Scaling trajectories in civil aircraft (1913-1997)

Using entropy statistics we analyse scaling patterns in terms of changes in the ratios among product characteristics of 143 designs in civil aircraft. Two allegedly dominant designs, the piston propeller DC3 and the turbofan Boeing 707, are shown to have triggered a scaling trajectory at the level o f the respective firms. Along these trajectories different variables have b een scaled at different moments in time: this points to the versatility of a dominant design which allows a firm to react to a variety of user needs,S caling at the level of the industry took off only after subsequently reengi neered models were introduced, like the piston propeller Douglas DC4 and th e turbofan Boeing 767. The two scaling trajectories in civil aircraft corre sponding to the piston propeller and the turbofan paradigm can be compared with a single, less pronounced scaling trajectory in helicopter technology for which we have data during the period 1940-1996. Management and policy i mplications can be specified in terms of the phases of codification at the firm and the industry level. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.