The Score

This week in Washington, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce convention was told the official score to date on the aircraft industry's efforts in national defense, and its plans for future production. The speaker, Colonel John H. Jouett, president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce, and a West Pointer, knew what he was talking about. Excerpts:

> The industry has been asked to build about 44,000 military aircraft. In round numbers the Army has ordered 16,500; Navy, 8,500; Britain, 16,000. In addition, 3,600 bombers are to be built (from motor industry sub-assemblies) in four Army-owned, industry-operated assembly plants.

> U.S. military production in March was 1,200 planes (up from 700 in November, 1,000 in January).

> Since World War II began, 20 months ago, 3,500 planes have been exported to Britain.

> Estimated for this year's total military production: 18,000 planes. Jack Jouett estimated present German production (too conservatively, some airmen thought) at about the same rate, British production the same. His conclusion: present British production, plus U.S. output, is already ahead of Germany's.

> In 1942, U.S. aircraft production should reach a whacking 30,000 a year.

> Building planes is still a complicated, unavoidably slow job. "You can put a hen to hatch a setting of eggs, and divide the setting among any number of hens, and put other hens to hatching part time . . . it is still going to take three weeks to hatch those eggs, because that is the time an egg requires to hatch."

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