Production and development of four-seat airplanes in the XX century. Statistical analysis

Abstract

The subject of the article is the worldwide production and development of four-seat general-purpose airplanes in the XX century. This is the most important segment of general aviation: more four-seat aircraft have been built than three- and 5-10-seat aircraft combined. One of the article's goals is to determine whether the requirements for products designed to transport four people by air are really changing. The methodology of the work is collecting information about all aircraft models built. Data about 871 models and more than 2500 records of their production are collected. For the first time, production pace and the number of new models of four-seated airplanes have been presented, country-by-country. Priority constructions are described. The dominant role of the USA and the stable duopoly of Cessna and Piper firms are revealed. It is shown that the demand for aircraft varies greatly in accordance with the socio-political situation in the world. The role of the USSR as one of the leading manufacturers of four-seated airplanes is revealed. It is shown that designers systematically respond to the decline in demand by increasing the intensity of design work, which, however, does not lead to the desired result - an increase in sales. Therefore, such behavior should be recognized as ineffective.