In 1939, U.S. aircraft factories manufactured 921 warplanes. By 1944, the annual output was a staggering 96,318 units. Total U.S. wartime production of military aircraft surpassed 300,000. A new book, The American Aircraft Factory in World War Ⅱ (Zenith Press, 2006), documents the industry's transformation from an enterprise of craftsmen building airplanes by hand to a powerhouse of men and women toiling with assembly-line efficiency. "The aircraft manufacturers were dedicated to engineering and manufacturing excellence, but arguably no more so than they are today," says the book's author, Bill Yenne. "What happened was that the whole nation came together for a single purpose, and successfully committed itself to doing all that was necessary. All aspects of what the United States did during World War Ⅱ, both at home and on the global battlefronts, were unlike anything before or since."
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