WORLD AVIATION GUIDE · EXPLORE
Manufacturers
ManufacturerSikorskySikorsky is now so closely identified with helicopters that its beginnings as a fixed-wing aircraft maker can be easy to miss. Igor Sikorsky had already designed aircraft in Europe before emigrating to the United States in 1919. In 1923 he established the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Company on Long Island, New York, with the help of …Explore →
ManufacturerLockheed MartinLockheed Martin was created on 15 March 1995, when two established American aerospace and defence companies combined. Lockheed Corporation was closely associated with aircraft, from transport planes to advanced military designs. Martin Marietta had interests in missiles, space systems and other defence technologies as well as a heritage that reached back to aircraft manufacture. Their …Explore →
ManufacturerSupermarineSupermarine did not begin with the Spitfire or even with a conventional land aeroplane. Its origins lay beside the River Itchen at Woolston, Southampton, where Noel Pemberton-Billing pursued the idea of building aircraft that could operate from water. In the years before the First World War, aviation was young enough for an inventor with access …Explore →
ManufacturerBoeingIn 1916, an aeroplane was still a fragile, unfamiliar machine to most Americans. William E. Boeing, a timber businessman in Seattle, saw something more durable in it. He had become interested in flying, worked with naval officer George Conrad Westervelt on a seaplane and backed the construction of the B & W. The aircraft first …Explore →
ManufacturerLeonardo S.p.A.Before Leonardo: Agusta, Westland and Italy’s Aviation Industry Leonardo’s name is relatively recent, but several of the businesses behind it were building aircraft long before the company adopted it. The story begins in separate workshops, factories and national industries. In Italy, Giovanni Agusta became involved in aircraft design in the early twentieth century. The Agusta …Explore →
ManufacturerAirbusAirbus began as a European effort to build a competitive passenger aircraft. It has since grown into a manufacturer of airliners, helicopters, military aircraft and space systems. Its name is most familiar from airport departure boards, where aircraft ranging from the compact A220 to the long-range A350 serve routes across the world. The company’s history …Explore →