Page 20 - Volume 12 Number 6

“Monoplanes Cessna”
Part One
In 1927, more than 11 years after he completed the first airplane built in Wichita, Clyde V. Cessna unveiled the Phantom cabin monoplane – a landmark design that paved the way for creation of the Cessna-Roos Aircraft Company.
by Edward H. Phillips
As the cold winter winds of 1926 blew into spanning 44 feet was mounted above the cabin. To those
Wichita, Kansas, Clyde Cessna was entering
his second year as president of the infant Travel Air Manufacturing Company. Although the enterprise was slowly establishing itself as a builder of rugged and dependable biplanes, Clyde was growing increasingly restless. He was anxious for the company to design and build its first monoplane, preferably one with a full cantilever wing configuration.
Travel Air’s fat order book, however, prevented any such ambitious plans as customers plunked down $3,500 to buy their own Model “A” biplanes. Sometime during January or February, Clyde approached Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman to ask if they would object to his building a monoplane on his own time and at his own expense outside of the company. There was no objection and both men wished him success. Cessna rented a small workshop on the west side of town, and by March initial construction was underway.1
Clyde had been working for months on the monoplane’s design, often laboring well into the night at his home on South Green Avenue. The airplane would feature an enclosed cabin for five occupants surrounded by generous window area, and a semi-cantilever wing
who knew Clyde well, it was no surprise that the ship would be powered by an Anzani static, air-cooled radial engine – a type that Cessna had been using since 1914. The 10-cylinder powerplant developed 110 horsepower, and Clyde estimated that the airplane would be capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds of passengers, fuel and lightweight cargo.
On June 14 with Cessna at the controls, the monoplane took to the skies on its maiden flight that lasted about 20 minutes. Clyde was satisfied that the monoplane met his basic expectations, and the next day Walter Beech flew the ship and was impressed with what his friend and business associate had created in such a relatively short period of time. Beech went so far as to suggest that the airplane held promise as the first Travel Air with one wing.2
Although the Type 5000 was a successful design for the young company, Cessna was not content. He wanted to upgrade the airplane with a full-cantilever wing that would eliminate drag-producing lift struts that supported the existing wing. There was no doubt in Walter Beech’s mind that Clyde’s design had demonstrated the merits of monoplanes, but he and the board of directors were skeptical about building a full-cantilever wing.
Clyde Cessna posed for
the camera with his latest design he called The Comet. Built in 1917, the Anzani-powered monoplane featured a cockpit in front
of the pilot that could accommodate a passenger, albeit a small one.
(EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
18 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JUNE 2018