Dollars and Cents

willycoppens · 3 July 2003, 07:37 PM

Hello,
Do any documents exist that show the actual cost of producing a single WW1 fighter aircraft? I would suspect that a great many SPAD 13's could have been built for the cost of a single F-16.
Thanks, willy

stephen · 4 July 2003, 06:13 AM

I saw that once and I'll look for it again, Willy. I think most of them ran around $900-$2000 US, but I'm going by memory and can't remember the source or verification for it. Let me see if I can find it.

Barrett · 4 July 2003, 08:30 AM

IIRC in the 1980s, when a good reproduction WW I fighter ran around $50,000 US, it was roughly the equivalent of the 1918 value.

wingstrutdotcom · 4 July 2003, 12:56 PM

It looks like the unit price of Spad 13 was 6000 francs in 1918. This according to Vol IV USAS History in WW1.

Darryl · 4 July 2003, 10:08 PM

Some examples:in pounds, shillings & pence.
Aircraft without instuments and engine.

Sopwith Camel 874.10.0
SE5a 1063.10.0
HP 0/400 6000.00.0
BE2c 1072.10.0 (and worth every farthing!!)

I can only presume this included Propellor.

Engines

Clerget 9b 907.10.0
Viper 814.00.0
Eagle VIII 1622.10.0
Rubber band 0000.00.0.1

Just kidding, RAF 1a 100hp 522.10.0

I can't find instruments anywhere and in any case they varied widely between types (and individual aircraft in many cases!)

Sources, Jack Bruce and Raleigh/Jones.

regards

Darryl

stephen · 5 July 2003, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Some examples:in pounds, shillings & pence.
Aircraft without instuments and engine.

Sopwith Camel 874.10.0
SE5a * * * * * *1063.10.0
HP 0/400 * * * 6000.00.0
BE2c * * * * * *1072.10.0 (and worth every farthing!!)

So help me with my 1918 exchange rates... is my memory roughly correct? Less than $2,000 US would buy you a new British fighter?

Darryl · 5 July 2003, 06:03 AM

Stephen,

For many years our dollar was on a par with yours (then, of course, the "World's Greatest Treasurer" floated our dollar with the same effectiveness as a Belfast Shipyard floats boats beginning with 'T' and ending with 'itanic').

When we changed over to decimal years before that, the exchange was based loosely (IIRC) on British Pounds...two to one. 1 pound = $2.

So on those assumptions $2US equalled about 1 pound. So your F2b would set you back about:

Airframe * * *$2702
Falcon III * *$2420
* * * * * * * * *$5122

Taxes, Dealer delivery and accessories extra.

That is a big assumption, I really don't know for sure what the 1918 rate was...but it would have to be more than 1 pound to the US dollar to come in at under $2000

regards

Darryl

Barrett · 5 July 2003, 09:09 AM

* There's a number of sites addressing inflation and consumer price index. This site uses 1800 as a baseline, arriving at annual rate of inflation as a function of farming costs, ROI and CPI.

http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us...lc/hist1800.cfm

1917 avg: 38.4
1918 avg: 45.1
2002 avg: 538.8

This, the difference between 1918 and 2002 is roughly x12 which puts our Brisfit at $61,464.
Break-break
IIRC, for many-many years the Pound/Dollar exchange rate was about 5. More recently it's been 1.5 or so.

Rick · 5 July 2003, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Â* Â* Â*IIRC, for many-many years the Pound/Dollar exchange rate was about 5. Â*More recently it's been 1.5 or so.

Barrett: 5, that's what I also recall. R.

Vigilant · 5 July 2003, 12:09 PM

Another way of comparing 1918 prices with today's is to look at what people earnt. A lower grade manager might make £400 p.a., while a really prosperous doctor or lawyer might be looking at £1,000 p.a. Anything over £1,000 p.a. and you are in the top 1% of wealth.

If you consider that the British Government was spending £7,750,000 on the war every day in 1918 you realise what a mindbogglingly expensive business it all was.

Vig.