The aviation industry truly took off after the First World War.
Aviators, many of whom were fighter pilots returned from the
war, worked to establish civilian aviation companies, and
purchased readily available surplus military aircraft like the Curtiss Canuck JN-4.These small aeronautic enterprises offered
services from summer barnstorming to carrying freight,
passengers and mail.
As the aviation industry developed, so did the demand for
bigger, faster, aircraft with longer ranges and closed cabins to
protect the pilot, passengers and freight from the harsh
elements. The arrival of the Douglas DC-3 in 1935 was the
culmination of the pressures of commercial expansion felt over
these two decades.
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