The Early Development of the Aviation Industry

The Early Development of the Aviation Industry: Entrepreneurs of the Sky provides an introduction to the world of the early aviation industry and the business endeavours of the original aviators.

Many of the first pioneers who flew heavier-than-air planes went on to develop considerable industrial concerns. In doing so they exhibited a number of entrepreneurial qualities, which provide useful case studies for those interested in studying how successful entrepreneurs create or develop opportunities at the inception and emergence of high-tech industries. This book looks at the careers of pioneer aviators in the United States, Britain and France such as A.V. Roe, Thomas Sopwith, Glenn Curtiss and William Boeing. It examines this group of entrepreneurs during the start-up and early development stages of an emerging industry undergoing considerable technological change, and relates this experience to contemporary studies and experiences of entrepreneurship. The book explores what made these men successful in their entrepreneurial endeavours to help promote a better understanding of what makes an entrepreneur and what business and economic conditions are needed to allow such men to be successful.

This book makes a major contribution to our knowledge of the development of the twentieth century economy and is essential reading for students and academics who are interested in the development of aviation and the nature of entrepreneurial behaviour.

Malcolm Abbott is an Associate professor of Economics at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. The main fields of work in which he has been engaged have been the development of utilities including airports, energy markets and the manner in which pricing and access to network infrastructure is regulated by government agencies. In addition, he has also worked in other areas of government policy including aviation, rail, dairy industry deregulation, stevedoring and education.

Jill Bamforth is Academic Director for Work Integrated Learning at the Faculty of Business and Law at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia. She lectures and publishes in management and entrepreneurship.