The world aircraft industry of the XX century: quantitative analysis

Abstract

Based on the collection of data on more than 20,000 airplane models created in the world in the XX century, and more than 40,000 records on their manufacturing, world airplane production dynamics was reconstructed year by year in pieces and tons. An analysis year by year by aircraft purpose and by leading countries is prepared. The output was calculated not only in pieces, but also by the total mass of structures. The second approach corresponds more precisely to the power of the aviation industry, allowing to differentiate labor and material costs in the production of light and heavy airplanes. These graphs are constructed and published for the first time. The role of leading countries in world production is revealed. It is shown that the decline in production after the First World War more pronounced not in Russia, but in the UK. It is shown that the USSR firmly held the second place in aircraft production in the world from the mid-1930s to 1990, and in the mid-1930s briefly came out on top in the world. The influence of the repressions of the 1930s on the aviation industry of the USSR, expressed in a noticeable decrease in the rate of new aircraft models development, is shown. It was revealed that in the second half of the XX century, the share of combat airplane in production was constantly decreasing, and by 2000 over 80% of the world's airplane industry capacity was occupied by the production of commercial aircraft.