Before you can fly a plane, it has to be built. The first aircraft manufacturers were the Wright brothers that completed the first motorized flight in 1903. Nowadays, you can count the large aircraft manufacturers on a single hand. It are Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas. A little less known are Ilyushin and Tupulev, both originated in Russia. The Russian government has a plan to start a new concern with some aircraft factories. These two companies will be part of the United Aircraft Building Corporation as well.

Besides the giants, there are multiple smaller factories. We include the Ukranian builder Antonov, British Aerospace, Embraer and Saab. Furthermore, we've published information about a couple of manufacturers that don't exist any more, one of which is the Dutch company Fokker. Also Lockheed is rated as 'discontinued' (although they still make figher planes), Douglas (well known for its DC-3 Dakota) and one of the manufacturers that worked on the Concorde: Aérospatiale. That last company was finished by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company after a lot of mergers. And from that large business, Airbus is the division that produces the commercial jets. You still understand?

Via the links on the left you can scroll through the manufacturers and, eventually, through their products.