The Capital Cycle Podcast Masters of the Air
Mar 31, 2026
Ben Slingsby, a European equities analyst at Marathon London focused on aerospace and capital-cycle analysis. He traces early aviation milestones, explains how consolidation created world-class engine and supplier oligopolies, and discusses tight production, multi-year backlogs, and why engine makers enjoy durable aftermarket revenue and strong shareholder returns.
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Early European Aviation Sparked Rapid Technical Advances
- Louis Blériot's 1909 Channel flight kickstarted European aeronautical fame and rapid innovation.
- Early milestones included the Gnome rotary engine, biplane dominance, Hugo Junkers' 1915 all‑metal J-1, and the Rolls‑Royce Merlin of the 1930s.
Early Aircraft Boom Produced Many Failures
- Edward Chancellor recounts Warren Buffett's 1999 finding that hundreds of early US aircraft makers mostly failed by 1999.
- He notes Claude Graham White ran Graham White Aviation, a WWI manufacturer that went bust in 1924 despite early promise.
Consolidation Created Attractive Market Structure
- Post‑Cold War consolidation created an oligopolistic aerospace structure in Europe that improved investor returns.
- Airbus and Boeing form a duopoly while Rolls‑Royce, Safran and others anchor a strong tier‑one supply chain.