Civilian aviation comprises a very wide sphere from hang gliders to helicopters and aerobatics to airliners it is far to big a field to be able to cover here.  However, what the majority of people associate with the term civilian aviation is the commercial air transport industry, and so this is the area that is look at on this page.

Although air balloons were carrying passengers in the late eighteenth century they had no choice of destination, they went where the balloon did and the balloon went wherever the wind took it.  Over a century later in 1910 people could at last choose a destination that they would arrive at, the first passenger air service had arrived using the Zeppelin airship, Deutschland, four years later the first scheduled aeroplane service carrying passengers and mail started in the USA.  The air-mail service was responsible for setting up most of the early air routes, mail was seen as the priority service, especially in the USA where delivery times could be greatly reduced, these mail planes often carried passengers and so routes were opened up.

The US Mail were indirectly responsible for the growth of the big airline companies in the USA, the money that the airlines made from the mail service gave them a guaranteed income that meant they could develop and extend their routes.  In Europe it was the governments who took control and developed their own airlines carrying freight, mail and passengers.  As aviation technology improved so the airlines were able to offer more routes, larger planes and more comfort.  The first aircraft to be considered the forerunner to today's airliners was the Boeing 247, it was an all metal construction, wheels that could be retracted and the cabin was insulated.  The 247 became instantly popular and Boeings order books were soon overflowing, however it was this popularity that lead to its down fall.  Boeing had full order books for the 247 and demand was outstripping production by an enormous amount, delivery times for new orders being years away, but the airlines wanted this new generation aeroplane now.  It was at this time that a relatively new aircraft manufacturer, Donald Douglas, were asked  to produce an alternative.  The alternative was the DC-1 which after modifications soon became the DC-2 and then the DC-3 (Dakota).  The Donald Douglas DC-3 and its derivatives was so successful that it became the most popular commercial aircraft of all time with over 10,300 built and by 1939 it was carrying approximately 90% of the worlds air passengers.

By 1939 the American airline Pan Am were operating scheduled flights across the Atlantic, however, WW2 was to slow down the development of  passenger services.  Although WW2 had an adverse affect on passenger services at the time, the developments during the war were to lead to greater benefits for air travellers.

Two developments that were to make major impacts on the air transport industry were the pressurised cabin and the jet engine.  Boeing once again led the world with the pressurised aircraft, originally developed  and used successfully on the  B-17 bomber it was soon at use on passenger airliners, the first of which was the Boeing Stratoliner.  The pressurised cabin enabled the plane to fly at altitudes of 20,000 feet and speeds of around 200 mph, both feats unheard of in passenger transport, this along with the jet engine were to revolutionise the industry, but not without a few teething problems.

The British plane makers De Haviland were the first to combine these technologies in 1952, when the first of their jet engined Comets entered passenger service, a plane that literally whisked passengers of to their destination at speeds up to 550 mph.  However, after a series of fatal air crashes linked to structural fatigue the whole fleet of aircraft were withdrawn and although the problem was eventually solved, when the comet was returned to traffic it had lost the confidence of the public and airlines alike.  Incidentally the comet is still regularly flying today with the RAF in the guise of the Nimrod aircraft.  In the mean time both Boeing and Donald Douglas were developing their own jet airliners and in 1958 the Boeing 707 became the next commercial jet airliner to enter regular passenger service, closely followed by the Douglas DC-8.  The commercial jet era had finally arrived and the jet soon began to dominate the long haul and large commercial aviation fields.

The development of new aircraft over the next decade was phenomenal, the growth in passenger numbers and air freight led to whole new ranges of aircraft being produced to satisfy demand and the list of aircraft is far to long to mention here, but one aircraft completed in 1969 stands head and shoulders above the rest in all meanings of the word, that plane being the Boeing 747, or Jumbo Jet.  The 747 was capable of  carrying over 400 passengers and first flew commercially in 1970.  The 747 is still being built today and Boeing still have orders for more of the aircraft on their books.  The basic shape of the 747 has remained pretty much the same although it now comes in several variations including a freighter and there is also a passenger version that can carry more than 600 people.  So by the early seventies we had the largest commercial aircraft and by the mid seventies we were also to have the fastest, the Anglo-French Concorde.  In 1976 the Concorde became the first and only supersonic commercial airliner capable of reaching speeds up to 1450 mph and halving long distance air travel times.

Today the latest generation of commercial airliners feature the latest innovations which benefit both the crew and the passengers.  The flight deck features the Glass Cockpit and Fly-by-Wire technology, while in the cabin passengers can view individual seat back televisions were they can choose from one of several in-flight films, various TV channels, or even play video games.  Cellular phones are already on board some aircraft along with fax facilities and future developments include providing Internet facilities to each seat.

The future of aviation still looks bright and although it looks very unlikely we will be seeing a regular passenger service into outer space for quite some time to come (if ever) there are lots of new developments waiting in the wings.  One such future development is the totally double-decker aeroplane, Airbus already have one on the drawing board, the A3XX, one airline (Virgin) has already expressed more than an interest in it, and has plans to convert two of the aircraft so as that they can provide a passenger sleeping section and an English pub as well as conventional seating area.