Page 21 - Volume 12 Number 6

Clyde knew it was time to strike out on his own, and in January he informed Walter that he was resigning from the company to start his own business. Beech was sorry to see him go, but he offered encouragement and wished Clyde only success. They respected each other’s view on airplane design and construction and remained good friends for the remainder of their lives. Another reason for Cessna’s decision came from three Wichita businessmen who offered to buy Clyde’s (privately-held) stock in Travel Air. Profits from that transaction would soon allow him to realize his long-
standing desire to build and sell
“Monoplanes Cessna.”
Word spread quickly around town that Cessna was planning to create a new company. Cornered one day by the local press, Clyde told them that “Monoplanes are the only worthwhile type of aircraft.” With that statement he had set his course. Cessna would remain in Wichita where he intended to design, manufacture and sell airplanes bearing his name and featuring a full-cantilever wing. During the past 11 years he had believed such a structure was technically feasible, and now he would attempt to turn his convictions into reality.3
A few months later in April 1927, Cessna told the press that he was establishing the Cessna Aircraft Company with assets of two airplane designs, one employee and lots of optimism for the future. The two airplanes featured full-cantilever wings. One design, unofficially dubbed the Cessna All Purpose, would carry three occupants, have
JUNE 2018
a wingspan of 36 feet and a 100-horsepower radial engine. Its sister ship, the Cessna Common, featured a wing span of 47 feet, would carry up to five people and be powered by a Wright J-4 radial engine rated at 200 horsepower.
Clyde rented a small workshop, hired a few local, skilled craftsmen who had experience building airplanes, and began construction of the three-place ship, now renamed the Phantom. The fuselage dimensions were carefully outlined in chalk on the shop floor before the steel tubing was tack-welded to check alignment, then the fuselage was transferred to a wood jig for final welding.
The Cessna Aircraft Company also offered the Model BW powered by a Wright J-5 radial engine rated at 220 horsepower. The engine’s upper cylinders restricted forward visibility from the cockpit.
(ROBERT PICKETT COLLECTION/TEXTRON AVIATION)
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 19