Page 28 - Volume 15 Number 1

IN HISTORY
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2021
Before America’s entry into World War II the Wichita Division de- signed and built a prototype monoplane as a potential replace- ment for PT-13 and PT-17 primary trainers. Designated Model 90, the two-place ship was powered by a Lycoming radial engine rated at 225 horsepower. The Army Air Corps tested the ship and decided it had potential as a basic, not primary, trainer. (Kansas Aviation Museum)
orders for new airplanes. Dwane Wallace and the Cessna Aircraft Company received a contract from the Royal Canadian Air Force to build the Crane I – a military version of the popular commercial Model T-50 that first flew in March 1939. The Canadian order came on the heels of a contract worth more than $1 million from the U.S. War Department for 33 advanced, multi-engine training versions of the T-50 designated AT-8. One other major Wichita manufacturer, Beech Aircraft Corporation, held multiple contracts worth more than $9 million for military versions of the Model 17 cabin biplane and the Model 18 twin-engine transport. Taken all together, in September 1940 Boeing’s Stearman Division, Cessna Aircraft and Beech Aircraft were scrambling to build $40 million-worth of training, transport and liaison airplanes.
In addition to the X-100/XA-21 project, by 1939 officials at the Boeing Aircraft Company sought to preserve its reputation and leadership as a major supplier of primary training airplanes. In 1936 preliminary studies were authorized and these continued into 1937