Modern Methods of Aircraft Production

Extract

The subject of aircraft production is obviously a very wide one—books have already been written on it—books which have been consulted when preparing this lecture. It is proposed to sketch in broad outline the various methods generally known for the manufacture of aircraft, dwelling perhaps more particularly on some with which I am more familiar and which have recently been used very successfully in French factories. Familiar processes which have been in use from the earliest stages of aviation development up to recent years will not be discussed, but an attempt will be made to bring out the salient particular features of the new processes and the new production methods which seem to offer interest not only from the historical, but also from the technical, aspect at the same time indicating the extent to which aircraft engineers have had to exercise their ingenuity in order to build and mass produce aircraft which are being constantly developed and improved by the Design Offices in different countries.