An Airplane In Every Driveway

At the end of World War II with over ten million veterans returning home from war, many small aircraft manufacturers dreamed of putting an airplance in every driveway.

It was not a lack of trying that prevented aircraft builders from placing an airplane in every driveway. Manufacturers began advertising the virtues of owning your own airplane in much the same way as the automobile had been promoted as a way of shrinking the world in the 1920s. Unfortunately for aircraft makers, a speedy, luxurious, and affordable airplane did not exist in the immediate postwar years, a fact consumers quickly realized.

The two-seat Piper Cub did sell for just shy of $2,000 in 1946, making it affordable for most middle-class consumers. The larger Stinson Voyager, which could seat four, sold for slightly more than five thousand dollars. But neither of these durable, well-constructed airplanes were very quick nor luxurious.

There was also the two-seater Ercoupe for $2,900 or the more costly Beechcraft Twin Beech for a costly sum of $60,000.

Even though the excitement of affordable airplanes led to record levels of production in 1946 (over 33,000 small aircraft were sold), the number of small planes sold declined severely and by 1951 fewere than three thousand aircraft were being delivered annually to private owners.

There are many reasons for the steady decline in private airplane sales. The planes on the market that were affordable were also somewhat boring. The buying public had an appetite for aerial excitement and the small private plane seemed more noisy and uncomfortable than the family cars on the market. Also, the more spaceious, luxurious models were overpriced. For the buyer, choosing between a car and an airplane was facilitated by lack of airports in which to land.

With over 30,000 surplus aircraft available for sale in the postwar period, buying an airplane new made little economic sense and private airplanes makers found themselves in serious financial trouble by the end of the 1940s.

A favorite of business pilots was the Tri-Pacer had a plush interior and cruising speed of 130 miels per hour.

Popular business travel evolved to the Cessna 120/140 series.

Piper and Cessna survived by catering to the business pilot with the Bonanza, utilizing war-tested technology, putting the pilot behind the controls of an advanced, high-performance aircraft. With its distinguishing V-tail assembly, which greatly reduced weight an drag, the Bonanza immediately set itself apart from the rest of the small airplane family.

By the end of the 1950s, the most notable light twin was the Piper Apache, which was capable of carrying five passengers at 170 miles per hour. Aero introduced teh Commander, a medium-size, twin-engine plane unique in its deployment of a high wing. Traveling at 200 miles per hour, the Commander's high wing configuration provided its seven passengers with tremendous views and a great deal of comfort.

Instead of an airplane in every driveway, there was a growing use of the private aircraft for a wide range fo activities. The agribusiness community found many uses for the airplane, as did the forestry industry.

As an expression of individual interest and pleasure, the home-built and antique aircraft enthusiasts began reviving the classic airplanes of the two world wars.

The airplaned had found a way in almost every sector or society.