Cessna - History

History

The company traces its history to June 1911, when Clyde Cessna, a farmer in Rago, Kansas, built a wood-and-fabric plane and became the first person to build and fly an aircraft between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Cessna started his aircraft ventures in Enid, Oklahoma, testing many of his early planes on the salt flats. When bankers in Enid refused to lend him more money to build his planes, he moved to Wichita.

Cessna Aircraft was formed in 1927 when Clyde Cessna and Victor Roos became partners in the Cessna-Roos Aircraft Company. Roos resigned just one month into the partnership selling back his interest to Cessna. In the same year, the Secretary of State approved a name change to Cessna Aircraft Company. The Cessna DC-6 earned certification on October 29, 1929, sharing this day in history with the stock market crash of 1929.

Cessna Aircraft Company closed its doors from 1932 until 1934 due to the state of the economy. In 1934, 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 1933, Cessna CR-3 custom racer took its first flight. The plane won the 1933 American Air Race in Chicago and later set a new world speed record for engines smaller than 500 cubic inches by averaging 237 mph (381 km/h). In 1937, the Cessna C-37 was introduced as Cessna's first seaplane when equipped with Edo floats.

In 1940, the U.S. Army gave Cessna their largest order to date, when they ordered 33 specially equipped Cessna T-50s. Later this same year, the Royal Canadian Air Force placed an additional order for 180 T-50s.

1946 saw Cessna return to commercial production after the revocation of wartime production restrictions (L-48) with the release of the Model 120 and Model 140. The approach was to introduce a new line of all-metal aircraft that used production tools, dies and jigs rather than the hand-built process used older tube-and-fabric construction. In 1948 the Model 140 was named by the US Flight Instructors Association, as the "Outstanding Plane of the Year".

1955 saw Cessna's first helicopter, the Cessna CH-1, receive FAA type certification. In 1956, Cessna released the Cessna 172 which went on to become the most produced airplane in history.

In 1960, Cessna affiliated itself with Reims Aviation of Reims, France. 1963 saw Cessna produce its 50,000 airplane, a Cessna 172. Cessna's first business jet, the Cessna Citation I performed its maiden flight on September 15, 1969.

In 1975, Cessna produced its 100,000th single engine airplane.

In 1985, Cessna became a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamic Corporation. Production of the Cessna Caravan began.

In 1992, General Dynamics announced the sale of Cessna to Textron Inc.

On 27 November 2007, Textron announced that Cessna had purchased the bankrupt Columbia Aircraft company for US$26.4M and would continue production of the Columbia 350 and 400 as the Cessna 350 and Cessna 400 at the Columbia factory in Bend, Oregon.