Plane Facts: Post-War Aviation

Learn more about post-war aviation with these cool and interesting facts.

Number of U.S. civilian pilots, 1939: 33,706

Year WWII ended: 1945

Number of U.S. military personnel at war's end: 12 million

Number stationed abroad: 7.6 million

Number in the Army Air Forces: 2.4 million

Number in AAF by mid-1947: 306, 000

Date of G.I. Bill signing: June 22, 1944

Number of G.I.s who took advantage of it: More than 5 million

One big G.I. Bill benefit: Flight training

Number of pilots demobilized after WWII: Approximately 2 million

Airliners in U.S. during the war: 360

Number of them requisitioned by the military: 200

Post-WWII airline pilot opportunities: Few

Reasons: Unions, a glut of pilots and too-few positions

Rule that resulted: Mandatory age 60 retirement

Most popular airliner pre- and immediately post-WWII: Douglas DC-3

Number of airplanes built in U.S. in 1939: 921

Number in 1944: 96,318

Number of civil planes built in U.S. 1947-1950: Almost 30,000

Year Aeronca Champ and Chief introduced: 1945

Number built 1945-1950: About 10,000

Year Aeronca ceased aircraft production: 1951

Year Globe Swift introduced: 1946

Production first six months: 833

Sales first six months: Unknown, estimated at less than 500

First bankruptcy: 1947

Purchaser: TEMCO

Number built by TEMCO: Approximately 650

Total number Swifts built 1946-1950: About 1,500

Year TEMCO went out of business: 1950

First Beech Bonanza: 1947

Number produced 1947-1948: 1,500

Years in production: 1947-present, 71 years and counting

Piper Super Cub introduced: 1949

Number built 1949-1982, 1988-1994: Around 9,000

Number of planes built in 1947: 15,594

Next year of 10,000-plus planes: 1965

Number built in 1951: 2,302

First supersonic flight: 1947, Bell X-1 Rocket plane

Number of U.S. civilian pilots, 1949: 525,194