Search Results

The provisions of the WTO (World Trade Organization) for allowing for the negotiation of so‐called ‘plurilateral agreements’ are discussed. These apply only to those members that sign them. The most important of these is currently the Agreement on Government Procurement. The sections of the chapter are as follows: Government procurement; The civil aircraft agreement (Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft); and Conclusion.

This chapter details the history of the development of the doctrine of forum non conveniens in the United States, demonstrating an early inclination to allow judicial discretion to decline jurisdiction when there is a more appropriate forum in another jurisdiction. It traces the major cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, and reviews the application of the doctrine in lower courts. It also considers the impact on the doctrine of transfer rules within the federal court system, the relationship between the development of the doctrine in federal courts and in state courts, the relationship of the doctrine to basic issues of jurisdiction, and the difference (if any) in application of the doctrine when the plaintiff is local or foreign.

This chapter examines how the CIA had failed successfully to develop even a handful of spies within the Soviet Union. Using people to monitor bases was simply not possible. In desperation, Ike approved a stopgap measure. It was a spy plane called the U-2, and it penetrated the Soviet air space for the first time. By the end of World War II, the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation had become a major contractor for the Pentagon. Rockefeller's investment in the Nuclear Development Corporation was a direct result of Strauss's influence and interests. The proposals for Corporation X made clear that in its early stages, the company would build equipment that would process intelligence. But in the proposal, there was no suggestion that Corporation X would process intelligence about Soviet military capabilities obtained from spy satellites.

This chapter deals with the development of Glasgow's astronomy under Professor William Smart. Some of his early work in Cambridge was related to the motions of the newly discovered Trojan satellites of Jupiter. His career and direction of work within the subject was changed by World War I naval service and by making contributions to navigational practices. On taking the Glasgow Chair in 1937, Horselethill Observatory and its land were sold. A modest teaching observatory in University Gardens close to the main campus at Gilmorehill was opened in 1939. Although a man of practical and observational experiences, Smart abandoned any prospect of observational research in Glasgow and he continued with theoretical topics and data reductions related to stellar streaming within the Galaxy; he produced classical texts on stellar kinematics. Again, directions of teaching were affected by World War II as aircraft navigation developed as an important facet. He wrote several texts of merit in addition to some popular descriptive books. In the 1950s the face of astronomy changed with the physical understanding of the nature of heavenly objects coming to the fore. This can be seen through the appointments of staff bringing new interests and disciplines to the local scene.

The Consolidated Aircraft plant in San Diego produced its 1,000th bomber in November 1942 while the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti Township achieved this milestone only one year later. Despite the continued increase in production at Willow Run in 1943, it was unable to satisfy the federal government’s expectations. In order to mass produce large bombers, the Ford Motor Company had to coordinate with the Consolidated Aircraft plant and the Army Air Forces, but Willow Run’s biggest problem was the lack of manpower. This chapter examines the manpower and production crises at Willow Run Bomber Plant and the recruitment of workers. It also looks at the conflict between Henry Ford and Harry Bennett on one side and Edsel Ford and Charles Sorensen on the other.

This chapter deals with Iraq air arm, that includes the Air Force, the Army Aviation and the Air Defence forces. The air arm underwent during the Saddam era an impressive empowerment process—both qualitatively and quantitatively—and accumulated broad operational experience, especially during the war against Iran. Nevertheless, in the Gulf War of 1991 and the arms embargo imposed on Iraq in its wake toppled it from its pinnacle of power to total disintegration. The air arm’s destiny symbolized more than anything else the decline of the Iraqi Army from glorious victory at the end of the war against Iran to total collapse after the two wars against coalition forces.

In this chapter, the experience of agriculture and key industries including textiles and clothing, shipbuilding and aircraft manufacture are considered, as are labour and industrial relations and how the government began to plan for the post-war world. Feeding the nation was a key priority for the government in London, and agriculture in Northern Ireland not only expanded during war, it also underwent considerable mechanisation. However, the experience of the rural economy, along with the 1941 blitz on Belfast, helped to focus on issues such as rural and urban housing and the provision of social services which would have considerable political consequences in the later stages of the war and in the years afterwards.

This chapter focuses on development and details the consequences for early jet engine designs of the involvement of existing aero-engine companies in creating jet engines. In contrast to the now dominant interpretation of Edward Constant, which sees the jet engine arising outside of a conservative aero-engine industry that opposed it, this chapter emphasizes the ways in which the jet engine was made possible by continuity – by the expertise of the existing aero-engine industry. Studying each of Britain and Germany’s aero-engine firms sequentially and in detail, the chapter examines the relationship between piston engines and jet engines and argues that the aero-engine industry was the natural place for these engines to be developed. Importantly, it offers an extensive account of how Rolls-Royce entered the new field of engine design. The chapter argues that it was not only familiarity with elements of the new engines, but also firms’ organizational and methodological abilities that crucially shaped the first jet engines. Through detailed technical comparison, the chapter emphasizes that the first jet engines were not identical, but very particular machines that reflected the particular settings in which they were made.

This chapter proposes that we can better understand the dynamics of invention in the twentieth-century by studying inventive institutions (institutions that specialize in invention) instead of independent inventors. It offers a new account of the two most well-known institutions in the history of the jet engine: Power Jets and the Heinkel Aircraft Company. Each is associated with a first jet flight, yet neither managed to produce jet engines – like the firms discussed in the last chapter. These two companies are studied in order to provide insight into the work of Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain, the most prominent individuals known for inventing the jet engine. The chapter argues that the institutional instability of the two companies where these men worked resulted in their work having little long-term impact on wider technical practice. Understanding invention as a corporate capability challenges the assumption of the literature that production is the primary object of companies investing in technical change. This chapter shows why this account mentions the two most well known figures only in its second half of the book.

Smiths’ products are needed in aircraft, ships, and fighting vehicles. It has two shadow factories under way in 1939 and diverts resources into materiel and other war-related production from the outset of war, as its precision clock- and instrument-making capacity are easily adapted to war purposes. Smiths manufactures for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, to which the newly ennobled Sir Allan Gordon-Smith is conveniently seconded. Highly personal memories provide wry and amusing insights into wartime life. Inadequate planning for sourcing specialist raw materials is illustrated in Smiths’ role in a wider diplomatic smuggling effort involving the British embassy in Berne. The creation of enhanced and precision engineering capacity leads, as early as 1942, to detailed planning for the post-war period, highlighting themes of both future security as well as job creation/preservation. Important post-war relationships, for example, between Allan Gordon-Smith and Stafford Cripps, are forged