The role of the USA aviation industry in the development of general aviation

Abstract

The history of a relatively little-studied sub-sector of aircraft manufacturing is described: the development and production of general purpose airplanes. Data on 2690 aircraft models and their production are collected by the author. It is shown that the USA share in the production in the 20th century exceeds 80 %, although in 1930–1945 European countries were the leaders. Assumptions are made about the reasons for the change of leaders. The definition of “general purpose airplane” is given with references to the regulatory documents of the USA, European Union and Russia. It is shown that the most popular subclass of such airplanes is four-seaters, its share in the total production of aircraft with the number of seats from 3 to 11 exceeds 50 %. For the first time, the year-by-year dynamics of the development and production of general purpose airplanes in the 20th century in the world is published. Strong declines in production are mentioned during the Great Depression and in the first half of the 1980s. It is shown that the demand for general purpose airplanes decreased significantly during the aggravation of the political situation, which correlates with the confidence of potential buyers in their future. Probably, such dependence should be observed for other long-time used consumer goods. The development of new models of general-purpose aircraft was also studied. It is shown that the peak of its intensity falls on 1929, and the post-war decline in the number of developments began even during the period of growth in production – in the mid-1960s. A very strong geographic concentration has been found: almost half of all general purpose airplanes in the world are built in one town (Wichita, Kansas), where more than a dozen airplane manufacturers have located their enterprises.