President Roosevelt horrified military and manufacturers alike in 1940, when he called for US industry to produce 50,000 warplanes a year. This was 25 times the then-current output, at a time when the Air Corps had 1100 combat-ready aircraft. Many suspected FDR of pulling the number out of thin air (at least it SOUNDED great), and very few people had any clue how such a job would get done, or how long it would take.
But with increasing demand from Europe and the Far East, and with the Axis declaration of war in 1941, Americans (and Canadians) threw themselves into the challenge. Both nations supplied themselves, and their allies around the globe, with every possible weapon of war — from bootlaces and aircraft carriers to computers and atom bombs.
The work yanked both countries out of the Depression, and transformed society. African-Americans began a third great exodus to the manufacturing cities of the north, while Americans of all races flowed to the newer industries on the west coast… the first time there had been a substantial black population there. By war’s end, half of California’s personal income originated with the Federal government.
Women, once the heart of the factory labor force but excluded for decades, returned in millions. High-schoolers and retirees filled out industry’s ranks, along with neutral Latin Americans. Personal savings soared, to be unleashed in a postwar buying boom that lasted nearly three decades.
America, Roosevelt told his people, must be the great arsenal of democracy. By 1943 workers exceeded their President’s call, cranking out 86,000 military airplanes. The US Army Air Forces alone took a quarter-million aircraft of all types onto strength during the war, well over half of them combat machines. Air power went a long way toward winning the Second World War. American workers went a long way toward making it happen, and western New York plays an important part in the story.

Clouds of Warplanes
A Ninth Air Force Thunderbolt pilot told me that when he was flying air cover for the crossing of the Rhine, he flew in a stream of aircraft that went beyond the curvature of the earth both before and behind him. Given the numbers involved — even looking solely at US production — this was no surprise!
In 1941 total US fighter production amounted to 2246 Curtiss P40’s, 926 Bell P39’s, and 609 of all other types combined. This means that in the year our war started, 84% of our fighters came from Buffalo, where both Curtiss and Bell manufactured, with good results for our region’s economy.
At the height of the war, Curtiss alone had one employee in Buffalo for every twelve residents. Besides engineers, managers, and assembly workers, both companies needed pilots; nurses; day-care workers; publicity people; troubleshooters; janitors; cooks; writers; editors; photographers… and plenty more! Curtiss had its own police force, and its own fire department.
This spilled over, too. The army designated Mercury Aircraft as a major subcontractor for Curtiss, and built them a huge new facility to make it happen. Employment at the Hammondsport firm went from two to 850. They made over 10,000 fin-and-rudder combinations for the P40. They also made gas tanks, oil tanks, and support devices for photographic work.
All this work put labor in higher demand, pushing EVERYBODY’S wages up. In 1938 Bath school district was “requesting” teachers to donate a certain part of their salary back to the school. By 1943 the school was increasing compensation, openly stating that it was doing so to fit in with wartime realities.
The war period’s largest airplane makers (counting all types, from trainers on up) were North American (41,839 units), Douglas (30,980), Consolidated (30,930), and Curtiss (26,637). The top types manufactured were:
Consolidated B24 Liberator 18,188
North American P51 Mustang 15,686
Republic P47 Thunderbolt 15,683
Curtiss P40 Warhawk 13,733
Vought F4U Corsair 12,681
Grumman F6F Hellcat 12,272
North American B25 Mitchell 11,000+
Production for the Bell P39 Aircobra and Lockheed P38 Lightning fell just short of 10,000 each. Figures for some types, such as the Liberator and Thunderbolt, include units manufactured under license by other makers. For instance, in addition to those Warhawks, Curtiss in Buffalo also made a couple of hundred of the Thunderbolt total. Many western New Yorkers who never lifted a rifle played a vital role in winning World War II.

Viola Browton shows her work in the Curtiss Buffalo press and cutting department to President Edwin Barclay of Liberia.