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The commercial (at first government air mail contracts) and military contracts provided the foundation for a dynamic new American industry--the aviation industry. The American aviation industry was at first small compared to major industries such as automobile manufacturers. A number of small compaies worked in the 1920s. Many went bankrupt pr were bought by larger companies, because of the limited demand in the early years. Gradually companies improved airframe and engine designs. Designers steadily increased speeds, alditude, and range, meeting the needs of both commercial airlines and the military . Boeing and Douglas emerged as the most important companies, producing civilian passanger aircraft of increasing sophistication. There were, however, quite a number of smaller companies with considerable technical expertise. Competitions tested the envelope and resulted in steady advances. The industry in the United States, however, was a relatively small part of American industrial production before World War II. One source ranks it at only 41st in a list of major industies. The leading industry being the automobile industry. Here there was some overlap. A company manufacturing automobile engines could retool for aircraft engine, especially major corporations like General Motors ad Ford. While a minor industry in America, even so, the American aviation industry was the largest in the world, in part because of expansion to meet the growing demand for passanger aircraft. There was a need for aircradft unmatched by needs of the much smaller European countries. Aircraft design became increasingly complex, far beyond the capabilities of amateur bicycle repairmen. Universities began offering programs in aviation engeneering. This created the infrastructure of designers and plants that could be easily converted for military use. American manufctures addressed the issues of body frames and engines, major aspects of aircraft performance for both civilian and military aircraft. Within only a few yeaes of the rise of the NAZIS in Germany (1933) increasing military orders came from both Rurope and the U.S. Government. At the same time, commercil passenger traffic began to increase, generating more orders from commercial aviation. TYhe NAZIs managed to build a powerful modern airforce before the British and French reacted. Both contries turned to American manufactuers as war approached.
After World War I, there were a lot of surplus planes and individuals interested in making a living out of flying. The Army had no need for all the Jennys built. There ws no commercial use for the planes. The Federal Government proceeded to sell them off as war surplus for rock-bottom prices. The prices were so low, in some cases only $200, that just about anyone with a little cash could buy a plane. Most of the buyers were World War I pilots with a love of flying and who wanted to make a career out of flying. The problem was finding a way of making money with the planes. The first answer was barnstorming. World War I pilots loved to show off their flying skills,
The barnstorming craze further fueled the public's interest in flying. They also took passengers up for rides.
Amelia Earhart began as an stornmer. She set many women;s records, the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss had staged flying exhibitions before the War. But the post-War barnstorming phenomenon swept the entire country. The term 'barnstorming' was a political/theatrical expression meaning a political campaign or entertainment presentation expression that traveled around the countryside and engaging in all kinds of inctreasingly dangerous stunts like wing walking. Before the barnstorming campaign of the 1920s, few relatively Americans had seen airplanes. As the Governmrnty began to restrict dangerous events in the late-20s, few Americans had not seen airplanes. It was in fact, the first serious commercial use of the airplane.
Barnstorming was, however, only a temporary expedient.
The U,.S. Governmenht stepped in after World War I to promote the fledgling aviation industry. The commercial (at first government air mail contracts) and military contracts provided the foundation for a dynamic new American industry--the aviation industry. The United States Postal Service obtained funds from Congress to begin experiments with air mail service to speed deliveries (1918). The United States after the War had age number of unempluyed pilots and surplus aircraft. The mainstay of the new service was the Curtiss Jenny which the armyAir Coros had used in France.
The Post Office at first used private operators. Concerned with accidents. the Podst Office turned to the U.S, Army. The Army proved, however, to be unreliable. The Post Office developed its own air mail network (mid-1920s).
The backbone of the Post Office network was a transcontinental service between New York City and San Francisco.And the supplement this service, the Post Office offered twelve contracts to independent bidders.
Commercial applications were limited until advances were made in performance. The Government contracts at this critical phase of the industry's development were critical.
Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh got his start flying airmail routes. His flight across the Atlantic was not of immediate commercial importance because the plane had to be especially adopted. But it showed that it was just a matter of time before commercial airliners would be available.
The aviation industry had two components, air frames and engines. Air frames were an entirely new development. Engine work could draw upon an industry which was about to exolode in America--the automobile industry. Although the first airplane was built by the Wright brothers in America (1903), Europeans took an early lead in aircraft manufacture. It was European governments, primarily the military, that offered substantiakl funding for aircraft development. European governments seemed to understand the military significance to the Wright
brothers' Flyer. It was, however, with a mixture of either skepticism and indifference in the United States. [Pattillo] At the time of the outbreak of World War I (1914), European firmd had built substantial numbers of aircraft: France (more than 2,000 aircraft), German (about 1,000), and Britain (far fewer). American firms hwere well behind, hving built fewer than a hundred planes. Most were different designs. Aircraft manufacture at the time involved a range of materials and very close tolerances. The planes were built by well-trained workers. Aviation developed rapidly during World War I. The U.S. Government approved contracts, but American manufacturers, mostly small, poorly capitalized firms, were unable to ramp up construction quickly when the United states etered the War (1917). Thus American pilots flew with Brtish and French planes. [Bugos] With the Armistice, the Government cancelled orders causing the fledgking industry to collapse (1918). Only a few firms survived and those firms had to reconigure theie debt and business nodel.
Seven firms built more than 22,500 of the 400-horsepower Liberty engines intended for use in the War. These companies becane the foundation of the American aircraft industry. The two most important firms were the Wright Aeronautical Company and Curtis Aeroplane and Motor. The American aviation industry was brand new. It was thus at first small compared to major industries such as automobile manufacturers. A number of small compaies worked in the 1920s. The companies had difficulty raising capital. Glenn L. Martin managed to use his gift for showmanship to attract attention and sell aircraft to well-to-do sportsmen. Despite a friendship with air power advocate
Billy Mitchell did guarantee military contracts. [Pattillo]
Many went bankrupt or were bought by larger companies, because of the limited demand in the early years. Military procurement and airmail contracts managed to keep the new industry alive. This began to change in the mid-1920s. Ford Motors entered the industry (1925). The Ford Trimotor was the first plane that offered real passenger air line service. Pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh's historic trans-Atlantic flight fueled an intense public interest iin aviation (1927). The resulting airline boom managed to cary the industry through the Great Depression. New better managed firms apoeared. Boeing
and Douglas emerged as the most important companies, producing civilian passanger aircraft of increasing sophistication. There were, however, quite a number of smaller companies with considerable technical expertise.
Gradually companies improved airframe and engine designs. The industry in the United States, however, was a relatively small part of American industrial production before World War II. One source ranks it at only 41st in a list of major industies. The leading industry being the automobile industry. Here there was some overlap. A company manufacturing automobile engines could retool for aircraft engine, especially major corporations like General Motors and Ford. And even if the companies did not at first get involved. Aircraft companies wishing to work on aircraft engines could recruit technicians and engineers from the automobile industry. And in the mid-1930s the situation began to change abnd change fast. The Douglas DC-3 made its first flight (1935). In that sanme year, Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring in Germany announced the creation of the Luftwaffe. From that point, orders from both commercial airlines and military began a rapid expanding of the American aircraft industry. [Pattillo]
American firms made substantial tchnical advances in the inter-War period in both air frames and engines, two very different specialties. Aircraft design after World War I became increasingly complex, far beyond the capabilities of amateur bicycle repairmen. America's growing university began offering programs in aviation engeneering. European universities were the world leaders before World War I. After the War this began tio change. American affluence and the needs of industry were important factors here. This created a pool of talent inckluding designers and engineers as well as expanding industrial plants that could be easily converted for military use. Airplanes in the inter-War era continued the evolution began in World War I from low-powered biplanes constructed from wood and fabric to sleek, high-powered monoplanes made of aluminum. The ability to produce aluminum thus became a critical factor in aircraft production and here electrical generation was critical. This was begun by the German designer Hugo Junkers during the World War I, but was adopted by American designer William Bushnell Stout as well as Soviet designer Andrei Tupolev. American manufactures addressed the issues of body frames and engines, major aspects of aircraft performance for both civilian and military aircraft. Designers steadily increased speeds, alditude, and range, meeting the needs of both commercial airlines and the military. Thus the advances made in commercial aviation in America during the inter-War era transfrred directly to military aviation. It explains why only about a year after Pearl Harbor, American aviation companies were able to begin producing aircraft that could compete with the advanced German and Japanese types. Both Germany and Japan produced fighters (ME-109 and Zero) that were particularly effective, in part because they were light-weight planes. They could be produced in large numbers with even a modest industrial base. That industrial base did not have the capacity to build a strategic bombing force. American technical capacity and industrial strength, along with British technology, made it possible to produce extremely powerful aircraft engines and in large numbers. They would power both fighters and bombers in huge numbers.
American corporations never gave great attention to lighter than air ships, zephlins and derigibles. This was a German specialty. The Navy did experiment with drigibles. They were in many ways perfectv for offshorev patrol. The Germans achieved some success with commercial pasengervtraffic. The Hindenberg disster as well as the Navy's loss if the Akron put an end to both ommercial and military development.
Competitions tested the envelope and resulted in steady advances. Barn storming eventually evolved into air shows with races, acrobatic stunts such as wing walking, and feats of air superiority. The air races helped to drive both engine and airframe development. Flyers competed for trophies and cash awards. Americans comopeted in both national and international competitions. One of the most oprestigious international competition was the Schneider Trophy. These competitins led to ever faster and sleeker monoplane designs.
Pilots and small companies competed for the trophies and cash prizes, there was an incentive to go faster. Charles Lindbergh won the Orteig Prize of $25,000 for the first solo non-stop crossing of the Atlantic.
While a minor industry in America, even so, the American aviation industry was the largest in the world, in part because of expansion to meet the growing demand for passanger aircraft. There was a denmand for air travel in America unmatched by needs of the much smaller European countries. The relative affkluence of Anmeruica was another factor. European countries had large highly efficent rail networks. Given the distances, travelers ciould easilt travel from one city to another in a rekatively short peiod of time. This was a very different matter than Americans wishing to travel from say New York to Los Angeles. London is closer to Moscow than New York is to Los Angeles. Thus both distances and affluence made for the development of an aviation industry in America faster than in Europe.
The American airline industry began in the 1910s. Tony Jannus conducted the United States' first scheduled commercial airline flight (1914). It was a service ioffered by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line .
It was not until after Wirkd war I that realm progress was made. Chalk's International Airlines began offering service between Miami and Bimini in the Bahamas (1919). The company based in Ft. Lauderdale claimed to be the oldest continuously operating American airline until shutting down (2008.
Following World War I, the United States found itself swamped with aviators. Many decided to take their war-surplus aircraft on barnstorming campaigns, performing aerobatic maneuvers toattract audiences. The U.S. Post Office launched air mail services (1918). This was the beginning od the American commercial airline industry. There were non passengers at first, but the Post Office helped establish routes and facilities. Carriers that won these routes would develop into major passanger airlines as mergers helped turn fly-by-night oprtators into imjportanht companies. These included: Pan Am, Delta Air Lines, Braniff Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines (began as a division of Boeing), Trans World Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines.
Passenger service was at first sporadic. The early auirlines were ficused primarily bags of mail. And the early planes were not very comfortable or able to carry many passengers. This began to change when Henry Fiord decided to buy the Stout Aircraft Company (1925). Ford then began the construction of an innovative all-metal Ford Trimotor. It would be the first successful American airliner. It carried 12-passengers along with air mail for the Post Office. The Trimotor made passenger service potentially profitable to the airlines.
Airline pioneer Juan Trippe began an effort to create an air network that would link America to the rest of the world. His airline, Pan American World Airways, acquired a fleet of flying boats that begn by linking Los Angeles to Shanghai and Boston to London. Flying boats were useful in the early years of passenger service because they did not need developed aur ports to take off and land. Pan Am and Northwest Airways (which offered flights to Canada) were the only U.S. airlines to offer international service (1920s-30s). Amajor step forward occurred the Depression (1930s). The two major aircraft builders introduced the first modern airliners (the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-3).
American airline comopanies with these modern planes were able to report a oprofit even during the Depression. They did not offer mss service, but an expensive service for the well-to-do. The DC-3 is widely regarded as one of the most sucessful and influential aircraft in the history of aviation, revolutionizing the aviation industry. While developed as a commercial airliner, it played a major rolein Wotld War II as the C-47. It becanme the backbione iof the Army Air Corps cargo operations. Itv is mjost famous for dropping American pratroops on D-Day (1944)and then after the war for helping to save West Berlin duringv the Berlin Air Lift (1948).
Within only a few years of the rise of the NAZIS in Germany (1933) increasing military orders came from both Europe and the U.S. Government. The NAZIs began building aircraft in violation of the Versailles Peace Treaty. Both Hitler and Göring announced the creation of the Luftwaffe (1935). At the same time, commercial pasanger traffic began to increase in America, generating more orders from commercial aviation. The British and French still consumed with a string pascifist-oriented public and a desire to avoid another destructive war, were slow to respond. The NAZIs managed to build a powerful modern airforce before the British and French decisively reacted. Both contries turned to American manufactuers as war approached.
Bugos, Glenn. "History of the Aerospace Industry". EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. (August 28, 2001).
Pattillo, Donald M. Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry.
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