 Clyde Vernon Cessna was born in Hawthorne, Iowa on December 5, 1879 to James W. Cessna and Mary Skates . When he was 2, he and his family moved to rural Rago in Kingman County, Kansas along the Chikaskia River. During his boyhood he used his self-taught innovation and mechanical skills to improve farm machinery and to develop new farming methods. He went to Enid, Oklahoma, in 1908 and by 1910 was manager of the Overland automobile dealership.Clyde's interest in aviation began in 1910 after witnessing an aerial exhibition in his home state of Kansas. It was this exhibition that led him in future years to pursue his career in aviation. In 1911 Cessna went to Oklahoma City to watch an exhibition of the Moisant International Aviators. The fliers supplied him with the name of a company in New York that built airplanes similar to the ones they flew. Clyde left Oklahoma and moved to New York where he worked for a short period at the Queen Aeroplane Company where he first learned about the construction of aircraft. Clyde Cessna started his aircraft ventures in Enid, Oklahoma, testing many of his early planes on the salt flats. When bankers in Enid refused to loan him more money to build his planes, he moved to Wichita.  In 1911, he set out to build his first airplane, an airplane he named "silverwing". His first design was a monoplane, constructed of spruce and linen and which took the form of an American version of the Bleriot XI. The engine was a modified Elbridge motorboat motor, dubbed the "aero special", which was a 2 stroke, 4 cylinder engine with a maximum of 40 hp (30 kW) and 1,050 rpm. Upon completion, he sought to test the aircraft at the Great Salt Plains (adjacent to the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge) in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. His first attempt at flight ended in a ground loop which required $100 to repair. After repairs, Cessna attempted flight 13 more times, each time ending in some sort of failure. Finally on his 13th attempt, Cessna got a glimpse of hope as his aircraft bounced up into the air for a short time before crashing into the trees as he attempted to turn it. After his crash, Cessna exclaimed in frustration, "I'm going to fly this thing, then I'm going to set it afire and never have another thing to do with aeroplanes!". Finally, in June 1911 Cessna had his first successful flight. The crowds that had scoffed at his failures changed their tone and began calling him a "daring hero" and nicknamed him the "Birdman of Enid". Cessna continued to teach himself how to fly over the next several months until December 1911 when he made a successful 5-mile (8.0 km) flight and a successful landing at the point of departure. It was in 1916 that Clyde acquired a vacant building to begin building a new aircraft for the 1917 aviation exhibition season. His factory served a dual purpose as he also opened a flight school in which he had five enrolled student pilots. However in April 1917 when the United States declared war, the exhibition flying market ground to a halt. With his primary source of income grounded, Clyde returned to his old home near Rago, Kansas where he resumed his duties on the family farm. After the war, cheaply available surplus airplanes diluted the market for civilian-built craft. Barnstorming replaced formal exhibitions, and Cessna marked time working his farm. Meantime, in 1923, the Swallow Aeroplane Company (E.M. Laird, proprietor) opened for business in Wichita. Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman were officers of the new Swallow Company. Toward the end of 1924, Beech and Stearman resigned from Swallow and planned to start another firm. They approached Clyde Cessna and offered him the presidency of the new business. In 1925 they established the Travel Air Company with Cessna as president, Beech V.P., and Lloyd Stearman as Chief Engineer. While Cessna was president, the company soon became one of the leading United States aircraft manufacturers. This success may be attributed to Cessna's advanced design concepts and aircraft that attained international recognition in the course of establishing numerous speed and distance records. In 1926, they made 46 aircraft, but Cessna and Beech were beginning to disagree on plane types. Cessna had always favored monoplanes, but Beech insisted on biplanes. In 1927, Cessna wanted to build a full cantilever Travel Air monoplane, but Beech would not agree. Cessna sold his stock to Beech in April and resigned from the company. He bought a shop in Wichita and started to work on that aircraft, a 4-place, cabin monoplane, powered by a 120HP Anzani engine, that he called the "Comet". Later that year the Cessna Aircraft Company was founded. On 7 September 1927, the Cessna Aircraft Corporation officially became incorporated. In the later part of 1927, Cessna struggled to design and build an efficient monoplane. The "AW" was completed near the end of 1927, a single wing aircraft with top speeds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h) and a maximum cruise time upwards of 7 hours. The first plane flew on August 13, 1927. In the following decade, the company produced many racing and sports aircraft generally known for their tradition of safety, performance and economy. Despite the success of new models, the Great Depression led to a catastrophic drop in aircraft sales, a bankruptcy filing for the corporation, and the complete closure of the company in 1931. In 1934, Cessna reopened his Wichita plant which he soon sold to his nephews in (1936). Dwane Wallace, with the help of his brother Dwight, took control of the company and began the process of building it into what would become a global success. In his later years Clyde and his wife, Europa Dotzour Cessna, resided at the country place near Rago, Kansas, where they lived after their marriage June 6, 1905. This became a center throughout his life for his farm-related businesses, which underwrote much of his aviation enterprises and retirement needs. |
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Clyde Cessna Norwich, Kas., Church Is Scene of Rites for Pioneer Airman Norwich, Kas., Nov. 23, [1954].(INS) - Funeral services were to be held in the Methodist church here this afternoon for Clyde V. Cessna, 74, pioneer airman, who died Saturday night at his home in Rago, Kas. The founders of the Cessna Aircraft company in Wichita had been living on a farm at Rago, in semi-retirement the last few years. Internationally know for his aviation achievements, Cessna produced Wichita's first airplane, which he flew in Oklahoma in 1911. Surviving are his wife, Europa; a son, Eldon Cessna of El Segundo, Calif., and a daughter, Mrs. Wanda McVey of Whittier, Calif. |
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Eldon Cessna, who designed the World War II-era P-51 Mustang and the F-86 fighter jet used in the Korean War, died Saturday at age 84. Cessna was the son of Clyde Cessna, founder of Cessna Aircraft Co., a commercial aircraft builder. In 1930, Eldon's Cessna's CG-2 glider helped pull his family company out of financial straits. He left Cessna Aircraft in 1934 and joined Douglas Aircraft Co. as a design engineer. He went to North American Aviation -- later Rockwell International -- in 1938 and remained until his retirement in 1969. Publication Date: February 24, 1992 Source: Buffalo News |