U.S. AEROPLANES FOR BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23317, 1 May 1941, Page 8

U.S. AEROPLANES FOR BRITAIN

PLAN FOR 20;000 IN EIGHTEEN MONTHS

WASHINGTON, March 22. • 'A production.schedule to supply Britain with sdme : 20,000 American-made fighting aeroplanes in the next 18 months—lo,7oo of these under terms of the<'7,ooo,ooo,ooo dollar British aid bill—was reported, to-day to have been tyorked out. by , high. Administration officials. . .... There, were authoritative reports that surveys were under way looking towards establishment of an aerial route to England over which pursuit ships, as well as bombers, could be flown by easy stages. „ ' , A course beginning at Newfoundland and touching Greenland. Iceland, and possibly. Ireland, was described as under contemplation. This was said, however, to entail numerous difficulties such as the lack of facilities and possible Danish objections in Greenland as well as Ireland’s refusal thus far to grant Britain bases on her territory. . Scouting work was reported to be under way on this projected route, with the thought that pursuit ships might be ferried under their own power across the Atlantic in steppingstone hops. Most of the bombers thus far delivered to England were said to have been flown across non-stop under British supervision without a single casualty. - '