AVIATION: Prize for Conservatism

Thirty Corsairs roared over Stratford, Conn. (pop. 30,000) as some 25,000 persons jammed their way through the Chance Vought plant of United Aircraft Corp. There they gaped at the new jet fighter XF6U-I and the fighter-bomber F4U-5, latest and most powerful of Chance Vought’s redoubtable Corsairs. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of the founding of Chance Vought. It was also an occasion for United to tell the world that it is doing fine, at a time when almost all aviation companies are losing their shirts.

Notably absent from the celebration was rangy Frederic B. Rentschler, chairman of United Aircraft. Modest Fred Rentschler, who did not want to steal any glory from Chance Vought’s general manager, Rex Beisel, was on his farm, “Renbrook,” in West Hartford. As usual, he had taken home a batch of work. Rentschler’s homework has paid United some handsome dividends.

Roll with the Fall. During the war, United’s Pratt & Whitney and licensees accounted for 47.5% of U.S. aircraft engines (measured in horsepower) and the Hamilton Standard division for 75% of all propellers. The Sikorsky division made 400 helicopters for the military. United’s gross business mushroomed from $37,000,000 in 1938 to $484,000,000 in 1945. When cutbacks came, and United’s payroll dropped from 76,000 to 25,000, the company managed to roll with the fall. It closed seven branch plants, returned $51,750,000 worth of equipment to the Government, and ended up with a $6,060,750 net profit for 1946 (after tax carrybacks). This year in the red-ink aircraft industry, United marked its doings in black: it had a $1,431,496 profit in the first quarter.

The principal reason for such relatively painless transition was United’s canny wartime conservatism. It did not expand beyond its abilities. Rentschler, who has a dread of spreading the brains too thin, farmed out work to some 650 vendor companies. To build P. & W. engines it licensed, among others, Ford, Buick, Nash-Kelvinator and Continental. Rentschler learned his job in more than 30 years’ experience in the aircraft industry.

New for Old. In 1925, Rentschler, who had resigned as president of Wright Aeronautical Corp., started Pratt & Whitney in a rented plant on a $250,000 loan. Four years later he moved into top position when P. & W. merged with Vought, Hamilton and Sikorsky.

Currently, United has a fat backlog of $315,000,000, second largest in the industry. For an aircraft company, it is fairly well diversified. Its P. & W. motors are being used in the DC-6, Boeing’s new Stratocruiser and in nine other new planes now going into production. But the smooth ride has not lulled Rentschler and friends into thinking there may not be rough air ahead, stirred up by jet engines. Two months ago, United acquired the right to build and sell Rolls-Royce’s turbojet engine, the Nene. In addition, P. & W. is developing its own jet motor. If, and when, reciprocating engines become obsolete, United intends to be ready.