Abstract
Shortly after the end of World War II, the airline industry was able to use civilian versions of wartime transport aircraft to meet a rapidly expanding market for air travel. The war itself was partly responsible for the broader interest in air travel. The advance in aircraft technology, particularly, the gas turbine engine, revolutionized the industry, and set the stage for a tradition of steady technological change in the decade that followed. Thus, entering the post World War II period, new technologies were available, and an extensive skill base of aeronautical engineers and flying personnel existed. Major production facilities were in place and a base of public acceptance for air travel had been created.1 The development of the jet aircraft, commercial as well as military, overlaps the period of the piston-engined planes. Design of the Boeing B-47 began in late 1943. Douglas began design of the XB-43, essentially a modification of the XB-42, in 1944. Convair’s XB-46 design was also initiated in 1944. There had been interest in jets before, but no commercial firms in the United States had had sufficient interest and resources to take the lead in jet engine development. Thus, it is quite clear that so far as the United States manufacture of either military or commercial planes were concerned, jet development had to wait until the development of technology overcame the early obstacles. It is not clear when research on the specific commercial transports by United States manufacturers began. Boeing quite certainly was studying alternative models to the C-97 as early as 1950.
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Endnotes
U.S. Department of Commerce (1986) A Competitive Assessment of the U.S. Civil Aircraft Industry, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 17–18.
Phillips, A. (1971) Technology and Market Structure—A Study of the Aircraft Industry, D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass, pp. 123–126.
Boeing Commerical Airplane Group, Current Market Outlook (1992), Seattle, Washington.
ibid., p 124.
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ibid., p. 224.
Ethell, J. (1983) Fuel Economy in Aviation, NASA, Washington, D.C., p. 9.
See Loftin (1985), Chapter 10.
Flight International Magazine, May 23-29, 1990, Commercial Engines Directory, pp. 43–46, Reed Business Publishing Group, London.
Ethel (1983), p. 9.
Morrison, S. (1984) “An Economic Analysis of Aircraft Design,” Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, May, pp. 123–143.
Ethell(1983), p. 9.
Newhouse J. (1985), pp. 53-55
ibid.
Ethell (1983).
ibid.
ibid.
Loftin (1985), pp. 233-234.
U.S. Department of Commerce (1986), pp. 17-20.
ibid.
ibid.; A complete review of air transportation prior to the jet age can be found in Bilstein, R. (1984) Flight in America—1900-1983, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore; Miller, R., and Sawers, D., (1970) The Technical Development of Modern Aviation, Praeger Publishers, New York; Rae, J. (1968) Climb to Greatness-The American Aircraft Industry, 1920-1960, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA; Simonson, G.R. (1968) The History of the American Aircraft Industry—An Anthology, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
All of the technological characteristics, performance and physical descriptions discussed throughout the text are taken from various issues of Jane’s Information Group, Inc, Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft (Various Issues 1970-1995) except where otherwise noted.
See Jane’s Information Group, Inc., Jane’s All The World Aircraft, 1970-1971, London, pp. 287–773.
ibid
Loftin(1985), p.41
ibid., pp. 419-423.
ibid., p. 423.
ibid.
ibid., p. 427.
Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1970-1971, pp. 287–773.
Bilstein (1984), p. 230; Loftin (1985), p.428.
Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1970-1971, pp. 287–773.
ibid.
ibid.
ibid.
Loftin(1985), p. 437.
ibid.
Loftin (1985), pp. 437-462.
Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1970-1971, pp. 287–773.
ibid.
ibid.
ibid.
ibid., Loftin (1985), p. 448.
Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 1984-1985.
ibid., Loftin (1985), p. 451.
Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 1984-1985.
Jane’ s All the World’s Aircraft 1989-1990. Please note that these performance characteristics are only estimates at the time of this writing.
ibid.
ibid.
In a fly-by-wire control system, the pilot’s commands-made through the control wheel and rudder pedals-are converted to electrical signals and transmitted through computers and electrical wires to the plane’s control surfaces. The FBW system has replaced steel cables normally used for control.
Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1989-1990.
Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1994-1995.
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Pitt, I.L., Norsworthy, J.R. (1999). Aircraft Characteristics. In: Economics of the U.S. Commercial Airline Industry: Productivity, Technology and Deregulation. Transportation Research, Economics and Policy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5031-0_3
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