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United States aircraft production during

World War II

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America's manufacturers in World War II were engaged

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in the greatest industrial effort in history. Aircraft

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companies went from building a handful of planes at a

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time to building them by the thousands on assembly

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lines. Aircraft manufacturing went from a distant 41st

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place among American industries to first place in less

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than five years.[1][2]:710[3]

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In 1939, total aircraft production for the US military was

less than 3,000 planes. By the end of the war, America
produced 300,000 planes. No war was more

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industrialized than World War II. It was a war won as

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much by machine shops as by machine

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guns.[2]:5, 710, 13, 59, 1312

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Assembling B-25 bombers at North

American Aviation, Kansas City,
October 1942.

Manufacturer for manufacturer, factory for factory, worker for worker, America outproduced its
enemies. By 1944, each American worker produced more than twice his/her German

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counterpart, and four times the output of a Japanese worker. The profit motive proved to be a

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greater spur to production than were the edicts from the generals running the totalitarian
societies[citation needed]. As Donald Douglas[4] observed, "Here's proof that free men can out-

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produce slaves."[2]:8

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In January 1939, Roosevelt appealed to Congress for $300,000,000 to be spent on procuring

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aircraft for the Army Air Corps. At the time the Corps had approximately 1,700 aircraft in total.
Congress responded and authorized the procurement of 3,251 aircraft.

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The American aircraft industry was given impetus at the early part of the war by the demand
from the British and French for aircraft to supplement their own domestic production. The 1939
Neutrality Act permitted belligerents to acquire armaments from US manufacturers provided
they paid in cash and used their own transportation. The British Purchasing Commission had
been set up prior to the war to arrange purchase of aircraft and the British and French dealt
directly with manufacturers paying from their financial reserves. After France fell to Germany,
many of the orders for aircraft were taken over by the British. By 1940, the British had ordered
$1,200,000,000 worth of aircraft.[5] This led to some aircraft, such as the P-51 Mustang, being
produced to meet European requirements and then being adopted by the US. In their need for
aircraft the Anglo-French commission also ordered designs from manufacturers that had failed
to win US Army contracts - e.g. the Martin Model 167.
The American aircraft industry was able to adapt to the demands of war. In 1939 contracts
assumed single-shift production, but as the number of trained workers increased, the factories
moved to first two- and then a three-shift schedules. The government aided development of
capacity and skills by placing "Educational orders" with manufacturers, and new government-

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United States aircraft production during World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

built plants for the private firms to use.[6]

Aircraft companies built other manufacturer's designs; the B-17 was built by Boeing (the
designer), Lockheed Vega, and Douglas Aircraft. Automotive companies joined schemes to
produce aircraft components and also complete aircraft. Ford set up the Willow Run production
facility and built complete Consolidated B-24 Liberators as well as sections to be assembled at
other plants.
Contents
[hide]
1 Total production
2 Recipients of U.S. aircraft production
3 Analysis
4 See also
5 References
6 Sources

Total production
Type of aircraft

[ edit ]

Total

Grand total

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

295,959 3,611 18,466 46,907 84,853 96,270 45,852

Combat aircraft

200,443 1,771

Very heavy bomber

3,740

8,395

24,669 53,183 74,564 37,861

91

1,147

2,498

Heavy bomber

31,685

46

282

2,513

9,574 15,057

4,213

Medium bomber

21,461

52

762

4,040

7,256

6,732

2,619

Light bomber

39,986

453

2,617

5,954 11,848 12,376

6,738

Fighter

99,465

1,157

Reconnaissance
Support aircraft

4,106

63

4,036 10,721 23,621 38,848 21,082

404

711

95,516 1,840 10,071 22,238 31,670 21,706

7,991

Transport

23,900

164

Trainer

58,085

1,676

Communication

13,531

698

525

1,437

6,913

9,925

4,486

9,294 17,237 20,950

7,936

1,352

3,845

2,153

252

1,887

793

3,114

4,167

JulyDecember JanuaryAugust

Recipients of U.S. aircraft production

Type of
airplane
Grand total

Total

Army Air
Forces

[ edit ]

US Navy-US Other
Marines

U.S.

British

Soviet

Other

Empire

Union

nations

295,959

158,880

73,711

3,714

38,811

14,717

6,126

Combat aircraft 200,443

99,487

56,695

27,152

13,929

3,172

Very heavy
bombers
Heavy bombers
Medium
bombers
Light bombers

3,740

3,740

31,685

27,867

1,683

21,461

11,835

4,693

39,986

7,779

20,703

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_aircraft_production_during_World_War_II[31/01/2016 17:12:12]

2,135

3,247

1,010

638

8,003

3,021

480

United States aircraft production during World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fighters

99,465

47,050

27,163

13,417

9,868

1,967

4,106

1,216

2,453

350

30

57

95,516

59,939

17,016

3,706

11,659

788

2,954

Transports

23,900

15,769

2,702

267

3,789

703

670

Trainers

58,085

34,469

13,859

7,640

85

2,029

Communications 13,531

9,155

3,436

230

Reconnaissance
Support
aircraft

Analysis

455

255

[ edit ]

William S. Knudsen, an automotive industry executive who was made Chairman of the Office of
Production Management and member of the National Defense Advisory Commission by the
Roosevelt administration to organize war production, said "We won because we smothered the
enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed
possible."[2]:5

See also

[ edit ]

Air warfare of World War II

World War II aircraft production

References

[ edit ]

1. ^ Herman, Arthur (2012). Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World
War II. New York, NY: Random House. pp.2023. ISBN978-1-4000-6964-4.
2. ^ a b c d Parker, Dana T. (2013). Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area
in World War II. Cypress, CA. ISBN978-0-9897906-0-4.
3. ^ Borth, Christy (1945). Masters of Mass Production. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co. p.237.
4. ^ President of Douglas Aircraft Company
5. ^ Engel, Leonard (5 December 1940), "Half Of Everything: An American's Survey of Orders
Placed in the United States"

, Flight: 472

6. ^ "Chapter 4: The Air Corps Prepares for War, 1939-41"

. The Army Air Forces In World War II.

Vol. I: Prewar Plans and Preparations. pp.106107. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Sources

[ edit ]

AAF Digest Table 79 Army Air Forces Statistical Digest, World War II

www.usaaf.net

United States in World War II

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American music during World War II

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Home front

American women

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Women Airforce Service Pilots

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Rosie the Riveter

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Military participation

List of battles Attack on Pearl Harbor

Normandy landings

Events

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Minorities

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Categories: World War II aircraft of the United States

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