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lady who had taken a flight with the famous Arch Hoxey, a celebrated aviator who flew for the Wright Brother’s exhibition team. Van Hee’s enthusiasm convinced Clyde to put her on the payroll, and she helped to construct the first airplane built in Wichita. By February, a second airplane was taking shape in the workshop, one that would feature a small cockpit ahead of the pilot’s seat to accommodate a paying passenger.
When spring 1917 finally arrived, the new Cessna monoplane (and the first airplane built in Wichita) was ready for its maiden flight, which occurred late in March. With war clouds gathering over America as President Woodrow Wilson struggled to keep the nation out of the bloody conflict, on April 6 he asked Congress for a Declaration of War against the Central Powers. America was officially in the fight.
Anxious to do his part helping the war effort, Cessna wired the War Department that he could have two airplanes “ready for action,” including the two-place ship that he believed would be ideal for aerial reconnaissance. He offered the airplanes at a price of $4,000 each, but the government turned him down. Undaunted, Clyde next sent a telegram to Kansas Congressman William A. Ayres asking for assistance authorized under the National Defense Act recently passed by Congress. If he could not build airplanes for the military, he wanted to train pilots. He petitioned Ayres to wield his influence on Capitol Hill so Clyde could acquire
the equipment, vehicles and aircraft to establish a flight school. Once again, his hopes were dashed. The War Department would train its pilots, not civilians.
Clyde resumed his plans for a flight school, claiming in advertisements that it would be the first privately- operated flying institution west of the Mississippi River. Soon more than 25 applications arrived in the mailbox. Among the requirements for acceptance each applicant had to pass a physical examination (equally stringent as that of the U.S. Army) by a qualified physician. Only five young men were chosen: W.E. True, Joseph J. Smitheisler, Marion McHugh, Edgar B. Smith and E.F. Rickabaugh. Of these, True worked at the J.J. Jones facility, McHugh was employed by the Ponca Tent and Awning Company in town, and Smith was a student at the local Fairmount College. He also worked as an assistant to Homer Harden, a commercial photographer in the city.5
Plans called for the flying course to cost $400 and last about eight weeks. By the end of training, each pilot would be capable of flying one of Cessna’s monoplanes. Instruction began in June. Each day the student pilots were expected to arrive at Building “H” no later than 4:30 a.m. while the Kansas air was calm and cool. Clyde’s approach to ground school was unique – he suspended the 1913 monoplane above the floor and had each student sit in the pilot’s seat and learn the purpose of the rudder bar, wing warping and elevator controls.
When Clyde was satisfied that the fledglings thoroughly understood the controls, the airplane was moved outside and the boys learned how to start the cantankerous Elbridge engine. When that was mastered, they began taxiing the ship at low speeds across the flying field, gradually increasing throttle until short “hops” just off the ground were achieved followed by a safe landing. Of the five students, Smith and McHugh were deemed candidates to join the exhibition company. Clyde needed help meeting the more than 30 contracts for flights he had already lined up across the Midwest region. He reasoned that with three pilots and three airplanes, the 1917 exhibition season should be a great success.
As the demand for exhibition flights increased that summer, Clyde’s time to train his student pilots came to halt. The five boys began to complain, and eventually a lawsuit was filed claiming breach of contract. The
JULY 2017
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23