Page 30 - Volume 13 Number 12

= A Warner “Super Scarab” static, air­cooled radial engine rated at 145 horsepower replaced the Model AW’s 110­horsepower Warner powerplant.
The prototype airplane was completed August 9 and licensed by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) as NX12599, constructor No. 234. The next day the handsome ship was rolled out of the factory and prepared for its first flight. Dwane Wallace carefully inspected the new Cessna before local pilot George Harte climbed aboard and fired up the seven­cylinder Super Scarab engine.
A series of flights during the next few days revealed a maximum speed of 162 mph and a cruise speed of 145 mph. It looked as though Dwane had designed a worthy successor to his uncle’s Model AW.
A few weeks later after a slate of engineering flight tests were completed by Harte and Wallace, the CAA’s Jim Peyton flew the ship and worked closely with Wallace and Harte as the C­34’s flight characteristics were probed, including recovery from intentional spins in both left and right directions. Those tests went well, and in the autumn of 1934 only one obstacle remained: submitting stress analysis and engineering drawings to the CAA for approval and, hopefully, issuance of the coveted Approved Type Certificate (ATC).
Ambassador Hotel for two dollars a day and went to the CAA’s office where he met engineer Al Vollmecke. For five weeks Vollmecke perused every document and drawing with Wallace by his side. Inevitably, some changes had to be made to stress analysis calculations, and Dwane made many trips down the street to a blueprint shop where the alterations were made.
Finally, Vollmecke gave the Cessna C­34 his and the CAA’s stamp of approval. The Cessna Aircraft Company was issued ATC 573 June 8, 1935, and the prototype airplane was sold to the Sundorph Aeronautical Corporation later that year.
The takeoff was uneventful and
after putting the C­34 through its
paces on a short test flight, Harte
landed and reported to Wallace
that the airplane handled well and
had good performance, considering
that it had only 145 horsepower. D.C. Dwane took a room in the CAA and his workforce made repairs
Armed with a suitcase full of documentation, Wallace hopped on an eastbound bus to Washington,
During 1935, the Cessna factory slowly began receiving orders for the C­34, but money was tight. To supplement revenue and keep the tiny payroll intact, Wallace obtained a repair station certificate from the
and alterations to a wide variety of airplanes. By late 1935, three airplanes per month were rolling off the assembly line and consumer interest in the handsome monoplane was increasing.
Thanks to the Wallace brothers, their uncle Clyde’s airplane factory was back in business and the future looked bright. His nephews had inflicted a righteous revenge on the old board of directors, and now the sky was the limit. KA
Ed Phillips, now retired and living in
the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kan. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
DECEMBER 2019
28 • KING AIR MAGAZINE