War in Canada

Far and away the toughest airplane pilots on the North American continent are the rakehell Canuck airmen who since the '20s have lugged machinery and prospectors, food and engineers into the vast country north of Canada's twin transcontinental railroads. But Canadian airmen have had no counterpart in Canadian airplanes. During World War I Canada built 2,500 warplanes, but last year she built only 282 machines for a gross of $4,001,622, most of them U. S. models built under license (Lockheeds, Grummans, Piper Cubs). Next year it may be different.

Before Munich the British Air Ministry cast its eye about for a source of Empire-built aircraft out of the reach of Hitler's bombers. The Ministry's eye fixed on Canada. The week before Chamberlain and Daladier signed away the life of Czecho-Slovakia, the Dominion got a new company: Canadian Associated Aircraft, Ltd. It was formed with Government blessing to coordinate aircraft orders from Britain. All its stock is held by six Canadian aircraft makers. The six: Canadian Car & Foundry Co., Fairchild Aircraft, National Steel Car Corp., Canadian Vickers, Fleet Aircraft, Ottawa Car & Aircraft.

Because Canadian Associated's job was to organize an industry as well as to parcel out orders, it got as its president not an airplane pilot but a seasoned businessman: aristocratic, 60-year-old Paul Fleetford Sise, onetime overseas infantry officer who had worked for Westinghouse before becoming president of Canada's Northern Electric Co. and board member of many another Canadian company.

Shortly after it was formed, Canadian Associated got from the Air Ministry a $10,000,000 educational order for two-motored Handley Page Hampden bombers. Before the war started, Canadian Associated, foreseeing business ahead, began constructing two assembly plants, in Toronto and Montreal. Last week, while fuselages, wings and landing gears were coming off the old assembly lines (to be set up later in the Toronto and Montreal plants), it was announced at Ottawa that negotiations were about complete for new British war orders to Canadian Associated. The first order was whispered to be for $20,000,000 worth of bombers, and plenty more later.

To the U. S. aircraft industry, Canadian Associated's orders, on the book and in prospect, would be nothing to go into a barrel roll over. (Seven U. S. builders have backlogs of over $20,000,000 each; two, over $60,000,000 each.) But the Canadian industry probably will have plenty to do in digesting the amount of business available.

Today Canadian aviation's chief problem is to tool its factories, to train workers to get into swift, economical production. In addition to the six companies owning Associated Aircraft, Canada has six lesser independents. But no Canadian plant employs more than 1,500 men (biggest U. S. employer: Martin, with 12,600) and no Canadian manufacturer is willing to expand his plant unless the expansion is underwritten by orders in hand.

Even if Canada gets only the drippings from the British order spigot, the Canadian aircraft industry has growth ahead. If the war lasts long enough and orders are big enough, Canada by war's end will not in future have to buy her planes from U. S. makers.

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