US World War II aircraft cost

Shortround6 said:

American "prices" might be considered artificially low as, in some cases, they are not taking into account the cost of the building or the tooling.

In some cases the contract price of the aircraft covered the materials that were not GFE and the labor plus a small (like 3%) profit for management of the operation.

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There have been some analyses comparing the net price to the taxpayer of the arsenal system, i.e., government-owned manufacturers of defense equipment vs investor-owned companies doing the same thing. The general consensus is that the net price is a wash: I'm not really in a position to judge the validity of their argument, but when you see the number of times that production contracts for superfluous aircraft, like P-43s, were let to keep privately-owned production lines going, one may see that the government/private cost comparison is not trivial.

US aircraft engines did not vary much from initial production costs. Below is from the USAAF Statistical Analysis 1946

Table 68.-- AVERAGE UNIT COST OF AAF DELIVERED ENGINES, BY TYPE OF ENGINE:
PRIOR TO FY 1941 AND FISCAL YEARS 1941 TO 1946
Note.-- Average unit cost is the weighted average of all contracts tor which funds were obligated during a designated fiscal year.
Type of ENGINE Prlor to 1941 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
R-4360 . . . . . . . . . - - 40,638 - 40,638 - 40,638
R-3350 . . . . - - 24,467 24,274 24,441 24,496
R-2800 . . . . 18,370 24,923 22,744 20,885 18,226 20,441 -
R-2600 . . . 15,590 16,504 14,540 13,451 15,704 15,831 -
R-2000 . . . . . . - 14,259 - 14,524 9,340 14,524 -
R-1830 . . . . . . . . 11,151 12,320 9,629 8,429 8,558 8,751 -
R-1820 . . . . . 8,814 10,073 9,901 9,004 8,920 - -
R-1690 . . . . . - 8,500 - - - - -
R-1340 . . . . . . - 6,322 6,082 5,927 6,143 5,862 6,586
R-985. . . . . . . . 4,941 6,196 6,475 7,249 4,642 - -
R-975. . . . . . - 5,420 6,306 - - - -
R-755. . . . . . . . . . 2,400 3,379 3,424 2,951 - - -
R-680. . . . . . 3,020 3,917 3,594 3,473 - - -
R-670. . . . . . . . - 2,440 2,646 3,188 - -
R-550. . . . . . . - - - 3,402 - - -
R-500. . . . . . - 3,692 - - - - -
R-440. . . . . . . . - 3,207 3,279 3,273 3,561 - -
V-3420 . . . . . . - - - - 29,748 -
V-1710 . . . . . . . 17,698 16,131 12,239 11,268 10,561 13,176 26,824
V-1650 . . - 20,185 21,016 16,919 17,555 17,558 -
V-770. . . . . . . . - - 12,146 - - - -
O-435. . . . . . . - - 1,980 1,956 1,956 2,129 -
O-425. . . . . - - - - - - 7,535
O-405. . . . . - - - - 4,675 - -
O-335. . . - - - - - - 1,738
J-35 . . - - - - - 42,968 -
J-33 - - - - 33,531 33,531 -
J-31 . . - - - - 35,213 - -
Source: Air Material Command, Budget & Fiscal Office

For a breakdown in individual aircraft cost by year
Table 73.-- AVERAGE UNIT COST OF AIRPLANES AUTHORIZED, BY PRINCIPAL MODEL: FISCAL YEARS 1939 to 1946
Note.--Average cost per airplane is the weighted average on all programs approved during a designated fiscal
year and represents the estimated cost of a complete airplane ready for flyway, including factory installed
ordnance and radio equipment. Costs exclude equipment installed at modification centers and airplane
spare parts. Unit costs reflect renegotiation of contracts only to the extent of reductions in contract
prices for future deliveries but do not reflect reductions in price effected by cash refunds.
Source: Air Materiel Command, Budget and Fiscal Office
Type and Model 1939-1941 1,942 1,943 1,944 1,945 1,946
Very Heavy Bomber
B-29. . . . . . . . . . . - 893,730 - 605,360 509,465 -
B-50. . . . . . - - - - - 972,676
Heavy Bomber
B-17 301,221 258,949 - 204,370 187,742 -
B-24 379,162 304,391 - 215,516 - -
B-32 - 790,433 - 790,433 - -
Medium Bomber
B-25 180,031 153,396 151,894 142,194 116,752 -
B-26 261,062 239,655 212,932 194,427 - -
Light Bomber
A-20 136,913 124,253 110,324 100,800 - -
A-26 224,498 - 254,624 192,457 175,892 -
A-28 - 118,704 - - - -
A-29 - 118,080 - - - -
A-30 - 155,750 151,017 - - -
Fighter
P-38 134,284 120,407 105,567 97,147 - -
P-39 77,159 69,534 - 50,666 - -
P-40 60,562 59,444 49,449 44,892 - -
P-47 113,246 105,594 104,258 85,578 83,001 -
P-51 - 58,698 58,824 51,575 50,985 -
P-59 - - - 236,299 - -
P-61 649,584 254,327 180,711 - 199,598 -
P-63 - 60,277 57,379 59,966 65,914 -
P-70 143,076 - - - - -
P-80 - - - 109,471 71,840 -
P-82 - - - - - 188,066
P-84 - - - - - 71,123
Reconnaissance
F-7F - - - - - 184,100
F-8F - - - - - 83,760
0A-10 . . . 222,799 - - 216,617 207,541 - rranaport 222,799 216,617 207,541 -
Transport
C-43 - 49,524 27,342 27,332 - -
C-45 67,743 - 66,189 52,507 18,830 -
C-46 341,831 314,700 259,268 233,377 221,550 -
C-47 128,761 109,696 91,417 88,574 85,035 -
C-53 136,339 142,479 150,470 - - -
C-54 516,533 370,492 400,831 285,113 259,816 -
C-60 - 126,881 113,168 - - -
C-61 - 12,208 13,057 15,973 - -
UC-64 - - 36,811 35,264 32,427 -
C-69 - - 605,456 - - -
C-74 - 1,213,445 - - - -
C-78 - 27,470 33,787 - - -
C-82 - - - 478,549 210,233 -
C-87 - - - 208,780 - -
Trainer
PT-13, PT-17, PT-27 10,022 9,896 - - - -
PT-19, PT-23, PT-26 9,710 12,911 11,100 15,052 - -
BT-13, BT-15 25,035 23,068 - - - -
AT-6 29,423 25,672 - 22,952 - -
AT-7, AT-11 76,827 85,688 68,441
AT-8, AT-17 41,701 34,323 - - - -
AT-9 44,321 44,392 - - - -
AT-10 43,501 42,688 - - - -
AT-16 - 27,564 27,415 - - -
AT-19 - 26,574 22,496 - - -
AT-21 - 92,295 - - - -
Communications
L-1 25,419
L-2 - 2,770 2,916 - - -
L-3 - 2,236 2,460 - - -
L-4 - 2,432 2,437 2,620 2,701 -
L-5 - 10,165 - 9,704 8,323 -
L-6 - - 6,065 - - -
L-13 - - - - - 33,962
R-4 - - 43,584 - - -
R-5. YR-5 - - 59,488 50,950 - 163,521
R-6 - - 47,635 - - -
YR-12 - - - - - 215,621
YR-13 - - - - - 67,094

loreng59 said:

Very Heavy Bomber
B-29. . . . . . . . . . . - 893,730 - 605,360 509,465 -
B-50. . . . . . - - - - - 972,676

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I got a conflicting source on the B-50's costs. According to "Post World War II Bombers", by Marcelle Size Knaack, lists the B-50's cost as $1,144,296...

Heavy Bomber
B-17 301,221 258,949 - 204,370 187,742 -
B-24 379,162 304,391 - 215,516 - -
B-32 - 790,433 - 790,433 - -

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I'm confused here, why is the B-32 classified as heavy and not very heavy? They had the same bomb-load as the B-29...

Reconnaissance
F-7F - - - - - 184,100
F-8F - - - - - 83,760
0A-10 . . . 222,799 - - 216,617 207,541 - rranaport 222,799 216,617 207,541 -

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Wait... I thought OA-10 was applied to the PBY after 1948, when attack was deleted and A was redesigned as "amphibian".

Bearcat and Tigercat were also operational postwar so it is in the correct group

Great info, many thanks