- Character of the industry
- Aerospace products, manufacturers, and markets
- Industry processes
France and Germany, both aware of the military potential of aircraft, began relatively large-scale manufacturing around 1909. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, France had built a total of 2,000 airplanes, of which 1,500 were military; Germany ranked second with about 1,000 military aircraft; and Britain a distant third with 176. The United States lost its lead in aeronautics as the combined civil and military market for American airplanes was insufficient to permit the industry to grow significantly; only 49 aircraft were produced in 1914. In addition, patent rights remained a major difficulty for the industry. Recognizing a national need to advance aircraft technology independently, the U.S. Congress created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in March 1915.
French industry, assisted by rapidly expanding facilities in Great Britain, carried the production load of the Allies during the war. When the United States entered the war in 1917, however, the French government requested that it furnish more than 4,000 planes for active service by early 1918. To meet the demand, including that of the U.S. Army, the U.S. government and American aircraft manufacturers entered into a patent-licensing agreement on July 24, 1917, and formed the Manufacturers Aircraft Association, which allowed its members the use of patents for a fixed royalty fee.
Because American aircraft manufacturers and suppliers had no experience in large-scale production, the government enlisted automobile manufacturers to mass-produce engines and airplanes. For its own use the U.S. Army ordered the production of the two-seat British De Havilland DH-4 bomber and the American-designed Curtiss JN-4 Jennie trainer. By the end of the war 4,500 DH-4s had been built in the United States, 1,213 of which were shipped to Europe. Although American production was too late to matter militarily, by the 1918 Armistice American factories were capable of producing 21,000 planes per year. Worldwide 210,000 aircraft were produced from 1914 to 1918. In the United States the greatest success of wartime production was the very advanced 12-cylinder, water-cooled, 400-horsepower Liberty engine, developed for the DH-4.