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A brief description & profiles or photos of notable Airliner Aircraft amalgamated from web
sources. Original article from
http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/Aviation%20history/airliners/airliners%20time%20line.htm
1913 to 1930
Benoist XIV
1913 December 31
The first airliner in the World. In 1914, the
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat line carried
passengers between Tampa and St.
Petersburg, Florida, using a Benoist flying
boat. The service was quite successful but
in service for only a few months.
De Havilland DH-16
Fokker F.II
Junkers F-13
1
Lawson C-2 Airliner
1919 Built for the Lawson Transportation
Company, Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA. Totally
enclosed large aircraft, 27 Passengers & 2
crew. Not commercially accepted.
Blériot-Spad 33
Fokker F.III
De Havilland D.H.34
2
Handley Page W.8e/f Hamilton
Junkers G-23/G-24
Short Calcutta
Boeing Model 40
Fokker F.VII/3m
Kalinin K-1
Savoia-Marchetti S.55Ñ/P
3
Armstrong Whitworth AW 154 Argosy
Junkers G31
1926
Airline: Guinea Airways Country:
Germany. All-metal trimotor of second half
of the 1920s. 3 Junkers L.5 engines
110 mph cruise
Span 99 feet
Length 53 feet
Fokker F.VIII
4
Lockheed Vega
Rohrbach Ro V Rocco
Boeing Model 80
Kalinin K-4
5
Sikorsky S-38
Rohrbach Ro X Romar
Junkers G-38
1929 Airline: Deutsche Luft Hansa
Country: Germany
34 passengers, 4 Junkers Jumo engines
129 mph cruise
Span 144 feet
Length 75 feet
Latécoère Laté 28
Westland IV Wessex
6
1931 to 1939
The early post-Great War aircraft had been replaced with multi-engined aircraft specially
designed for airline service and carrying many tens of passengers per flight.
The first modern-looking sleek metal airliners also came into service in the 1930s.
Arguably the most important airliner that came from pre-World War Two designers was
the Douglas DC-3.
Europe introduced several important new airliners in 1938/39, notably the Savoia-
Marchetti 73/83 airliners. Were it not for the war these planes would most likely have
become commonly used by European airlines. Due to the war the post-war airliner that
took the airline market was to be American-made.
The nature of airline operations showed hopeful signs of long-haul possibilities in the
1930s, when Pan American Airways and Imperial Airways competed in trans-oceanic
services using large flying boat airliners. This would give important experience for the
wartime operations over the Atlantic and for post-war airline operations.
Sikorsky S-40
7
Boeing 247D
Fokker F.22
Junkers Ju-52\3m
8
Douglas DC-1
Fokker F.20
Martin M-130
9
Barkley Grow T8P1
Douglas DC-2
Fokker F.36
10
Junkers Ju-86
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.73
Sikorsky S-42
11
Wibault - Penhoët 283
Dewoitine 338
Potez 62
Farman 2200
12
Short S23 Empire Boat
1936 Airline: Imperial Airways
'Canopus' Country: UK
24 passengers, 4 Bristol Pegasus
engines
164 mph cruise
Span 114 feet
Length 88 feet
The Empire boat was used on the
“horseshoe” route by Imperial and
Qantas. BOAC used them in the war in
Australasia.
Bloch 120
Junkers Ju-90
13
Lockheed L.14
Nakajima P-2 AT
Bloch 220
14
De Havilland D.H.91 Albatross
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.83
15