Using multinational patent data to measure a design change in early aviation

Based on data from approximately 12,700 aeronautics and aviation patents from several countries between 1880 and 1914, this study measures the shift in designs over time, away from balloons and flapping wings and toward fixed-wing airplane designs. The data sets are eclectic and selectively coded, since the national patent classifications of technologies of the time did not always clearly make this distinction, although it is fundamental to the way in which a flying machine would work. We find that that the topics of aero patents had been shifting slowly toward fixed-wing designs, and away from balloon designs, since before 1900, and that it sped up after 1903. The transition in patents was clearly detectable and well underway by 1908 when many airplane-producing companies were founded around the world.