|
351
|
England (1937)
|
13,065
|
285
|
Germany (1937)
|
17,994
|
259
|
France (1937)
|
6,099
|
146
|
France (1950)
|
9,830
|
240
|
In agricultural machinery, there was
1 tractor for every 200 farm workers in France in 1937, 1 for 22 in England,
and 1 for 43 in the United States, and most were made abroad. 17.4 million more tons of
coal must be produced, and will require the immigration of 50,000 foreign
miners. 178 billion francs will be invested in power generation, more than half
in hydraulics. The construction labour force will have to be increased by 60,000. Fortunately, few prisoners of war are employed in construction in France. Cement will need 8000 more workers, rising to 20,000, even though it
is hoped to almost double man-hour productivity. There are very
detailed targets for increased agricultural production. The country will need
to import power, coal, non-ferrous metals, and to do this will have to run a
large balance of payments deficit, paid for by the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development, which is considering a French required for 60 billion francs.
To do the work will require 480,000 new workers by 1947, and an additional
220,00 by the end of 1950, plus 500,000 to replace prisoners of war. A
“collective immigration” of 250,000 is envisioned, while 335,000 French, mostly
women, must join the labour force. Paying for it will involve a substantial
budget deficit.
The
Business World
“The Companies Bill” “The Companies
Bill gives full effect to the Cohen Report.”
“Silver Adjusts Itself” More on the
world silver market.The upshot is that silver could be the new gold --a great way of transferring wealth out of countries with capital control. Or England. I might as well just say "England."
“The End of Window-Dressing” Is not
the end of window dressing, really. The Earl will have to make his own decisions about money in English banks; However, Uncle George thinks that this might make them better risks.
Business
Notes
Something about local bonds. Railways
are protesting the new transport bill. Amazing! There is a Jewelry and Silverware Working Party, which is concerned with the cost of bullion, foreign
competition, and such like things.
 |
| This really is just a gorgeous issue of Fortune. The shared focus on jewelry probably has something to do with Christmas. |
The paper urges full
technical efficiency. It is also
concerned with errors in the new economic census returns, and is worried that
steel output, which is up, might go down. The paper has read a nice survey of Latin American affairs by some experts that covers the new banking regulations in Argentina and the rapid
industrial development in the republics over the war years. Textile yarn
production is up, and the world sugar crop is expected to reach 26,615 thousand
tons this year, compared with 22,148 last year, and 30,693 in 1939. Mining costs are rising “alarmingly” in South
Africa. Rhodesian copper earnings are up. American exports are up, but see Fortune. The Trepca Mines in
Yugoslavia are to be nationalised.
English tourist traffic to Switzerland is to be controlled to reduce hard
currency payments, but will be balanced against Swiss tourism in England.
 |
| How about that "rapid industrialisation during the war years"? It certainly tells us something about how the world works that import substitution didn't work in Latin America after the war. Anyway, the modern headquarters of the old Bank of London and South America is "One of the finest examples of Brutalism in Argentina." What an interesting sentence that is. By Dan DeLuca - originally posted to Flickr as banco_hipotecario, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6861717 |
Aviation, December 1946
This should be pretty quick. the paper has drastically scaled back its editorial content. (Good news: Stubblefield and the "humour" column are gone; bad news, so is the "Down the Years" feature.) Fortunately, the hilarious”Maguire
cartoons are still with us.
 |
| Ha ha ha does anyone have a tip line number for Child Protective Services in 1947? |
Editorial
Leslie Neville points out that
labour is more expensive in America than anywhere else on Earth, so Americans
better increase their productivity, which is why this number is looking at
tooling in maintenance. Leslie also takes a moment to remind the new Congress
that American needs to buy more aircraft so as to “maintain dominant air power
–not to wage war but to preserve the peace of the civilized world.”
Line
Editorial: “Labour Monopoly” James H. McGraw, Jr., has seen the light and believes
that American unions have too much monopoly power and need their own antitrust
act.
 |
| I didn't bother with tmost of the article titles because they read like PR releases. Some interesting pictures, though. |
Speaking of being in the pocket of big business, the big four airlines featured in the main section are TWA, WAL and two fly-by-nights. Who needs editorial content when you can just reprint public relations releases?
 |
| The good news is that Scholer Bangs has been promoted to Pacific Coast Editor. "Four years ago I couldn't even spell editor and now I are one[!]" |
Irving Stone, Assistant Editor, “Inspection Procedures for Turbojets” This is more like it. Not many people know what to do with a turbojet engine, and Stone went to General Electric to catch up with procedures for the I-40, which are probably generally applicable. I didn't even know that they used spark plugs!
Aviation
News
“What From the 80th?” The
80th Congress has promised to cut expenditures. Senator Taft, who
will be majority leader and chair of the Finance Committee, says that the Army
and Navy should get only $10--$12 billions, but much will depend on the state
of U.S.-Soviet relations, which probably sounds a lot more sinister to me than
it does to the paper. Senator Brewster will probably head the War Investigation
Committee, as well as the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. He will turn
the spotlight on NACA. Representative Charles Wolverton of New Jersey will take
the chair of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. He is the man
who defeated the Lea act in favour of the railway interests, and is expected to
be a pressure front for railroads. John Hinshaw (the paper calls him "Carl") will fight to keep
the airlines out of the ICC’s purview (“integration” of transportation), and
defend non-scheduled operators against the airlines. The 80th will
look at the RFC’s War Assets office, and surplus
plants. CAA and CAB will meet with industry in hopes of making gains on safety.
“This Year and Next” The civilian
market has made major gains on the military and now features 50% of sales
volume. The nature of services procurement is worth noting, too. Navy and Air
Force continue to spread contracts thin and evenly to keep all major
manufacturers and business available for any emergency, and keeping them
abreast of technological progress.
“Getting Squashy” The light plane
market has “softened perceptibly, as expected.” Well, as the paper might have
expected it privately, but Heaven forbid it say anything in print to discourage investors! The decline in orders “undoubtedly reflects some
dissatisfaction with existing models.” No, it doesn’t. It reflects the actual
number of people who want to fly private aircraft in this country. The
appearance of “rotary wing and roadable types” is not going to change anything.
Although it is fair news to report that people are trying very hard to make
these markets work.
“On Our Side Now” Germany’s Kochel wind tunnels have been reinstalled at White Oak, Maryland by the Navy. They are
powerful, but have a very short operating cycle.
 |
| Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel [Number] 9 at the Naval Ordnance Laboratories, White Oak, Maryland. Erected in 1957 to replace the useless Kochel tunnels. Just pointing that out after reading yet another "Nazi scientists are our superiors" effort. |
In shorter business news, CAB is
recommending 5400 miles of feeder airlines in Midwestern states, almost
entirely under new operators, while non-scheduled operators Waterman and
Pacific Overseas have contracts to fly into Shanghai for the UNRRA. CAB is tightening
restrictions on uncertified operators in Alaska. The Post Office has intervened
in CAB hearings against proposals to allow Pan American to fly trunk routes in
the United States. CAB’s chairman pointed out that Washington is getting very frustrated with poor services and safety.
Hearings on “freight forwarding” are coming to CAB, as a battle over freight
rates looms. In Canada, the Department of Transport is installing radio
instrument approach systems at major airports, including Montreal, Ottawa and
Winnipeg, with Toronto, London, Calgary and Regina to get it next. My point:
Not Vancouver!
Aviation
Abroad
In the paper’s version of events,
the English have claimed to have the first jet-powered airliner, have abandoned
all piloted supersonic developments in favour of radio-controlled models, have
recruited “many outstanding German scientists” to work on developing their
rocket plane. English papers are calling for an investigation into why BOAC
planes are carrying only six passengers on average from New York, while
American lines have a three month waiting lists. De Havilland is reported to be continuing tests on the DH 108. Sweden is working on a world speed recordmachine based on German models, to be powered by a DH Ghost.
 |
| Unfortunately, the Swedes did lots of boring "development" and "testing," and the Saab Tunnan didn't attempt the world record until 1955. By Gnolam - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12073082 |
A threatened
Scandinavian pilot’s strike have been averted. In Russia, work with German jet
engine prototypes has been put on the back burner after they received 20 Rolls
Royce Nene engines, which will be used as prototypes for a Russian copy. China
has authorised the newly-formed Trans-Pacific Airlines to fly
Honolulu-Shanghai, although this still needs CAB approval.
Ernest G. Stout, “Static Stability
Analysis for Flying Boats and Seaplanes, Part I” Although technically a Part I,
this is more on the lines of “The Same Subject, Continued.”
“Float Structure Redesign Simplifies
Output and Maintenance” The Edo plant redesigns floatplane floats!
James J. Rodgers, Analysis Division,
Air Technical Intelligence, U. S. Army Air Forces, “Design of German Supersonic
DM-1” The DM-1 that the Americans captured was an unpiloted glider intended to
test subsonic handing, but it would have been followed by one with Me-262
engines, and a third with Me-163 rocket engines, at which point 1215mph was
said to be in reach, although the model shown here is a wood shell
with conventional rigs, some thin stringer, a light nose spar, slotted elevons,
and, in general, pretty much all the same features as any of Lippisch’s other
flying wing models, which means that it won't fly in the air at more than 200mph, and will fly into the ground below it.
 |
| "At the end of the war, even the DM-1 prototype test glider, the DM-1 had not been finished" . . . "Lippisch proposed that . . . [it] be powered by coal" . . ."Initially, it was proposed that a wire-mesh basket holding coal be mounted behind a nose air intake" The whole article is a treasure. |
J. H. Carpenter, Project Engineer,
Lycoming Division, The Aviation Corporation, “5000hp Lycoming Revealed” The
bizarre Lycoming shown off at the Cleveland Aero Show gets more attention.
John E. McDonald, “Practical
Engineering of Rotary Wing Aircraft, Part VI” Helicopters are unexpectedly hard
to engineer.
“National Aircraft Show: Hits High
in Size, Attendance: Opinions Divided on Ultimate Value of $1,000,00 Exhibit”
The title contradicts “Kibitzer,” so I quoted the first bit of the subtitle,
too. In addition to the exhibits that Kibitzer took in, there was a model of
the Curtiss CW-32 four-engine cargo plane on exhibit, and the Sikorsky S-52 was
a surprise exhibit, as well as the new Jacobs O-360L six-cylinder, 165hp liquid
cooled opposed engine.
“Electrical Computor Solves Wing
Flutter Problems: Based on Analogy Exiting Between Mechanical and Electrical
Systems: New Electronic Instrument Reduces Time and Labour in Calculating Wing
Flutter Velocities” You set up an oscillating electrical circuit with physical
characteristics analogous to a wing, and off you go!
Recent
Books
The paper received Col. R. H.
Drake’s Aircraft Woodwork; [Actually Lieutenant-Colonel Drake was the editor; Ruth Spencer the author]; George J.
B. Fishers’s Incendiary Warfare; Raymond
W. Dull’s Mathematical Aids for Engineers [The Guardian takes the piss for you*]; The Illinois Institute of Technology’s Mexican-American Conference on Industrial Research; Richard W. Wetherill’s Management Techniques for Foremen; Eugene L. Grant’s StatisticalQuality Control; Richard F. Neuschel and Harry T. Johnson’s How to Take Physical Inventory; and
Robert Thorner’s Aircraft Carburetion.
 |
| A guy named Dull who makes a living writing engineering textbooks is good, cheap fun; but the real story here is Weatherill, who seems to have been a first-class crank and inventor of "humanetics."Something in the water in the late Forties? |
I am going to skip the “New
Products” feature that shows up at the back. If you want publicity, at least spring for an article! Although I can't help noticing Televiso Products of
Chicago’s new vacuum tube voltmeter. You have to do something until an actual television station comes along!
Fortune,
December 1946
Leading
Articles (No Section Heading)
“Inflation Over” “Republican
victories,” the paper says, “Usually presage smooth sailing for business.” Not
this time, however. The paper’s seemingly outrageous conclusion in the
aftermath of price decontrol is that inflation is essentially over, and this,
it concludes, is a bad thing, because that inflation was solving everyone’s
problems by allowing higher wages, higher prices, and so on. Prices may
continue to go up, but with the cost of living up 45% since 1939, and wholesale
prices by 57%, inflation is pretty much spent. What we now have is an economy
working at “A high price, high cost, and high production level.” With the GNP
running at $196 billion per year in the third quarter, with private capital
formation at $33 billion, apparently this is a vulnerable economy. It is thought that as consumers ease off and
capital equipment purchases are shelved, a sharp recession is likely, although
certainly not a depression, given the strength of underlying demand for
consumer durables and for housing.
 |
| Seems like a good visual for this. |
“Paper and Papers” England has two,
quite separate “papers” problems. The first is
that the civil service feels that it is too overworked by the Labour
Government’s demands for more planning. They have too much paperwork, you see.
The other is that the English cannot import enough paper, and their newspapers
have shrunk. Above and beyond shortage of hard
currency to buy newsprint is a
shortage of production, which has fallen from a prewar 8 million tons to an
estimated 6.8 million tons due to the destruction of European plant (and
forests.) The paper suggests that if the English would just take more entrepreneurial
risks to build more pulp mills in Canada, it could solve its problems, but they
are too choked by paper work. In a clever twist, it turns out that the two "paper" problems aren't separate at all!
“Productivity” Last week’s labour
issue revealed that “productivity” is becoming a “fighting word.” Everyone
agrees that it is important; no-one agrees on how to define it or distinguish
between “productivity” and “worker effort.” Management is convinced that labour
isn’t working very hard, and needs to buckle down and earn its pay, while
labour the “go-stop basis of production”
due to lack of raw materials and parts. What is clear is that for decades,
worker productivity has risen because of putting new tools in workers’ hands.
The indiscriminate $25
billion government investment in plant and equipment has probably retarded productivity gains, but no-one is sure how much, or even how much of the new plant will be used in peacetime. What is certain is that once private capital investment
begins to flow again, if it is allowed to flow, productivity will surely begin
to rise again –perhaps at a “glacial pace,” but, nevertheless, this is far more important than the question
of whether or not men are loafing on the job in 1946.
“Trouble Behind the Curtain”
Speaking of the flowing or not
flowing of private capital investment, the Russians are beginning to have
trouble with black markets, corruption and even the baleful “supply of excess
money.” Goods and food are in such supply that it is reported that Russian
peasants are coming into the cities to buy bread. Stalin had promised that
rationing would end in 1946, but that promise has been broken, and the Five
Year Plan now promises the full reconstruction of the destroyed areas in 1952
or later. (Six Year Plan?) Some of the difficulties arise from the old truth,
once again rediscovered, that expansion is expensive. A world weary of Soviet
pretensions and aggression can only hope that current Russian behaviour, which
probably has as much to do with Soviet awareness of Soviet weakness, will
moderate. Some people who don’t hold aviation stocks.
Soft drinks in the same aisle as coffee? Did the director think we wouldn't notice?
Fortune
Survey
This month’s survey is a study of veteran
opinions. Veterans have a higher opinion of the English and Germans for having
met them, a lower one of the French and Italians. Veterans
think that business did a good job of working for victory, that the unions did
not; private businesses were also rated as giving better value to taxpayers
than government-owned plant. (Soldiers from poor backgrounds disagree strongly
with this.) Veterans feel that business executives are overpaid,
especially the lower middle class. Poor
veterans are dissatisfied with their postwar employment, especially Coloured
veterans. Politically, if the veterans remain
constant, Dewey is a walk-in favourite, and MacArthur
might as well give up. On miscellaneous matters, prosperous respondents are
more anti-union and opposed to inflation, poor respondents are more concerned with unemployment
and the atomic bomb. The paper is surprised that the poor are not more afraid of inflation than atomic warfare.
 |
| Fortune is the magazine I look forward to recapping most, but no-one would accuse it of getting poor people. |
“The Boom: A Second Look”
What’s happening with the boom? Is a
recession around the corner? The paper thinks that the question is hard to
answer in general.
but that a look at the railroads, as a good example of the capital-goods field, might tell us something. The basic numbers are well-known: quarterly GNP is $185 billion (depending on page), income payments to individuals $170 billion, industrial production 77% above 1938. So why did the stock market just wipe $20 billion off? The paper proposes that it is because of all the production backlogs. It is easy to blame these on labour and suggest that a 25% decline in productivity is due to everyone slacking off now that the war is over, but the paper suggests that it has more to do with shortages of basic materials such as steel, copper, pig iron and lumber. It is hard to believe that steel is short. The war saw production increase from 48 to over 90 million tons! (I dearly hope that this shortage is solved before I get a letter from England about Fontana!) Theoretically, after the oldest furnaces were closed in 1946, national capacity is at 91,900,00 tons, down from 95,500,00 in 1944. Unfortunately, some of this development was unbalanced. The wartime electric steel furnace capacity has no practical peacetime market. (At least, Uncle George objects, until automakers catch up with munition makers in the use of specialty steels.) Wartime finishing focussed on heavy steel plates and shapes for armaments, where peacetime demand focusses on sheet and strip, for which there is inadequate capacity. The overall projected shortage is 6.5 million tons this strike-shortened year (eight million lost overall, but 1.5 million no longer needed), and, right now, we are five million short for next year. Four-and-a-half million tons of the projected 1947 shortage is in sheet and strip, both hot and cold-rolled and galvanized; with even more acute shortages in nails, screws, bolts, nuts, bailing wire and seat springs. “The mills are rolling the kind of steel that gets their tonnage out at a faster rate.” Just to show that it is not The Economist, the paper ends by saying that production is increasing, that new facilities are coming on stream, that it would be folly to say that the steel shortage will last forever.
 |
| Heard the one about how American consumers have everything they need, so demand is over, innovation can stop, time for a depression, lately? |
but that a look at the railroads, as a good example of the capital-goods field, might tell us something. The basic numbers are well-known: quarterly GNP is $185 billion (depending on page), income payments to individuals $170 billion, industrial production 77% above 1938. So why did the stock market just wipe $20 billion off? The paper proposes that it is because of all the production backlogs. It is easy to blame these on labour and suggest that a 25% decline in productivity is due to everyone slacking off now that the war is over, but the paper suggests that it has more to do with shortages of basic materials such as steel, copper, pig iron and lumber. It is hard to believe that steel is short. The war saw production increase from 48 to over 90 million tons! (I dearly hope that this shortage is solved before I get a letter from England about Fontana!) Theoretically, after the oldest furnaces were closed in 1946, national capacity is at 91,900,00 tons, down from 95,500,00 in 1944. Unfortunately, some of this development was unbalanced. The wartime electric steel furnace capacity has no practical peacetime market. (At least, Uncle George objects, until automakers catch up with munition makers in the use of specialty steels.) Wartime finishing focussed on heavy steel plates and shapes for armaments, where peacetime demand focusses on sheet and strip, for which there is inadequate capacity. The overall projected shortage is 6.5 million tons this strike-shortened year (eight million lost overall, but 1.5 million no longer needed), and, right now, we are five million short for next year. Four-and-a-half million tons of the projected 1947 shortage is in sheet and strip, both hot and cold-rolled and galvanized; with even more acute shortages in nails, screws, bolts, nuts, bailing wire and seat springs. “The mills are rolling the kind of steel that gets their tonnage out at a faster rate.” Just to show that it is not The Economist, the paper ends by saying that production is increasing, that new facilities are coming on stream, that it would be folly to say that the steel shortage will last forever.
In pig-iron, the shortage is in gray
and malleable castings. This is in part due to competition from the steel
industry, which is buying pigs directly for the furnace, but is mainly due to
the sheer scale of the government housing programme’s demand for cast-iron
pipes and other fixtures.
The NHA has a $12/ton premium to new producers, $8 to existing ones, and that makes it hard for “practically all” machinery and equipment industries that depend on castings. Commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning makers are below 60% of capacity due to lack of castings. Electrical equipment workers report a severe shortage, and so do machine-tool makers.
 |
| Hamiltonian history lesson! |
The NHA has a $12/ton premium to new producers, $8 to existing ones, and that makes it hard for “practically all” machinery and equipment industries that depend on castings. Commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning makers are below 60% of capacity due to lack of castings. Electrical equipment workers report a severe shortage, and so do machine-tool makers.
Copper shortages are due to strikes,
and prices, both domestic and those set by government policy on world markets.
Also, development work at the mines has been neglected during the war years,
just as in coal, and imports have fallen drastically. During the war, the US
imported 700,000 to 850,00 tons/year, mostly from South America. This year, the
Metals Reserve Corporation’s offer of 15 ¾ cents is not going very far against
a world market price of 16 ¼ cents. This year’s imports will not exceed 220,000
tons.
In lumber, the problem is said to be
one of maldistribution than supply. The Emergency Housing Programme’s figures
show a basic supply of 37 billion board feet against requirements of 42 billion
in 1947. Most of the difference is in inventory supply, which has fallen from
12 billion board feet in lumber yards before the war to 3 billion this year. The
housing programme only requires 11 billion board feet, and the industry claims
that it could supply it, were it not for the OPA. The government, meanwhile,
believes that if prices were allowed to rise, low-cost housing would suffer. At
this point, “only the spot-cash black market” is the only market.
But how, you may ask, can backlogs
cause a depression? At this point, the
paper turns into The Economist. Black
clouds, etc., but after indulging itself for a second, it rises from the divan
to suggest that an example might
serve. Railroads! For, yes, the railroads are short of rolling stock, which is
now on average twenty years old. There are 50,000 fewer cars this year than last, while peacetime traffic has
proved to be more demanding than wartime, hauls being shorter, loads lighter,
turn-around longer. Last October saw a record 942,257 car loadings a week, easily
topping the war. The industry estimates that it needs 100,000 new cars a year
for at least three years on a replacement basis. The industry also wants more
passenger cars to meet the competition from automobiles, and diesels to replace
steam locomotives. Aggregate working capital to meet these demands was $2 billion
at the end of 1945, four times that of 1929.
Yet, in the face of this potential
investment, and of these demands, industry orders have been surprisingly low,
perhaps 10% of capacity. This spotty production shows up in costs. Pullman,
which has a backlog of 1363 passenger cars on order, can produce 7 a day, but has only been able to produce at 2
per day. It has domestic and foreign orders for 22,500 freight cars, and
normally only requires a 60 day lead time to produce one, and at its
theoretical 162 car per day capacity, ought to be able to clean the books in
six months, but in the first eight months of the year has not been able to
clear 18 cars a day. At the rate that raw materials are flowing in right now,
it will take fifteen or sixteen months for Pullman to work through its back
order and take new jobs. Budd, which makes only stainless-steel passenger cars,
increased its prewar capacity of 150 per year to something like 900 by leasing
back the plant it built to make that awful stainless steel plane project. It
has a backlog of 590 cars, has only been able to make 60 deliveries in the third
quarter, and is, again, due to shortages.
Things are a bit better in locomotives. American Locomotive Co., is producing 30 diesel locomotives a month, but thinks that it could make 50.
Things are a bit better in locomotives. American Locomotive Co., is producing 30 diesel locomotives a month, but thinks that it could make 50.
Pullman likes to show visitors to its
Chicago plant a line of fitting stalls with ninety-five cars, some held back
for lack of generators, others for transformers, both cut off by strikes at the
supplier’s factories.
Now, what of low orders? Part of it
is a squeeze between regulated freight rates and rising costs. Part of it is
concern that the current demand for an additional 30,000 cars per week might
disappear in two years. Part of it is because a huge French order is absorbing capacity. Manufacturers can tool up for it and do it right
by mass production, and domestic buyers are suffering.
Turning to the tool industry, the
same story of shortages and backlogs could be told, but a unique problem is the
recent decision of Ford and General Motors to defer plans for the production of
low-priced cars. This has wiped out between 10 and 20% of the industry’s
backlog. Also, industrial capacity has
been overestimated. It was thinned out in the Depression, and not replaced by
the right kind of capacity during the war.
So the concern is that, one way or
another, the backlogs will never be filled. Since the economy cannot count on
these orders.
“The Nürnberg Confusion” I didn’t
know that there was a character combination to denote that German accent with
the double dots, either. I found it in a Jesuit book with a nice index. The paper thinks that the war crime trials were a mistake.
“Old Age” Americans are living
longer, and there might be 6.9% of the population in 35 years. This fact actually comes out of a later
article, “The Aging Population.” This one discusses a very nice old age home in
New York state, while the latter discusses the diseases of the last period of
life, and how treating them might affect the economy in the far-off day of
1980.
“The Myth of Uncle Sap: Neither Past
Facts Nor Present Trends Support the Notion that the U.S. is Perpetually Giving
Goods Away and Thereby Upsetting the World Economy” The idea is that America
exports goods at whatever price it can get, and accepts payment only in “bad
debts” and gold, rather than taking foreign exports. In 1919-1920, America had
an export surplus of $3 billion, and during the whole peace, it was 58.1
(exports)-50.4 (imports). Now, it looks like those days are back. Back then, it
was more than balanced by remittances from America. Now, it is accompanied by
heavy borrowing on American capital to pay for development abroad, so that the
trade balance is heavily in America’s favour. Surprisingly, in the 1930s,
Smoot-Hawley aside, imports rose higher than exports from 1934 on, although
imports plus net charge on services sometimes exceeded exports, which is the
reason for the “dollar shortage” and the late-Thirties gold flow, at least
through 1937.
 |
| I'm covering the Monnet Plan in a bit more length than the Ruhr rehabilitation because it is such an interesting example of one country's recovery from secular stagnation. |
On the contrary, however, while it
is thought that there is enough international demand to support a $10 billion
export trade for “an indefinite number of years,” a combination of backlogs and
domestic demand make this a “pretty optimistic figure.” “Every day, we are
losing foreign rehabilitation business through inability to deliver. Meanwhile,
Great Britain has doubled its exports in a single year.” Not an impression one would get from The Economist!
Moreover, America is a “high-living, high-cost country,” where wages are
already twice as high as in Great Britain and have been rising. Business may
console itself with the thought that American technology makes its heavy
industry unbeatable, but the British, French and Swiss do not see it that way.
America is also the world’s greatest importer, and it must pay for its goods.
Moreover, invisible imports are growing, as Americans plan Canadian, Mexican vacations in
record numbers, with the Eastern Hemisphere coming rapidly into the picture.
The temporary pre-eminence of the US merchant marine saves the country $500
million in charges, but I do not need the paper to tell me that that won’t
last. A foreign charge of $10 billion, to be paid for with exported goods,
looks likely once everything is “back to normal,” but it will only get back to
normal of “the community of nations” reduces tariffs, eliminates controls, and
frees investment opportunities internationally.
 |
| International trade: Always about to end in tears. |
“The Ruhr: The Second Battle of
Germany” A prostrate, disintegrating western Germany is costing Britain around
$350 million/year, America about $200 million, so we need a second battle of
Germany to restore the Ruhr’s industry. Otherwise, Germans might go communist,
and anyway it is just plain immoral to keep Germany a “political, moral and
physical slum.” Coal is needed, which means locomotives and hauling equipment,
and pots and pans, bicycles and tableware for miners. Dutch and Belgian barge
owners want coal hauling contracts. France needs Ruhr coal. Morgenthau’s plan
to seal the Ruhr mines “never had a chance.” The Ruhr’s problems is that it has
been bombed to rubble, and wages and prices are out of line. Also, they’re not
feeding the miners, who are not working. “the 1500 calorie basic ration will
never get Germany out of this mess.” These problems must be solved to get “the
Pittsburgh of Europe” back on its feet. Also, the amount of steel that will be
needed simply to rehabilitate the Ruhr makes the Potsdam “level of industry”
agreement look absurd. If Churchill’s dream of a united Europe is to be
achieved, German industry must be unleashed.
 |
| There's a lot about the Ruhr this month. I haven't given it much space, because we know how it turned out. The pictures, on the other hand. . . |
“Costume Jewelry” Costume jewelry is
a surprisingly large industry with surprisingly modern methods. (No mention of
achieving full technical efficiency here!) So the paper did a gorgeous spread
about the industry.
 |
| The only quarrel I have with Fortune's art direction is that they tend to try too hard on the covers. This is an exception. |
“Fred Crawford’s Company” Fred
Crawford runs Thompson Products, which originally made valves for auto engines
and now makes them for planes, as well. As a result, the company is doing well –very
well. As the paper says, making valves that can resist the kind of temperatures
and corrosion that you get in an aircraft engine is very hard, not to mention
the complexity of recent valves, with nitrous oxide, water and methanol
injection. These demanding processes prepare the company to work in any number
of other field. Perhaps even electrical engineering! Although for the moment,
it is air compressors, turbine wheels and diaphragms for jet turbines, albeit
in workshop fashion, as there has not yet been an American series production run
of jet turbines. Unfortunately, a spread in Fortune
is only good for someone who wants to sell
stock, not buy it.
 |
| TRW's corporate history is now dominated by its semi-conductor and ICBM guys, and the self-promoting Crawford is forgotten. Sad! |
“Erewhon Revisited” The paper is
feeling nostalgic for Old New York, because the Murray Hill Hotel is closing.
Old New Yorkers will understand why that is, and, apparently, they buy many,
many copies of the paper. There are many, many pictures.
 |
| Gotham! |
“Bikini: With Documentary
Photographs, Abstract Paintings, and Meteorological Charts, Ralston Crawford
here Depicts the New Scale of Destruction” I enclose a snapshot of the paper’s
version of the “BAKER” pictures, which James will have shown you. You will see
that I can’t quite get the “abstract painting” of USS Nevada out of the corner. This is one of several, and I’m a bit
confused about what the paper might be trying to say with them, to be honest. As
I understand it, abstract painting isn’t supposed to represent things literally? Well, an atomic bomb messing up an old battleship is pretty goddamn literal, excuse my French.
 |
| This makes its point, though. |
“Seven Golden Houses” The paper investigates
the South African gold mining industry, source of all that gold that is flowing
into the United States and being buried underground in Kentucky.
Mitchell Siporin, “Endless Voyage” As if commissioning abstract
paintings of the Bikini tests weren’t enough, Henry Luce simply puts a painting for this number. It is “social protest,” and not too abstract to guess
the point.
 |
| Oh, those intolerant days of yore. |
Margaret Mead, “What Women Want”
Famous South Seas anthropologist makes obvious points that aren't obvious to oblivious men! (Jobs, respect, better home life, better child care. . . )
Shorts
and Faces
The paper in this folio of our
advance copy was folded while the ink was still wet, so I have no idea whose
parties the paper wants invitations for, apart from the names Hull-Dobbs, Leo Pavelle and “Hilsch’s tube.” The spread does extend past the smearing, but by
that point the paper is on about how fire insurance underwriters fear for the
future due to a rise in fire damage, and the threat of federalisation if
premiums rise too high.
The
Farm Column
It is Christmas, and Ladd is off to
the Christmas tree farms. They are, we are told, an excellent use of land that
will not grow crops or saw timber. Lawrence O’Neill’s thousand acre farm, near Kalispell,
Montana, yields $8/acre, based on 2000 trees/acre, sold at 6 cents a tree,
before cutting, skidding, baling, tying, loading and selling, with an estimated
price of 20 cents a tree for a two-foot, 25 cents for a four-foot, 40 cents for
a six-foot, up to $1.50 for a 12-foot. (We’ve been had! We paid $2 for the tree
in the main hall!) In a diversified farm near Shaftsbury, Vermont, Marian Hardy
raises dairy, fruit and truck, and Christmas trees on 275 acres. She started
from seed in 1928 on a 3 acre piece of hill land that was too poor and too
steep for other use. Her initial investment was $40 reckoned in her own and
hired hands’ labour, and outside of taxes, she has no costs, and sold 800 trees
on the local market in 1939, 3000 in 1945, at a price running from 40 to 90
cents per tree. Her profit has been excellent, but it has to be born in mind
that the costs of the Christmas tree plantation are incorporated into her
general operations. She needs to pay hired hands anyway, and the Christmas tree
harvest comes at an otherwise quiet time of the year. This leads Ladd on to the
idea of getting cash from land too poor for traditional crops by selling gift
fruit. Harry and David Holmes, of Bear Creek Orchards, Medford, Oregon, got
into the business with gift boxes of above-market pears, which the cool nights
and volcanic soil near Crater Lake produces in abundance. Their customers,
however, asked for variety, and you cannot grow grapes on the high table land,
and certainly not citrus fruits. Even apples do not do well. This led them to
subcontract the other fruit, to a “Fruit of the Month Club” with 80,000
members, and a diversified group of growers stretching from Texas to Washington
state. Another “market” farm business is Mollie Leavitt’s “Poona cheese,” a New
York-made cheese with the same quality as European Brie and Camembert, which
requires special milk, fine quality control, and great skill. [pdf]. Another
food-related gift idea is Max Blitzer’s Pinesbridge Farm smoked turkey. Ladd
points out that while there is an idea that this kind of farming is restricted
to the “city farmer” with a small farm, large capital, and good connections,
even a dirt farmer can get into this business if he realises that it is “the
housewife –not the commission man—[who] is his boss.”
 |
| Mail order smoked turkeys seems frankly a little scammy to me, which is probably why they used to advertise in National Review. *Cringes in embarrassment at knowing that*; Image source; good overview in Wall Street Journal, which knows something about scams directed at rich people. |
Business
Abroad
The American merchant marine is not
doing a good job of staying ahead of its rivals, and even after the strike, a
considerable amount of tonnage is still tied up. Are subsidies next? The
phosphate mines in French North Africa are thriving and will pay for some of
French imports.
And that's a wrap. I would love to dwell over parting comments and throw in something about the exciting future, but we have Christmas to prepare for. Please, please wrap things up in Trail quickly and get down here! How much time does it take to decide about how much time does it take to persuade smelter executives to make room for black market lumber when they've already thrown in for smuggling migrants, anyway?
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