soc.history.war.world-war-ii

In article
<86fdb2a5-5f4e-4695-b1b3-c84be43fd5b2@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
louisc00@yahoo.com (Louis C) wrote:

> And indeed, it seems that French and US aircraft manufacturers
> believed until early 1939 that they might be experiencing a
> speculating bubble in aircraft construction, which made them reluctant
> to invest in mass-production equipment.

The mass cancellation of orders at the end of WW1 had dented all
manufacturers' faith in promises. A lot of firms went under then in
several countries. In the late thirties German manufacturers had the
advantage that they were building an air force from scratch with a
procurement system that meant that limited competition.

The UK situation was different. The number of squadrons was limited and
progressively updated with new aircraft which meant actual orders were
smaller than in Germany. The scope for mass production was greatly
reduced.

The "Shadow Factory" system tended to make aircraft components like
engines rather than aircraft.

Ken Young