Spartan Aircraft Company

The Spartan Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturing company, headquartered on Sheridan Avenue near the Tulsa Municipal Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

William G. "Bill" Skelly, founder of the Skelly Oil Company came to be known as "Mr. Tulsa". In the 1920's he turned his business into one of the world's largest independent oil companies.

While his oil company was growing to be the largest in the world he was excited by airplanes and sponsored the Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and Captain Midnight radio shows.

In January 1928 he purchased the Mid-Continent Aircraft Company of Tulsa, a firm that had experienced indifferent success in its attempts to manufacture airplanes. Renamed the Spartan Aircraft Company, it marked Skelly Oil Company's first departure from the petroleum industry.

The company was started as an aeronautical college and airplane manufacturer whose early production consisted of open cockpit, canvas bodied biplanes, used for flight training schools, sportsmen fliers, and fixed base operators.

The firm was soon manufacturing the Spartan, a two-place biplane noted for its stability and sturdy construction. The first aircraft produced by the Spartan Aircraft Company was the Spartan C3 open-cockpit biplane. Built in 1926 (first flight 25 October 1926), the C3-1 was the first of a series of variants of the design for flight schools, sportsman aviators, and Fixed-Base Operators (FBO).

To boost sales the company in 1929 established the Spartan School of Aeronautics to train prospective buyers of the aircraft. The company was known for the luxurious Spartan Executive aircraft produced in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The economic depression strained Skelly's personal finances, and in 1935, J. Paul Getty purchased a controlling interest in the company from Skelly.

When World War II broke out J. Paul Getty tried to enlist, going directly to the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. Instead, Knox told Getty he would serve his country better if he helped manage Spartan Aircraft to help with the production of planes for the war.

After World War II, Getty ended aircraft production and converted the company to manufacturing trailers under the Spartan Manor brand — made a variety of trailers from single-axle models to huge mobile homes that were beautifully crafted, subsequently ending all production in 1961.
Spartan Aircraft Company

Airbus Company in history

Airbus Industry GIE was established in 1970 as a European collaborative venture for the development and production for large civil aircraft and from its inception had to find a way to compete against the US industry to gain a part of the market.

It was established as a French-German consortium later joined by Spanish and UK firms.

The four Airbus partner companies had operations in France, Germany, Spain and the UK, with each partner company having work-share responsibilities that reflected their particular areas of expertise.

The first Airbus transport, a wide-body twin engine jet called the A300, entered service in 1974. A complete family of Airbus models followed, competing head to head with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. 

Within ten years of its inception, Airbus captured a strong foothold in the market for large passenger jets, having 256 orders from 32 countries.

This encouraged the consortium partners to turn their loose alliance into a more structured federation and to conceive a long term vision to develop a complete family of large aircraft, ranging from 100-seat to 400-seat passenger jets.

In 2000, in response to the new bigger Boeing, Airbus became bigger as well. Three Airbus partners – Aerospatiale Matra of France, Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Germany and Construcciones Aerospatiale of Spain – merged to form a single integrated firm, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS).

In 2010, Airbus achieved a 50.7% share of the global market.
Airbus Company in history

History of Boeing Company

History of Boeing Company
Shortly after the Wright brother’s famous flight, William Boeing assembled his first seaplane and established the Boeing B&W Seaplane Company in 1916.

On May 9, 1917, the company became the “Boeing Airplane Company.”

In the 1930s and 1940s Boeing manufactured bombers and aircraft for commercial transport.

In 1954 the company developed the first prototype of 707, which ultimately revolutionized our travel around the world.

In 1967 McDonnell Douglas was formed by a merger of two separate companies, McDonnell and Douglas.

The merged company continued to manufacturer commercial aircraft, combat aircraft and space vehicles.

McDonnell Douglas introduced the DC-3, which became so popular that 90 percent of the world’s air travelers flew on them.

North American Aviation Inc. was first established in 1928.

In the beginning the company focused its business primarily on small, single engine to avoid competing with manufacturer of large, multi-engine aircraft.

During the late 1930s the company also began to make military aircraft. According to the company, between the years 1939 – 67 the company built more military aircraft than nay other aircraft manufacturer in the United States.

McDonnell Douglas developed Mercury and Gemini, the manned space flights in the early 1960s. In 1968 Boeing introduced its jumbo jet, the 747, to meet the growing demand for air travel and MacDonnell Doulas developed the F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft.

The business interests of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and North American began to intersect in the 1960s when they became partners on the NASA Apollo Program, followed by the International Space Station.

The three companies finally merged in December 1996 to become the New Boeing.

A prime motive for the merger was to compete more effectively with rivals.
History of Boeing Company