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of manufacture. To sweeten the deal, Mr. Jones offered a total of 73 acres of ground adjacent to the building for a flying field.
For Clyde, his new endeavor seemed full of hope and the promise of success. There was no incorporation of a company, no stockholders, no capital investment. Men of the Wichita Aero Club along with J.J. Jones simply had invited him to Wichita, provided a place to build airplanes and operate a flying school, all supported by a select group of businessmen. The Cessna Aeroplane Exhibition Company, as it was renamed, would continue to operate essentially as it had in the past. Only the location, facilities and particularly the possibilities, had changed.
In addition to setting up the new workshop in Building “I” at the Jones factory, Clyde and his brother were busy flying exhibitions that included flights at the Cowley County Fair on September 7. The local newspaper reported that Cessna thrilled the crowds by performing “fancy tricks in the sky.” Next stop for the Anzani- powered monoplane was the Hutchinson State Fair late in September, followed by a short flight back to Wichita. By the end of the month Clyde, Roy and their brother Noel were busy moving equipment into the workshop in preparation for building Cessna airplanes.
Clyde, however, was busy participating in the city’s annual Wheat Exposition held in the first week of
October. Sponsors of the event had hired Cessna to make a series of flights, and he received a handsome monetary reward for his efforts. Clyde flew almost every day, taking off about 5:00 p.m. when the winds were more favorable for a safe flight. The monoplane and its radial engine performed flawlessly and Clyde found himself the center of attention after each flight as newspaper reporters and curious onlookers bombarded him with questions. They wanted to know how airplanes flew and whether it was hard to learn to fly such a machine that, to many people, remained such a mysterious phenomenon.
In an effort to answer their questions and showcase their new facility, the brothers Cessna held an open house on October 5. Inside Building “I” Roy and Noel explained to guests how the woodworking equipment operated, the type of tools they used to build aircraft, along with a display of airplane parts and engines. Meanwhile, outside Clyde was kept busy discussing the monoplane’s airframe and its radial engine. People were quick to notice that the airplane had become an aerial billboard sporting an advertisement for Jack Spine’s clothing store located at 111 West Douglas Avenue. Others were fascinated by the monoplane’s engine and its seemingly odd arrangement of the six cylinders in a radial configuration. One reporter for the Wichita Eagle newspaper called it the “mighty French engine” and
JULY 2017 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 21