December 6, 2022 Match Game

The Liberty Gazette

December 6, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: When pilots get together and talk shop, it’s like car fanatics when the names of makes and models of airplanes start to fly. Many of the names may be unrecognizable to the uninitiated, and they’re not likely to know the difference. So, we thought we might try and make a little sense out of it, just for fun. 

Among the companies that build airplanes is Textron, their brand name divisions being Cessna Aircraft Company, Beech Aircraft Company, and Bell Helicopters. Matching that aircraft manufacturer to a car builder, the closest comparison would be General Motors Corporation with its GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac divisions. 

Ford Motor Company, along with its Lincoln division, which is the next largest car company in the world, would be kind of equivalent to Piper Aircraft Corporation, though Cirrus may say they are number one in small planes. Cirrus, which some liken to the Mercedes of aircraft, may currently be putting out more planes than Piper, but I’m considering the total number of aircraft built.

Aircraft manufacturer Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, would get the John Deere match because they build crop dusters.

The Chrysler Corporation with its Dodge sports cars, Jeeps, and Ram pickups is kind of difficult to match with an aircraft manufacturer. Aviat with their Huskey bush airplanes and Maule Aircraft are good for the off-road types, but then, Cessna does a pretty good job in this category too. DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada sold its rough-country aircraft division to a company named Viking Aircraft which has been churning out an updated version of the Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Twin Otter as well as supporting the older Beavers and Otters still in the field. Mooney Aircraft makes clean and quick airplanes, but you don’t want to take them into a rough strip. 

There are a lot of other airplane manufacturers. Like car builders, many have become divisions of other companies, a product line, or they have disappeared altogether. Recently, the last Learjet rolled off the assembly line, and Bombardier, Learjet’s owners, closed down the plant in Wichita. 

Now we come to the big plane builders, Boeing and Airbus. What can I say? They build mostly long-haul Greyhound and Trailways buses. The shorter and smaller “buses” are built by Bombardier, Embraer and Aerospatial. They all once had distinctive personalities, but these days it is becoming more difficult to tell them apart, as they are created by computer programs rather than the imaginations of their designers. 

The computer-designed future drone air mobility aircraft are going to be the Teslas.

Lockheed Martin made the aerial Peterbuilt and Kenworth trucks – the C-130 Hercules, C-141 Starlifter, and the C-5A Galaxy. 

McDonnel Douglas (now Boeing) built the Mack Truck – the C-17 Globemaster. 

Finally, for airplanes that look fast just sitting on the ramp, clean lines and crisp controls, yet economical, the flying match for the Mazda Miata is the Grumman American cats – the Tiger and Cheetah, which includes the Elyminator.

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