AMERICAN AIRCRAFT.

Taihape Daily Times, 12 August 1918, Page 2

AMERICAN AIRCRAFT.

Immediately after signing what is known as the Overman Bill, whlcn gives the President power at his discretion to consolidate existing Departments of Government or to transfer the functions of one Department to another, Mr. Wilson issued an Order with the object of “Bringing about an important change in the American Aeronautical Service which will make for efficiency and greatly expedite aircraft production. Until the issue of the Order the Air Service was under the control of the Aircraft Board, the head of the board being the chief signal officer of the army, who was responsible not only for production, but also for the training of the personnel and all other matters connected with the service. In fact, he virtually exercised the functions of a Minister. The chief signal officer now no longer has anything to do with aeronautics, and the manufacture of aeroplanes has been given over to the Bureau of Aircraft Production, of which Mr. John D. Ryan, a New York banker and mine-owner, who was recently appointed by the President with that purpose his view, is the chief, while the military part of the service has been placed under the Director of Military Aeronautics, to which position Major-General William L. Kenly, who has a high reputaTToS for executive ability and aeronautical knowledge, has been appointed. With these changes and with the experience gained hy manufacturers of aeroplanes during the last six months it is believed that the obstacles in the way of the quantity production have been overcome and that aeroplanes should now he turned out in large numbers very rapidly.