Clyde V. Cessna, originally a motor mechanic, built his first
aircraft at Enid, Oklahoma, in the spring of 1911. Built and
flew several more before moving to Wichita, Kansas, in
1917. Founded Travel Air Manufacturing Company
with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman on February
5,1925. Disagreed with company policy on aircraft design
and in 1927
Cessna T-50
built self-financed monoplane which developed
into Airmaster and Model 195 series of four-seat
cantilever high-wing cabin monoplanes. Cessna-Roos Aircraft
Company established with Victor Roos on September
8,1927; Roos backed out and on December 31 the
present Cessna company was incorporated.
Production of "A" series (again with cantilever wings)
began 1928, as did BW three-seater. Built DC-6 prototype
1929, followed by four-seat DC-6A and 6B. Cessna
tried to keep factory functioning during the Depression,
producing 300 CG-2 primary gliders, but
120 / 140
finally had to
close in 1931. Company continued to exist and build several
highly successful custom-built racers. Factory
reopened 1934, but Clyde sold his interests and company
continued to be run by his son, a nephew, and T. Salter. Went on to develop highly successful Airmaster series and
in 1939 the first Cessna twin, the T-50 five-seat cabin
monoplane. Latter built in large numbers including nearly
1,200 Crane trainer versions for the RCAF. Adopted also
by USAAF,
170/172/175/182 Skylark
U.S. Army and Navy, and over 5,000 produced
during Second World War, serving in all theaters.
After the war Cessna began building light aircraft for
private and business use. The most successful early
models were Models 140 and 170, plus later Models 172,
305,180, and others which became world renowned.
Model 305 used widely for liaison duties during Korean
War and later as L-19/OE-1 Bird Dog (over 3,500 built).
In March 1952 acquired Seibel Helicopter Co
305A / O-1 Bird Dog
and
the CH-1 four-seat helicopter was developed and built in
small numbers. In 1972 Cessna became the world's first
company to have produced 100,000 aircraft. Production
has included nearly 2,000 twin-engined jet trainers and
A-37 strike aircraft for the U.S.A.F. and U.S. Military Assistance
Program. Company's Pawnee and Wallace divisions
taken into Aircraft division in 1984, but company
sold to General Dynamics in 1985 and then to
Textron Inc.
In July 1996 Cessna Single Engine Piston Facility opened
in
Cessna H-41 "Seneca"
Independence, Kansas, to reintroduce production of single-engined light aircraft to Cessna range. Currently
available Cessna aircraft are Cessna 172R and 172SP
Skyhawk four-seat lightplanes as much refined versions
of previous Skyhawk, four-seat 182S Skylane as refinement
of previous Skylane versions, six-seat 206H Stationair
and T206H Turbo Stationair as refinements of
previous versions, 208 Caravan (first flown 1982) as single-turboprop
commuter, business and cargo aircraft (among
other uses) offered in four civil versions plus as U-27A for
U.S. foreign
525 CitationJet
military sales, and a range of business jets as
six/seven-seat Model 525 CitationJet (first flown April
1991), nine/12-seat Model 550 Citation Bravo (first flown
April 1995), nine/ten-seat Model 560 Citation Ultra and
latest Ultra Encore (latter first flown July 1998), eight/ten-seat
Model 560-XL Citation Excel (first flown February
1996), 15-seat Model 650 Citation VII (first flown February
1991), ten-seat Model 680 Citation Sovereign (for certification
in year 2002), 11/14-seat Model 750 Citation X
(first flown December 1993), CJ1 (for delivery from year
2000 as successor to CitationJet), and eight-seat CJ2 (to
fly 1999).
