Aerospace Industry

Roots of Aerospace Industry, 1908–45

Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted their historic first flights on December 17, 1903; however, the first public flights in the United States did not take place until 1908. From that year, when the Wrights and their chief rival Glenn Curtiss both grabbed headlines, until World War I, aircraft manufacturing remained a small, workshop enterprise. The Wrights and Curtiss emerged as the major manufacturers, with dozens of other would-be industrialists following suit. The nascent industry produced 49 aircraft in 1914, a number that jumped to 411 in 1916, with a large percentage sold overseas. The demand created by World War I, especially after U.S. entry in 1917, provided the opportunity for the first large-scale manufacture of aircraft and aircraft engines.

Despite a sharp fall-off in demand after the war, a number of individuals drew on their experiences to establish businesses to serve military and commercial markets. Although the 1920s proved economically challenging, new opportunities came with the 1930s. Despite the Great Depression, aviation proved to be a growth industry and a number of companies, Douglas Aircraft in particular, produced the planes that would help sustain the expansion of the U.S. airline industry. More important, conflicts around the globe created a demand eagerly met by U.S. aircraft manufacturers. Accused of being “Merchants of Death,” aircraft makers defended their overseas sales as vital to their bottom lines.

[Page 13]The growth experienced in the 1930s was significant, but paled in comparison with the growth that came with World War II, which introduced the U.S. military to the potential of two new technologies—jets and rockets. Relatively small, often struggling enterprises, including Martin, Douglas, Lockheed, and Boeing were transformed into industrial giants.

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