[ArtieBob]

IMHO shoshoobaby's reply is not correct in the sense that the "franti c activity" of US factories could not be stopped all at once. Many of the aircraft at Kingman were actually flown back from the Pacific theater, for example. Since the end date of the war was unpredictable, war effort continued right up to and following V-J day. Some aircraft had been taken out of production prior to that time but many of the newer types, B-29, A-26, P-80 etc. did not shut down at all, although in most cases the rate was cut back. Understand that even in WWII, the time from the start of manufacturing, i.e.,cutting aluminum, forging blanks, etc. to final assembly was from months to nearly a year. Because of these lead times, when the stop orders came there would be components all the way from aluminum sheet stampings up to completed aircraft in the chain. IIRC, most of this material went directly to scrap dealers and local salvage companies. Thousands of aircraft were scrapped or abandoned around the world, USA, GB, German, Jap, etc. There was just very little use for combat aircraft for several years following the end of WW II, the best were kept and the rest disposed of.

Best regards,

Artie Bob