The Growth of Aviation in Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID10076442
AuthorsPeter Fearon (corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume20
Issue1
Pages21-40
Publication date1985-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/002200948502000102
OpenAlexW2037501654
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited2

Any study of the growth of aviation in Britain must stress the close links which have always existed between, on the one hand the government, and on the other the manufacturers of aeroplanes and the operators of commercial aircraft. The government was, and is, the industry's biggest customer; clearly a monopolist in the purchase of new military aircraft, the state can also exercise similar powers over the configuration and the quantity of large civil airliners. Although this paper will concentrate upon the growth of commercial flight, we will see that there is a very close relationship between the research and development undertaken on military aircraft and technical changes in civil aeroplanes. For example, it was a commonly held view in the inter-war years that the bomber and the large airliner had much in common and therefore many ardent disarmers viewed the production of fast, manoeuvreable airliners with grave suspicion an affront to the spirit if not the letter of disarmament. Such views helped to retard the development of the large aeroplane in Britain during the 1930s.1 From early on in the history of aviation the state was conscious of its role as a stimulus for technical advance in all sorts of aircraft. The industry benefited enormously from the practical assistance given at government-financed research laboratories and the theoretical advice which emanated from advisory bodies.2 State regulations controlled the safety aspects of civil aviation and as increasing aeronautical sophistication resulted in soaring costs, help with research and development expenses was provided. The government could, and did, control the size of the industry and when bankruptcy demonstrated that civil aviation could not fly by itself, subsidies were provided though the industry had to tolerate political decisions influencing many route allocations rather than commercial criteria

Aeronautics · Aircraft industry · Aviation · Business · Civil aviation · Crew · Disarmament · Government (linguistics · Political science · Sociology · Sophistication · State (computer science · Aviation Industry Analysis and Trends · Computer Science · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Engineering · Evelyn Waugh and Hans Urs von Balthasar Studies · Law

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