Aviation history Part 9 (From the "happy few " for the transport of air mass)

The first major next-generation aircraft, and is characterized in the outer shape of the new swept wing, was the Boeing B47 bomber stratosphere. From this line of development was followed on the military side of Boeing B52 bomber, the most important aircraft of the fleet of U.S. strategic bombers, and civil party, the Boeing707, resulting in the line of what is to successful commercial aircraft, Boeing was followed: the 727, 737 and widebody, the 747. The new aircraft technology multiplies the productivity of commercial aircraft, which is given by the flight speed, passenger capacity and operational readiness. And reached almost twice the cruising speed and 707 double the capacity (up to 180 compared with 90 of the propeller aircraft). Cheap prices fell, and the prosperity and leisure time increased steadily in industrialized countries. Air transport, business and tourism travel experience, from the sixties, an unparalleled boom.

The aviation industry responded with widebody aircraft: Boeing with 747 (currently over 500Sitzplätze) with the Douglas DC10 (225 380Plätze) and Lockheed with L1011Tristar (256-400). The project of a major military transporter (now Lockheed C-5 Galaxy), but the real impetus was given to it.
Due to the enormous cost of armaments and the huge U.S. market national, acquired the United States in scientific and technical point of overwhelming economic superiority, both in the development of aircraft and the aviation market and forced the Europeans, not completely lost to a growing concentration of research and industry.

Was the late sixties, with the aim of building its own European large commercial aircraft, the Airbus Industrie. On December 18, 1970, the partnership agreement of the French and Germans SNIAS Airbus GmbH was signed. Later he joined the Spanish CASA, Fokker, Dutch and British Aerospace. The first aircraft, the Airbus A300 (first flight 1972) was the first widebody aircraft with two engines and the U.S. plane made ​​by three-jet to compete successfully.

The need for obedience to offer a whole family followed the smaller Airbus A310 (1982), A320/21/19 (1987) and long range versions A330/340 (1991). As a revolutionary innovation, but also controversial was the A320 with one hand to use "side stick"as the main control member moving in the cabin of commercial aircraft, replacing the traditional control column was moving the rudder flap is not about ropes, but only into electrical signals (fly by wire). Between companies or between the U.S. and Europe, relax with a brutal competition where technology player, but less political and economic power, the decisive role played - and it's like the basic question of whether the State may directly or indirectly support development projects. Both airlines and manufacturing companies face the huge investments that can hardly be financed from its own economic activity and the solid state through the laws of liberalization and deregulation of influence and lead to unexpected risks.

Air traffic continues to increase, in 1990 there were about one billion passengers a year, probably around 2000, two million limit exceeded. In addition, the pure air freight is growing. Lufthansa, the first 1972 load all the air, a set of 747, the service, he moved to the mid-nineties to 20 percent of its revenue from air freight.
The overcrowding at airports and space in the vicinity of large cities is a growing problem. Chicago, for example, must manage more than 60 million passengers a year, and in Frankfurt, there are about 40 million. Larger aircraft with more than 500 to 600Sitzplätzen could at least reduce the number of takeoffs and landings are planned for Boeing and Airbus (Airbus, the industry remains under pressure to counteract the Boeing747 something to respond to a whole family can airlines offer).

New airports daunting, especially in the Far East are already under construction or planned in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, Guangzhou, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. Airline Association, IATA wait here with an annual growth in passenger numbers by ten percent. A key subsystem of the air transport is the regional transport. He uses lines shorter and medium length and with fewer passengers. A wide range of aircraft with a maximum of 100Sitzplätzen and is mainly used Propeller-/Turbinenantrieb here.