Aero India

[DuQuense]

What if the Aircraft companies that went Bankrupt/Abandoned post ww1 - Were consisted and their equipment moved to India [Kalcutta]?

Starting in 1924? End of ww 1 Planes began to be manufactured there.

This continues with old equipment bought when British Manufacturers Upgraded to to Next Design.

So in 1939~40 Aero India would be makeng the Gloster S.S.19B while In Britian they would haved moved on to the Gloster Gauntlet

 

[DSS]

Naturally, the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread was an India ruled by this Aero.

 

[RogueBeaver]

Why would they be moved to India? Britain was in a haste to disarm and the civilian market was in its infancy. They have no incentive to do that.

 

[Cook]

Why would they be moved to India? Britain was in a haste to disarm and the civilian market was in its infancy. They have no incentive to do that.

The other issue is skilled workers. Aircraft from the end of World War One may look primitive in comparison to modern aircraft but it is an entirely relative thing, they were still very complex and assembled by very skilled people from parts manufactured to high specifications. India just did not have the capacity to manufacture aircraft of the type you are proposing without importing the skilled people as well as the designs, and all the parts for the aircraft would likewise have to be imported.

 

[DuQuense]

Why would they be moved to India? Britain was in a haste to disarm and the civilian market was in its infancy. They have no incentive to do that.

OK -- it turns out there were not that Many Aircraft companies that produced Planes during the war --That went Bankrupt.
However there were many wants to be- like Austin Motor Cars, and the Gramophone Company, Ltd. & Others.
I am Postulating a Man with the Money to Buy The left over Machine tools, Equipment, Etc..

The other issue is skilled workers. Aircraft from the end of World War One may look primitive in comparison to modern aircraft but it is an entirely relative thing, they were still very complex and assembled by very skilled people from parts manufactured to high specifications.

There wasn't a large supply of Skilled Aircraft Laborers at the beginning of WW1 -- They had to be trained as the assembly lines were built.

??How long to Build the Factory, Assemble the Equipment, and Train the Workers??

My Man Will Have the Money as well as the Time/Patience to do this.

I am guessing 3+ years --Buy the Stuff in 1919, and have the Factory open in 1923, During the Prince of Wales Visit to India to Open the "Indian Military Academy"

During 1940 Britain opened a Factory in India to Repair Planes. The US spent several Million Expanding the Company in 1942~3.
By the end of the War the Company was Building new Planes.

So It is possible in India, all I am doing is spending the Money 20 years Earlier than OTL.

So My original Question

Given a Airplane Manufacturer in India- 1939
Capable of Expanding to wartime production levels during 1940.
And a Supply of Flight Schools, capable of Training Pilots to use the Expanded supply of Planes.

?What is the effect on WW2?? ?Can whe simply Out produce Japan?, --

?Selling 1000 planes to China during 1935~1940.?

OR -- ?1000 Indian Planes and Pilots stationed in Malaysia/DEI in 1941 would Certainly change the Jap Plans.?

 

[Cook]

The question remains why would a British aviation company be relocated from Liverpool or some other city in England to British India?

There is the enormous costs involved in dismantling a plant, shipping it half way around the world and reassembling it, and then finding replacements for all the parts that disappeared in transit.

Would they have a reliable source of electricity?

The aviation engines would have to be shipped from England or are you building a plant to manufacture the engines as well?

And who is going to buy the aircraft produced?

 

[DuQuense]

Hand Waviumed Details

There is the enormous costs involved in dismantling a plant, shipping it half way around the world and reassembling it, and then finding replacements for all the parts that disappeared in transit.

Whe are not talking Major plants but some -want to be's-
They produced some test planes, but the planes were not bought by the war Department.
So this is not Entire Factories, But the Research Plants.
And I Assume the lost in Transits problem can be solved. My Man is willing to pay the cost.

The question remains why would a British aviation company be relocated from Liverpool or some other city in England to British India?

Because whe are trying to Butterfly WW2,
The Man doing this is not British, and it is easier to get a Import certificate into India, for a British Company, than a German or American Airplane company.

Would they have a reliable source of electricity?

Money Solves lots of Minor Problems.

The aviation engines would have to be shipped from England or are you building a plant to manufacture the engines as well?

Yes
I'll Buy a entire Motor Car Company if Necessary. But I think buying the old Machine Tools from several Motor Companies may be all that is needed.

And who is going to buy the aircraft produced?

Air India will buy the Civilian Planes. The Indian Army, and the Nationalist Chinese Army will buy the Fighters.

What I am getting is that my 3 years may be a little optimistic.

But by 1939 Whe should be up and running.

?What affect will the - Indian Army Air Corp - Have on the War?

 

[Cook]

Go back to 1924 and try doing the Cost Benefit Analysis.

There are literally thousands of WW1 circa aircraft available to buy for next to nothing and no demand for them.

 

[David S Poepoe]

The only 'Man' that I can figure out would actually move a whole company to India would either be an Indian, say a Maharaja, or some fabulously wealth Anglo-Indian.

 

[Grey Wolf]

The problem is that companies that went bankrupt such as Sopwith did so because of the government. The companies had built the planes up to the end of the war, but with peace the government would neither buy them nor bail the company out, leaving only bankruptcy as an option.

Sopwith did of course come back, as Hawker named after his main test pilot

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

 

[DuQuense]

Back to the Main Question
?What affect will the - Indian Army Air Corp - Have on the War?

I bought left over [war surplus] Planes to establish the Royal Indian Air Corp School associated with the Indian Officer Academy, opened by the Prince of Wales in 1923.
By late 30's I start producing India Built Planes to replace the surplus Planes as they wear out.
By 1939 when the War starts whe have a small [5-6,000?] but growing Cadre of Indian Pilots in the Royal Indian Army Air Corp, flying there Own Planes.

I assume some of the Better Pilots will be shipped to Britain to help in the Battle of Britain.
Others will join the Flying Tigers.
But I can see a thousand or so sent to Malaysia, along with their planes.

?What affect will the - Indian Army Air Corp - Have on the War?