8. Building the engine affordably was a serious problem for the designers
In 1918, aircraft engines were large, heavy, expensive, and temperamental. Kettering needed an engine which was small, inexpensive, and reliable. It also had to be simple to install, given that the weapon would need to be assembled in the field just prior to launch. Kettering was well known in the automotive industry, and through his contacts, he reached Ralph DePalma, the winner of the 1915 Indianapolis 500, and the owner of DePalma Manufacturing Company. DePalma designed a lightweight, two-stroke motor, four cylinders and air-cooled, which was perfect for Kettering’s needs. However, DePalma was unable to manufacture the motor in numbers sufficient to meet demand in full production, at least not affordably.
Ford was. After his engineers studied the design and components of the engine, which proved to be difficult during development, the Ford Motor Company proposed mass production of the motor at a cost of $50 per unit. Kettering’s flying bomb had thus before it had ever flown, involved the considerable talents of Orville Wright, Elmer Sperry, Henry Ford, and Charles F. Kettering. These men had decided to build an airframe which was little more than an enlarged box kite, capable of flying on its own a specified distance, in an assigned direction, hitting a selected target. There were still numerous technical issues to resolve, but Kettering had assembled the talent necessary.