Warbird Information Exchange

Its the holiday season to relax and rest,

so I thought a nice intellectual and stimulating "debating thread" like this might be of interest?

What are the top 5 US manufacturers in terms of number of significant or successful types, volumes of aircraft built, ie the Boeings, North American, Curtiss and Consolidated etc,

BUT! in order 1 to 5 from "most" significant down?

- and of course - "WHY!"

Company..................................................Reason
1 ?
2 ??
3 ???
4 ????
5 ?????


regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

OK. . . here goes. . .

Numero Uno would have to be Boeing. Why? Their incredibly long line of successful civilian and military aircraft designs is nothing short of amazing. They built some of the world's all-time greatest bombers: B-17, B-29, B-47, B-52. The majority of the world's airline passengers over the last several decades have traveled aboard Boeing products, and that trend continues.

Number Two would be Douglas. Why? Up until their acquisition by Boeing, Douglas / McD-D had an amazing string of successful civilian and military aircraft: the great Douglas Commercial line (DC-2 through DC-9), as well as many of the world's best fighters (F-101, F-4) and attack aircraft (Skyraider, Skyhawk, Whale, etc).

The rest of the Top Five:

North American. From WW2 through the Jet Age, they cranked out some amazing fighters and bombers. . . P-51, B-25, F-86, F-100, et al. And let's not forget cutting-edge research aircraft like the X-15 and XB-70.

Lockheed (including Convair and General Dynamics). Why? Innovations like the P-38, Constellation, F-102, F-104, F-106, C-130, et al.

Bell Helicopter. Why? They are the world's leading whirlybird maker.

I have my Nomex suit on. . . flame away!

Dean the daring

As far as volume, Cessna has to be top dog, no?


And to Dean up above... how could you mention Lockheed and not make special note of the SR-71?

Boeing-same as above, long line of bombers and airliners changed the world.

Douglas- the DC-3 that is all that needs said

Piper- Is there anyone that has never flown in a Cub?

Lockheed-the test aircraft and Black Ops aircraft are legends

Grumman-THey have the long line of naval aircraft that won wars and battles.

_________________
Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

To be on my list, you have to be a viable manufacturer in a financial sense. Boeing currently builds a wide range of aircraft from transports to fighters (I won't include the T-45 here). Lockheed Martin builds fighters only and some of the others have become primarily service providers or have moved into other areas of defense. Yet others have become 3rd rate sub-tier supplers to the other airframers and survive in part due to their state's political clout.

I know that my response isn't in the spirit of your question, but many of the companies you have in mind only have history as their legacy and nothing more. Their expertise is long ago dead or retired, their plants closed and torn down, the tribal knowledge and experiences of their best designers long forgotten. They built some great planes in their day, but what have they done for us lately? If you can't leverage that rich history into something useful now, it must not have been as good as you thought, i.e. kept up with the times.

I was gonna mention Grumman for putting us on the moon, but looked back at the OP and it said "aircraft" so.... I guess not.

I'll say Boeing and Douglas for being the backbone of the bomber and transport sectors for such a long time, Lockheed for all the whizbang stuff, and Cessna/Piper each for respectively teaching entire generations how to fly.

Me! But I am willing to burst that cherry if someone in the NE has a Piper Cub they wish to let me fly in! (Weight/balance note- I am about 225 lbs)

Robbie

I realise many of the "great" companies no longer commercially exist, and so may be considered "unsuccessful" from that outcome, but my question was aimed at their historical design/engineering and production achievements rather than their long term commercial success.

regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Mark,

If your criteria is a current U.S. manufacturer who builds comercial and military fighters, then the top five spots need to go to Boeing because no one else in the world, except EADS builds a full spectrum of airframe types, the rest who still manufacture build either transport/cargo or helicopters or military fighters and either donot currently, or have in the recent past (1975-present) built more than one category of airframe.

Care to rephrase and resubmit your quiz?
I'll go with K5dh and Mustangdrivers picks

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Might want to double check that dossier there on Lockheed.

They also build helicopters (US101), transports (C-130J & C-27J), and are one half of the United Launch Alliance (with Boeing) building the Atlas V EELV for both military and commercial use. They are also responsible for much of the continuing airworthiness of the P-3 Orion, legacy C-130s, and the massive C-5M avionics and engine upgrade program.

As for my top 5, I think it has to go as such -

1) Boeing - Oldest and most diverse aerospace company in the world
2) Lockheed - Second oldest and diverse aerospace company in the world
3) Grumman (including Gulfstream) - Builder of many fine products with a long history in both military and civilian production
4) Cessna - Largest manufacturer of light aircraft in history
5) Sikorsky - Oldest helicopter company. Built many different helicopters for many different roles and almost always came out with a winner.

politics, back scratching, & pork.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

perhaps just to clarify, my intention was to compare the historically most significant US aviation companies, regardless if they are still existing or no longer commercially operating.

regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

1 Monogram

2 Revell

3 Airfix

4 ITC

5 Hawk

That last was just downright funny.

What, the F-16 doesn't get included in the Lockheed/General Dynamics?

i'm sorry, i didn't mean to poop on your thread. boeing rates at the top in my opinion for sheer quantity of birds cranked out over the decades.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!