Clyde Vernon Cessna (; December 5, 1879 – November 20, 1954) was an American aircraft designer, aviator, and early aviation entrepreneur. He is best known as the principal founder of the Cessna Aircraft Corporation, which he started in 1927 in Wichita, Kansas.

Biography

Early years

Cessna was born on December 5, 1879, in Hawthorne, in Montgomery County, Iowa, the son of Mary Vandora (Skates) and James William Cessna. Cessna's family was of French and German ancestry. When he was two years old, 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 later became a successful car dealer in Enid, Oklahoma.

Cessna'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. After realizing his interest in aviation, Cessna left Oklahoma and moved to New York State where he worked for a short period at the Queen Aeroplane Company where he first learned about the construction of aircraft. Cessna continued to teach himself how to fly over the next several months until December 1911, when he made a successful flight and a successful landing at the point of departure.

The middle years

thumb|left|The factory from 1917

After the success of the Silverwing, Cessna permanently quit his work with the automobile industry to pursue his interests in aviation. Between 1912 and 1915, Cessna developed several new monoplanes, all powered by an Anzani 6-cylinder with 40–60 hp. During this time, Cessna often flew his aircraft at holiday events and county fairs, an endeavour that at the time proved to be lucrative. After two years, Cessna left the company with plans to start his own firm, In the later part of 1927, Cessna struggled to design and build an efficient monoplane. The AW was completed near the end of 1927.

After turning over the Cessna Aircraft Corporation to his nephews, Dwane and Dwight Wallace, Cessna returned to a life of farming. Upon Dwane's request, he agreed to participate in the company but served mostly in a ceremonial capacity and stayed out of the company's day-to-day business.

He was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1978 and the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 1983. He was ranked number 27 on Flying magazine's list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation in 2013. The Kingman Airport – Clyde Cessna Field in Kingman, Kansas is named in his honor.

References

Further reading

  • Bissionette, Bruce, The Wichita 4: Cessna, Moellendick, Beech & Stearman, (from interviews with Matty Laird, Lloyd Stearman, Olive Ann Beech, Dwane Wallace, Herb Rawdon, Walter Burnham, and other principals).
  • Deneau, Gerald An Eye to the Sky. 1962, Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, KS (semi-official company history, with exceptional detail and unusual candor about some products)
  • Phillips, Edward H., Cessna: A Master's Expression. Eagan, MN: Flying Books, 1985. (the principal biography of Clyde Cessna)
  • Phillips, Edward H., Cessna: Model 120 to Citation III. Eagan, MN: Flying Books, 1986.
  • Phillips, Edward H., Wings of Cessna: Model 120 to Citation X. Eagan, MN : Flying Books International, ©1994.
  • Rodengen, Jeffrey L., The Legend of Cessna. (Cessna-sponsored history, mostly derivative of others' writings, including those listed above), 2007, Ft. Lauderdale, FL:Write Stuff, Inc.,
  • Christy, Joe; revised by Brian J. Dooley, A Complete Guide to Single-Engine Cessnas, 4th.ed., 1993, TAB/McGraw-Hill, New York
  • "Clyde Cessna," September 1996, Aviation History magazine by Edward H. Phillips on HistoryNet.com (detailed feature article on Clyde Cessna by his principal biographer)
  • Clyde Cessna and the Founding of the Cessna Aircraft Company from Disciples of Flight
  • "Why the Cessna is such a Badass plane", Clyde Cessna & the early days of his eponymous company. Popular Mechanics, 2019
  • From the Ground Up short film presented by the Kansas Humanities Council