Frederick William Lanchester

“ This is almost exactly the position as it has come about: the Royal Aircraft Factory is directly responsible for the initial development of every new model (with the exception of some few "proprietary" types which have been taken into service) : the only difficulty at present is that the resources of the factory are not sufficient fully to cope with even this preliminary work, and, in consequence, private enterprise is being called upon to do more than ought to be the case: the standardisation is having to be effected whilst manufacture is under weigh. ”

“ The supremacy of British aircraft can only be maintained by the adoption of a thoroughly progressive constructional policy, guided constantly by the most recent scientific discovery and research, and by utilising to the full information and experience gained in the Services. The day is past when technique or craftsmanship can be permanently bottled, and the trade or craft in question monopolised by any one nation, as was at one time the case. ”

“ The key to the whole situation lies in the proper organisation and control of the manufacturing resources of the Government, as at present represented by the Royal Aircraft Factory. This must be based on a clear conception of the duties of the factory as the birthplace of new types and the nursery for their development, also as the headquarters of full-scale experimental work, that is to say, tests and investigations engineering in character, or those in which actual flying is involved, as distinct from laboratory experiment. ”

“ A firm which has once executed contracts for any given article is always in a better position than one to whom the work is new; this is true in any case, but is more especially so where the preparations for manufacture involve the duplication of gauges, tool outfits, etc.
When work is done by contract it is absolutely necessary that it should be first standardised in every detail. ”

“ The system of organisation requires to be framed to deal with the consequent unavoidable breakages of continuity, and it is the business of the works and engineering staff so to regulate the progress of work that the resulting disorganisation is minimised, and the economy of production is not too seriously impaired. ”

“ Under present-day conditions the lead can only be obtained and held by mobility and progress in which the motive power is derived by the combination of brains, energy, and material resources. The most that can be hoped is to obtain a lead of two or three years in advance of other nations, and to keep it. The task is not beyond the power of the country; we have both the men and the money, and an Empire whose preservation demands that nothing shall be left to chance. ”

“ Clearly, just as in military affairs, success must depend very largely upon the strategic scheme being accommodated to the tactical resources, and the tactical work being skilfully adapted to the strategic scheme.
Now, in the case of a Government factory, there is no real board of directors. The financial side is controlled by the Treasury, whose interests are not concerned with the prosperity of the concern in the least degree ”

“ In order that our Aeronautical Arm may be raised and maintained as a whole at the necessary high degree of efficiency, more will be needed than merely the technical superiority of our machines; many other questions of vital consequence will require to be adequately dealt with. However, the basis of strength lies in possessing the right types of machine in adequate numbers. ”

“ Secondly, in a branch of Governmental activity as little understood by the public as that of aeronautical construction, the public and Parliament expect to see something for their money, and for those entrusted with aeronautical development to have shrunk from publicity would have been equivalent to committing suicide. ”

“ Whatever the state of preparedness may be before war is declared, it is almost certain that the needs of the country, whether for aeroplanes, guns, or other items of armament, will be increased many times during the period of hostilities. ”

“ In actual practice it is only in the case of certain industries in which the goods manufactured are not liable to change from year to year, and in which the demand is not of a fluctuating character, that the "flow" can be maintained under ideal conditions—that is to say, with perfect uniformity. ”

“ The result is that anyone acquainted with the working of Government manufacturing institutions could cite innumerable cases of gross extravagance resulting from so-called Treasury economy. Again, there is no one to formulate in advance a proper manufacturing programme with the least assurance that there will be the means available in order to carry it to a successful conclusion ”

“ In view of the present position and the enormous development which may be anticipated in the course of the next few years, it will, in the author's opinion, be necessary very greatly to strengthen and increase the establishment of the Aircraft Factory in the near future. ”

“ It is more than probable, however, that the Continental Powers have somewhat underrated the importance of the work which had been done in this country, and have taken no particular pains to follow or study that work ”

“ The duties and functions of the proposed Board would be in nowise limited to the aircraft themselves, but would extend to aircraft and counter-aircraft armament, and, further, to all questions of materiel ancillary to the employment of aircraft in the Services, including aeroplane vessels or ships. ”

“ The main supplies of established types may certainly be obtained by the two Services from independent sources or from different contractors, but to separate the experimental or developmental phase of construction appears to have nothing to commend it. ”