Paul E. Eden - The World’s Greatest Civil Aircraft: An Illustrated History

Trans World Airlines was instrumental in the development process that created the Douglas DC-3, shown here, via the DC-1 and DC-2. The DC-3 was the most important commercial aircraft of the immediate pre-World War II period and helped establish Douglas as the pre-eminent airliner manufacturer into the early 1950s.

Boeings wartime preoccupation with bomber construction allowed Douglas to become the undisputed leader in commercial aviation in the immediate aftermath of World War II, but it fell to Great Britains de Havilland to take the next developmental stride. Britain and Germany had both flown jet fighters in combat during the later years of the war and now de Havilland applied jet technology to commercial aviation, producing the Comet.

The worlds first jet airliner, the Comets somewhat conservative design nevertheless allowed it to outperform every piston-engined aircraft, but a series of accidents stymied the programme. While de Havilland was fixing its aircraft, Boeing came up with a truly modern jet airliner, the Model 707, truly the template for commercial jet transport. The U.S. planemaker quickly established a market leadership that only Airbus has been able to challenge and then only in recent years.

Passengers quickly became accustomed to flying large distances on swept-wing jet-powered aircraft, but the piston engine still reigned on shorter routes. While Lockheed and the UKs Vickers created successful turboprops for these sectors, the travelling public and airlines began to demand aircraft comparable to those on the long-haul services. Soon Douglas and Boeing were following in the wake of the Caravelle from French company Sud-Est to produce their own short-haul jets. Douglas took the lead with its DC-9, but Boeing fought back with the 737, still the worlds best-selling jetliner.

With the sheer number of aircraft movements at overcrowded airports threatening to jam the air transport system, Boeing recognized that aircraft of much higher capacity were needed. While Europe wasted money on the technically superb but commercially flawed Concorde, Boeing created the first widebody and began the next major evolution in airliner technology the 747 Jumbo Jet remains in production more than four decades later.

The commercial aircraft market remained Boeings plaything until the late 1960s, when a threat to its dominance at last took shape. Western Europes major aircraft manufacturers had joined forces to create Airbus Industrie and its first product, the short/medium-haul A300 widebody, caught Boeing napping. Since then the two have become the major commercial aircraft rivals.

Airbus continues to challenge the 737 with its A320 family, while the makers trade blows in the medium and long-haul markets with the 767, 777 and 787, and A330 and A350 XWB. Boeings 747-8, the latest and most advanced Jumbo, falls short of the massive passenger capacity of the double-deck A380 Super Jumbo, but neither has sold particularly well. Now both manufacturers are promising double-digit fuel burn improvements with new models for the near future, mirroring on a grand scale the similar battles of the regional jet market between Canadas Bombardier and Brazils Embraer. The world of commercial aircraft has never before been so technologically advanced, nor so demanding.