Cook Airfield was established in 1957 and once served as a reliever facility for Cessna to tie down planes waiting to be ferried around the nation. The decades that followed led the property away from aviation. At one point it was a site for motorcycle racing and the airport ultimately fell into disrepair.

• READ MORE: Airpark HOAs Aim to Keep Pace With Capital Improvements, Maintenance

The current ownership group, Crosswinds Aviation, as local aviators would testify, performed a complete 180 on the airport.

“I was keeping my plane here at the airport, and the rumor was that it was for sale. Once we tried to buy it, it was already under contract,” said Greg Thomas, Cook Airfield’s co-owner. “Then 9/11 happened, the contract fell through, and we started negotiating to purchase the airport. Two years later, we ended up buying Cook Airfield from the trust.”

Thomas knew it would be a significant challenge to get the airport to where he thought it should be. It took years of hard work to rechart the airport’s course.

“It was a complete junkyard when we got it,” Cook said. “You could only land on the east 20 feet of the runway, because the other side had too many potholes in it. And we probably tore down more hangars than we kept.”

Since its new life beginning in 2003, the airport has benefited from several Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP) state grants issued from the Kansas Department of Transportation to improve its facilities. This work has included the lengthening of the primary runway, which required the closure and relocation of a county-owned road.

Cook Airfield Today

Today, Runway 17/35 is a 3,472-foot-long-by-40-foot-wide paved and lighted surface. There is also a 1,600-foot-long-by-50-foot-wide turf runway. Cook Airfield airport has more than 100 based aircraft, more than 60 hangars, and publicly available 100LL fuel. Jet-A fuel is expected to be available in the near future. 

• READ MORE: Delaware Ag Airport Sets Eyes on Growing GA Future

Thomas built a hangar home at the airport in 2007, and since then roughly 20 additional hangar homes have been constructed at Cook Airfield. Having residences with taxiway access was always in the plans.

“After we purchased the airport, our goal was to subdivide the land into six lots, because the county told us they had to be 5 acres in size,” he said. “So, that’s what we did, to get the cash flow to help fix the airport up. Later on, we figured out that we could have 1-acre lots, as long as we were doing approved septic systems.”

The airpark subdivision is now in its second phase, with five lots still available at the south end of the property. Land continues to be allocated for additional box hangar construction. 

• READ MORE: Flight Training in the Scenic, Wild Last Frontier

“We seem to sell our hangars as fast as we can put them up,” he said. “In fact, the last one I just sold to a guy in Ireland. We have two new hangars that will be completed soon, and then we are getting ready to order two more. Most of the hangars we build are on leased ground.”

In addition to homes, commercial hangars, a pilot’s lounge, and several businesses are based at the airport. Air Capital Drop Zone, a skydiving operation, and Compass Rose Aviation, a flying club, have both been there for more than 10 years.

After 21 years of owning Cook Airfield, Thomas and business partner Steve Logue are ready to pass the baton to the next owner.

“The airport has been for sale and under contract a couple of times, but has fallen through each time,” Thomas said. “We are both ready to move on to other things and let somebody else take Cook Airfield to the next level. There is a lot of potential here, and each potential buyer has their own vision for the airport. They could extend the runway or build a new runway to the west. [With additional infrastructure], they could add a restaurant if they wanted to, which is what the last buyer was going to do—alongside a hotel.”

Cook Airfield is approximately a 23-minute drive from downtown Wichita and 26 minutes from the city’s commercial service airport, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT). The purchase of the 47-acre property includes the runway with PAPI system, pilot’s lounge, and seven buildings/hangars that total 32,906 square feet.

The post Two Decades After Renaissance, Wichita Airpark Ready for New Ownership appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

According to base officials, the storm produced wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. It came through early in the morning before the crowds had arrived, bringing with it lightning and rain.

The airshow held the day before had attracted more than 65,000 visitors, according to an U.S. Air Force spokesperson.

Of those injured, six were military medical personnel and four were civilian vendors. All were outside on the flight line when the damaging winds occurred. 

“Due to the timing of the inclement weather, spectators had not entered the event area,” the spokesperson said.

Additionally, some vendors reported damage to booths and the wind relocated many portable toilets. One building on base was struck by lightning, but there was no reported damage to the structure.

Because of damages to services, Sunday’s airshow was canceled.

Video of the show area during the storm showed flattened tents and chairs, and aircraft blowing across a water-logged ramp. There were no reports of significant damage to the larger aircraft on display. 

Airmen made several foreign object debris (FOD) walks looking for trash and parts of aircraft deposited on the ramp by the storm.

“Safety is always our first priority at McConnell, especially when it comes to hosting the community for an airshow,” the spokesman told FLYING.

The post Injuries Reported After Severe Storm Strikes Before Airshow appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The antique aircraft’s owners—Dave and Jeanne Allen—were killed in the June 30 accident.

According to the preliminary report released by the agency (below), thick fog was reported by residents in the area at the time of the accident.

The Allens, from Elbert, Colorado, were both accomplished pilots. Dave was a retired airline pilot, and Jeanne flew gliders. The accident airplane, the teal cabin-class model, had been restored by the Allens and was one of the most photographed vintage airplanes at airshows and fly-ins.

• READ MORE: Award-Winning WACO YKC Restorers Killed in Kansas Crash 

What Happened

According to the NTSB preliminary report, on June 30 the Allens were planning to fly from Knox County Airport (4I3) in Mount Vernon, Ohio, to Oberlin Municipal Airport (KOIN) in  Kansas. According to SkyVector, the straight-line distance is approximately 829 nm. 

The Allens made two fuel stops en route—one at the Shelby County Airport (2H0) in Shelbyville, Illinois, around 8:40 a.m. CDT, and another at the Chillicothe Municipal Airport (KCHT) in Missouri, about 11:35 a.m.

The aircraft was not equipped for IFR flight as it was not required to be when it rolled off the assembly line in 1934. The panel of the WACO was period correct with the required original instruments, including an airspeed indicator, altimeter, slip-skid indicator, magnetic compass, and vertical speed indicator.

Investigators also found a hand-held Garmin GPSMAP 496 and an Appareo Stratus 3 in the aircraft. The circuit boards of both were recovered and retained for further examination.

While in Shelbyville, Jeanne Allen made the first of several text messages to the manager of Oberlin Municipal Airport stating that their estimated time of arrival would be around 5 p.m., according to the NTSB report. A second message sent later said that the weather was looking too low for VFR at Oberlin, so they would divert to Phillipsburg Municipal Airport (PHG) in Kansas, approximately 57 nm to the west.

From the ground, Dave Allen made several telephone calls to both the Oberlin Municipal Airport manager and a family friend in Colby, Kansas, to inquire about the weather en route and possible destinations.

According to the NTSB, the airport manager told him that the weather conditions included low ceilings and visibility, and he did not know when or if the weather would improve.

The family friend told investigators that, based on the telephone conversation, he assumed the couple would stay overnight in Colby.

The WACO took off from Chillicothe Municipal Airport at 5:10 p.m.. Approximately six minutes later, the passenger sent a text to the manager in Oberlin stating they were “going to try and go south to get out of this stuff.”

ATC radar data, beginning at 5:46 p.m., showed the airplane making several climbing turns starting at an altitude of 3,025 feet msl. The aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 4,625 feet msl over the accident site, then began descending right bank. Data was lost by 5:49 p.m. The last readout shows the aircraft on a heading of 75 degrees, with a groundspeed of 109 knots and an altitude of 3,800 feet msl, which put it approximately 1,050 feet agl.

The accident site was in a flat agricultural field about 0.10 nm southeast of the last received ATC radar position. The impact marks and debris were consistent with the airplane hitting the ground in about a 90-degree right bank and about 40-degree nose-down attitude. There was a postaccident fire.

NTSB said that an oil rig crew, located about a half mile from the accident site, reported that fog was so dense it could not see the top of its derrick.

The NTSB final report with the probable cause of the accident is expected to be released in about 18 months.

The post NTSB Releases Prelim Report on Vintage WACO YKC Crash appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Although the disappearance was 87 years ago, it remains of interest to many. On July 19 and 20, it will be the topic of two separate events presented by the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison, Kansas.

The discussions are set to take place the same weekend as the town’s Amelia Earhart Festival, which is held the third weekend in July to honor the aviatrix’s birthday, according to museum spokesperson Vanessa Bonavia. Although both talks are sponsored by the museum, they will be held off museum property to allow for a capacity crowd.

• READ MORE: Earhart Museum Nominated for Top Award

The first talk, Adventure Amelia: A Conversation with Explorers in the Search for Amelia Earhart, will be a panel discussion on July 19 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CST at the Fox Theatre Atchison, 612 Commercial Street. The presentation is free, but registration is required. 

The panelists include Deep Sea Vision founder Tony Romeo, who got the world’s attention in January after publishing underwater images taken in the South Pacific that he alleges may be Earhart’s aircraft. He will be joined by his brother Lloyd Romeo, who served as project manager during the expedition.

Also scheduled to participate on the panel is Gary LaPook, a celestial navigation expert with The Stratus Project, a U.K.-based organization that has been searching for Earhart. Liz Smith, a Date Line Theory expert, ocean exploration, and science documentary producer, is also participating. The panel discussion will be moderated by Dorothy Cochrane, curator of the aeronautics department at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

• READ MORE: Museum Celebrates the Life of Amelia Earhart

Panelists are expected to discuss where they believe the famous Electra is now, the reasons for its disappearance, and the evidence that supports their claims.

“As the curator for general aviation that includes the history of women in aviation, I have presented in various conferences and forums solo or with others,” Cochrane said. “Of course, I’ve done many media interviews and articles. At the museum I am responsible for Earhart’s transatlantic Lockheed Vega and related material that will soon be displayed again in the museum’s Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery.”

According to Cochrane, a common question asked is “why Howland Island?” followed by “why was Earhart making the flight?” 

“While not perfectly planned, it was not a stunt,” Cochrane said. “It is exactly what Earhart did for a living—setting records and then writing and lecturing. Women pilots had very few money-making opportunities since they were not allowed to fly in the military or in commercial airlines, and the private sector had little serious interest in them (except Beech Aircraft, that’s another story with Louise Thaden). So, Earhart built her own career. She truly loved flying and touring and supporting other women pilots.”

• READ MORE: Amelia Earhart’s Legacy Enshrined at New Kansas Museum

Deep Dive With Deep Sea Vision

On July 20, the Romeo brothers will talk about their process for searching the more than 5,200 square miles of ocean near Howland Island looking for the final resting place of the Electra.

The expedition spent 90 days on-site searching for the famous airplane that disappeared while trying to find Howland Island, which was a fuel stop as part of Earhart’s attempt to fly around the world. The Deep Sea Vision expedition relied on underwater drones. One of them captured a sonar image that to some people resembles an airplane.

“Both the Romeo brothers are pilots, so they will be bringing the pilot perspective into it,” Bonavia said.

• READ MORE: Ocean Exploration Company Thinks It Found Earhart’s Airplane

The pair will share highlights from their search for the Lockheed Electra 10-E and the company’s plans to launch its confirmation expedition with a high-powered camera to look for more evidence, such as the aircraft’s “NR16020” registration number. The conversation will be moderated by Amelia Rose Earhart, a pilot, author, and artist who in 2014 honored her namesake by completing a global circumnavigation flight.

The Deep Dive with Deep Sea Vision will take place at 9 a.m. CDT at the O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium at Benedictine College in Atchison. 

The post Earhart Museum to Explore Evidence Related to Aviatrix’s Disappearance appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

That’s the Wichita I knew when I left Kansas in 2012 to return to Colorado, leaving the Cessna Aircraft Company two years prior to the day when the news broke that Textron had purchased the assets of Beechcraft from the throes of its bankruptcy. In early 2014, we speculated that Textron had purchased Beech for the King Air line—and little else—and the outcome of the facilities surrounding the storied Beech Factory Field (KBEC) would be settled in a likely to be challenging merger.

With five campuses to its name Textron Aviation has been busy working to optimize the infrastructure under its purview. While the main campus at Eisenhower Regional Airport (KICT) houses the corporate offices, Cessna Citation production lines, and the largest Textron Aviation Service Center in the world, the campus at Beech Field stays focused on the King Air, as well as Beech Bonanza and Baron production in Plant IV. Piston singles, including the Cessna 172, 182, and T206, are built in Independence, Kansas, about an hour flight by Skyhawk to the southeast. Cessna Caravan production moved to Indy too.

But there’s a good deal of space that could be optimized after certain efficiencies have been gained throughout the enterprise—which now employs roughly 13,000 people, as the Textron Aviation communications team confirmed to me during my visit this week to Wichita. I flew in with one of the company’s Citation sales team in a Cessna TTx—the subject of an upcoming story, to be sure—for TextAv’s media day ahead of the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Conference and Expo in Las Vegas next month.

They had a lot to share—most of which I can’t tell you yet or they would send the ghosts of Dwane Wallace and Olive Ann Beech to haunt me. But one story I can relate this week is what the growing company plans to put in motion to address its need to continue hiring and training the workforce it needs to cover orders like the 1,500 Citations that NetJets announced on Wednesday.

With a trip in a black SUV across town, from West to East, we stepped out onto a construction site as the highlight of our day—besides the three square meals provided. Donning hard hats and safety glasses, we entered the building that will house the Textron Aviation Hiring and Learning Center, and proceeded across the bare concrete to an open atrium. There, members of the human resources team outlined how various spaces would be used during the interview process, as well as for hands-on training using real aircraft. 

For example, when new technicians are brought in to work on the production line, they go through paid on-the-job training prior to joining the line. They practice on components now—but they will get to place, say, a completed aileron on a wing assembly. The possibilities in the large space will multiply and accelerate the onboarding process.

The refurbished building will also house a K-12 entry vestibule, where local school children can come in to learn about STEM topics through the lens of Cessna and Beechcraft and Bell aircraft—making the application of knowledge far more immediate. The kids will also be able to learn about the wide variety of aviation jobs that an OEM like TextAv offers for their future.

It’s clearly one of many big investments, but with a big order book to fulfill, a very necessary one.

The post What’s Happening in Wichita appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

To date, 19 homes have been constructed, with the first being built in 1997. Gordon Doherty was the community’s second resident. 

“An important consideration for me was Yoder Airpark’s connection to major highways and paved roads,” Doherty said. “It is a 15- to 30-minute drive to the amenities of a big city (restaurants, sports, and arts). Another consideration was the quality of the local schools. I wanted an airpark that had [a] good, old grassroots flying atmosphere.”

Largely, it is identical to the airpark of yesteryear. Its central feature, the 4,200-foot-long grass airstrip, has withstood the test of time.

“We have talked about paving the runway over the years,” Doherty said. “If you have a thunderstorm, you have to wait for it to dry out, which is usually four hours for less than an inch of rain. A paved strip is expensive to build and maintain for a private airport. Pretty much everyone has decided that ‘You know what? We like it just the way it is,’” 

In 2021, Don Yoder “flew west” at age 87. As a result of his death, the 135 acres to the south of the airport was held by his estate. Just like any other airport property in transition, there was uncertainty. 

Of highest concern was who would pick up the land and what would they do with it? As a point of reference, the population of the Wichita metro area has in recent years begun a brisk march westward, leaving much of the nearby land in the sights of developers.  

Zack Steffen and Aaron Young, both pilots and lifelong residents of the area, explained that a primary desiret of theirs was that the land be used for aviation purposes. So, the two former collegiate track teammates decided to run together with the grand airpark vision laid out before them.  

“The dream and the vision started on the north section of the airport,” said Steffen, a resident since 2017. “Then in 2001, Don purchased some land on the south side. At that time, he put the tunnel in under the runway, where the [Pawnee Prairie Park] Trail goes through. It’s a part of the Rails-to-Trails program, where they pulled up the railroad tracks and put gravel in. Now, it’s a nice running and biking path that goes all the way from Garden Plain into Wichita—just over 15 miles.” 

Both Steffen and Young’s goal is to bring more pilots into the fold at Yoder Airpark. In support of that, they subdivided the large property they purchased from Yoder’s estate. After working with the local jurisdiction, they settled on forming 14 lots, which average about 5 acres each. The first lots from this parcel were offered at the beginning of this year. 

“We purchased the property from Don’s estate and worked with his family to make the airpark dream a reality,” Young said. “We gave them our word that we would maintain his vision, so every single one of our lots has runway access. A part of our future work is actually extending the runway, so each has taxiway access to the runway. The south 1,800 feet of the runway has pilot-controlled lighting, so we have night operations, which is pretty unique for a grass strip. Once the runway is extended to 5,000 feet, nearly a mile long, that will be closer to 2,600 feet of lighted area.”

The duo said they had already sold half of the lots before officially unveiling the development to the public. 

“People so far have learned about us through word of mouth, basically, to date,” Young said. “People have bought lots then have told their friends about the airport. But we have pushed out some Facebook posts in some aviation groups, a few local and grass-flying oriented ones. Even though anyone can buy a lot here, we would love for there to be more pilots, people flying, and aviation activities. It’s always exciting when you see a neighbor taking off, even if it’s not you. It’s nice to have planes flying here.”

There is a diverse background of both aviators and aircraft at the airpark.

“I think the breadth of aviation enthusiasts we have at the airpark is amazing,” Steffen said, “going from the power paragliding enthusiasm to a neighbor that performs in air shows to private pilots like Aaron and myself to professional aviators. You have people here that range from tens of hours of flight time to tens of thousands of hours. To be able to talk to each other is great, and the community is really good about giving advice.” 

Yoder is one of roughly half a dozen airparks within a 20 nm radius of one another. And a key selling feature for the community is its proximity to the region’s largest public-use airport, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT).

Like many other fly-in communities, an open hangar door is an invitation to stop by and chat. Yoder Airpark is no different, with residents taking great care to routinely check up on neighbors. The comingling includes these informal pop-in visits, as well as planned events, mixers, and fly-outs.

“We have hangar dinners here all the time, where somebody will volunteer to host at their house,” Steffen said. “There is also a social committee that plans different events and get-togethers for people in the HOA. One of the fun things we are planning is a progressive dinner, where each house has a different appetizer, drink, main course, or dessert. A couple of households will go together for that, which will be a lot of fun.”

This year, the group is planning to host several fly-ins, including the community’s largest annual celebration.

“We have the Fourth of July fly-in that happens each year, which has always been a tradition,” he said. “It is always the same day as the Garden Plain parade, so we have a pancake feed with a couple hundred people attending. We’ve had up to 40 planes come to that, and we do a flyover during the parade right as the national anthem plays. This event gets bigger every year, and we all look forward to it around here.”

The post The Second Life of Yoder Airpark appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

According to Tecnam, Kilo Charlie Aviation, located at New Century Air Center (KIXD) (formerly known as Naval Air Station Olathe), will take delivery of the IFR P-Mentor and twin-engine P2006T MKII over the next two years.

Kilo Charlie Aviation (KCA) was founded in 2020 by Robert Renfro and Drew Konicek, both experienced corporate pilots. Their stated mission was to build the best flight school in the world, and that began with finding the best equipment for their learners to use.

“When we met with Tecnam for the first time, we were unfamiliar with their organization or aircraft. Immediately we knew that we had found a true partner,” said Konicek, Kilo Charlie Aviation’s chief business officer. “The award-winning aircraft combined with the expertise of an international leader in aviation made it an easy choice to move Kilo Charlie Aviation’s fleet to Tecnam.”

• READ MORE: Tecnam Celebrates 75 Years of Passion for Aircraft Design

In addition to Tecnam, the fleet at KCA includes Piper Arrows, Piper Archers, a Cirrus SR20, and a Beech Baron.

According to Renfro, Kilo Charlie Aviation’s COO, they spent two years trying to find the right aircraft partner for the school. 

“Once Tecnam presented the P-Mentor, we knew that all the work over the last two years had to be reevaluated and compared to this aircraft,” Renfro said. “Safety and technology are our two highest priorities here, and after comparing everything it was without a doubt the best option for our school and students.”

Learners at KCA begin their training in the P-Mentor. The two-place, low-wing design features a Garmin G3X glass cockpit, making it suitable for both VFR and IFR training. The aircraft destined for delivery will be equipped with the optional BRS ballistic parachute. The P-Mentor has a variable pitch propeller along with a simulated retractable landing gear option,  enabling learners to earn their private pilot up through commercial certificate in a single aircraft. Look to the July print edition/Issue 939 of FLYING for a full We Fly report on the P-Mentor.

The P2006T MKII is Tecnam’s multiengine trainer. The aircraft is a four-place design with fully retractable landing gear. The cockpit is outfitted with a modern Garmin avionics suite, integrating all primary flight, navigation, communication, and terrain data. The design is popular with flight schools across the country because of its low operational cost.

“We are very pleased that so many American flight schools are choosing Tecnam to replace or upgrade their fleet,” said Walter Da Costa, Tecnam’s chief sales officer. “Today’s students are very demanding and deserve a brand new aircraft with the latest technology. We thank and welcome Kilo Charlie for their choice.”

The post Kansas Flight School Places Tecnam Order appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Cessna joined Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech in establishing the Travel Air Company as 1925 began. Though the trio had the backing of the local business community, each had a financial stake as well—Cessna’s being the largest, at $25,000, according to The Legend of Cessna, by Jeffrey L. Rodengen.

They rented a building in downtown Wichita, Kansas, and brought to life their first biplane, the Travel Air Model A. The fledgling company built and sold 19 of the OX-5 powered airplanes, at $3,500 each, in the first run. The popular biplanes would evolve into the line of Travel Air 2000s/3000s/4000s.

The Type 500

Cessna had never been a fan of the biplane design—so although he kept working with Beech and Stearman on the Model As, he rented his own place and built a monoplane to his standards.

The five-seater was unique in that it had an enclosed cabin and a semi-cantilever wing—braced by a strut rather than solely holding its own weight. Aimed at carrying the mail, the Type 500 scored its first sale to National Air Transport (NAT) in January 1927, with a contract worth $128,676.

Buoyed by the 500’s success, the Travel Air shop updated the model into the Type 5000 with a 224 hp Wright Whirlwind engine, and a new tail more in the style of its previous models. The company set several milestones with this improved monoplane, including:

• July 14, 1927: Earnest Smith and Emery Bronie flew the City of Oakland from Oakland, California, to Hawaii.
• August 16 and 17, 1927: Arthur Goebel and William Davis won the Transoceanic Air Race, also flying from Oakland, to Wheeler Field, in Hawaii, in 26 hours, 17 minutes, and 33 seconds.

Full Cantilever Wings

Cessna grew enamored with the prospect of building a strutless monoplane—a full cantilever wing that would reduce drag by removing the strut and designing the wing’s internal structure so that it would support the load.

His partners at Travel Air—Beech included—were not as compelled by the concept, so it was at this point Cessna struck out on his own again. Though the date is not official, April 19, 1927, is generally accepted as his starting point with the Cessna Aircraft Company iteration with the famous brand that continues today.

With two designs, Cessna moved to a shop on West Douglas Avenue in Wichita, and began building the Cessna Common (The Legend of Cessna). Because it would be the first full cantilever winged airplane to gain a type certificate, Cessna had to concoct a way to prove the strength of the design.

The workers turned the airplane over on its back, suspended it, and loaded the wings with 3,700 pounds of sandbags, according to an article in Wichita magazine. This met the requirement, but Cessna wanted to see just how much the wings would hold. The men loaded up to 15,752 pounds of the bags—and the wings sagged a little, but they did not break.

With the first flight of the follow-on model, the All Purpose, on August 13, 1927, Clyde Cessna renamed the aircraft The Phantom—and sold the stock that would allow him to organize the company officially. With investor Victor H. Roos, the Cessna-Roos Aircraft Company was born in September 1927. However, Roos departed the business when the board opted to change the name back to the Cessna Aircraft Company in late November. He sold his stock to Cessna, and left the aviation legend to lead his namesake company once more.

The post Cessna’s Pursuit of a Full Cantilever Monoplane appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Perhaps because at one point it incubated 16 aircraft manufacturers, 11 airports, and a dozen flying schools, according to Wichita, Where Aviation Took Wing, an aviation history of the city published by the Greteman Group.

But why did all of that aviation-oriented activity land in what was once a “wheat, oil, and, beef town” in the middle of the high prairie?

It started with early visionaries—and that ready source of capital—but it attained legendary status because of entrepreneurs by the names of E.M. “Matty” Laird, Lloyd Stearman, and Walter Beech—and supported by oil men like Jake Moellendick. The trio toiled together for the E.M. Laird Airplane Company—Stearman on drafting aircraft plans and Beech on sales—until Laird left in 1923.

After a few more fits and starts, in 1924, Stearman (as chief engineer) and Beech (as chief test pilot) disbanded the Swallow Aircraft Company, which they had renamed after Laird left.

And then Clyde Cessna came along.

Silver Wings

Born on December 5, 1879, Clyde Vernon Cessna spent the first two years of his life in Iowa, before his family moved to Kansas to develop farmland. But once he’d reached his majority—and married—he figured out that farming would not bring him the income needed to support a family of his own. 

Cessna had middling success as an auto dealer in the early 1900s, and he moved to Enid, Oklahoma, to pursue a business partnership in 1909. But in January 1911 he attended an air circus sponsored by the Moisant International Motors company—and saw a trio of Blériots fly, according to The Legend of Cessna, by Jeffrey L. Rodengen.

Instantly enamored by the prospect of flying for money, he put in an order for a Blériot Type XI and traveled out to New York to learn more about its construction by working on the Queen Aeroplane Company’s production line.

After procurement pains with the engines—initially a V-type, and later an Elbridge powerplant that produced more horsepower—and a prop that arrived with damage, Cessna had the airplane complete to begin test flights—his first ever at the controls of any airplane. He crashed 12 times before mastering the airplane, christened Silver Wings.

When he finally learned to land without mangling the airplane, in June, Cessna deemed himself ready to present Silver Wings to the public. After a few attempts to launch into the aerial exhibition game, Cessna secured a $300 payment to fly at the Oklahoma State Fair in September 1911—and a successful demonstration of the airplane’s promise.

Return to Kansas

However, Cessna wasn’t finished beating up his only airplane on the Salt Plains of Oklahoma. Fortunately, he survived each mishap and upgraded to a new model in 1913. Along the way, he became the first pilot to fly over Wichita, Kansas, in October 1913, according to The Legend of Cessna. In the course of doing so, the family was inspired to return to Wichita for its business prospects.

Cessna secured the premises to build airplanes on the grounds of the J.J. Jones Motor Company in 1916—following the invitation of a group of Wichita businessmen, members of the newly formed Wichita Aero Club, one of the nation’s oldest—and incorporated the Cessna Aircraft Company there. Wichita had its first aircraft factory functioning by September.

One Seat, Two Seat

Cessna began work in earnest on the company’s next two monoplanes—so called because of their single wing, as opposed to a biplane or triplane—by that December.

Financially supported by the business community, Cessna produced a single-seat exhibition airplane, with a 60 hp Anzani engine, and a two-seater, the Comet. The flight school commenced in the summer of 1917 with five students, training in the 1913 Cessna with the four-cylinder Elbridge Aero-Special, according to a story in Airscape magazine.

But Cessna focused far more attention on the exhibition side of the business—which surely brought in more income, though it varied—than that school, and he was sued by a few of the students—though the suit never went anywhere (The Legend of Cessna).

The Comet, however, stole his heart, and it was with this monoplane that Cessna first toyed with an enclosed cockpit, among other advances. He upgraded the engine to 70 hp as well.

World War I?

With World War I gaining intensity—and the United States committing forces to it—the U.S. Army Signal Corps fell woefully behind on the race for the skies. The Aviation Division had hired a promising young engineer, Donald Douglas, into a position as chief civilian aeronautical engineer (from my book, Honest Vision: The Donald Douglas Story) but failed to leverage his expertise in any significant way beyond inspecting engines and redesigning British aircraft—and hoping to field a new design that would utilize the heavier Liberty engine.

Cessna ran into this lack of interest as well, when he applied to his congressman for “assistance in lobbying Capitol Hill for equipment, vehicles, and airplanes that could be used to train pilots.” (The Legend of Cessna) Though he was in a good position to provide the pilot training desperately needed by the Signal Corps, his entreaty went unanswered.

Fast Forward to 1924

Remember Stearman and Beech? They had redesigned the latest of the Swallow models from their former venture—and built it out of tubular steel rather than rag and wood favored by Moellendick.

The pair needed another partner, so they went to visit Cessna on his farm outside of town. He agreed to join them.

With the backing of investor Walter Innes, Jr, the trio formed the Travel Air Company, incorporating on February 5, 1925.

End of Part 1. We’ll continue Clyde Cessna’s story next week.

The post Clyde Cessna Helped Form Legendary Aviation Trinity in Wichita appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The delivery was made to support operations at the No.13 Squadron at the Sfax Air Base in Tunisia. 

Textron said in a statement that the delivery contract consists of eight T-6C Texan II advanced military training aircraft, in-country field service and logistics support representatives, program management support, and interim contractor support for the first year. It includes pilot and maintenance personnel training, spare parts, engines, and other aircraft support equipment.

The second T-6C is expected to be delivered before the end of 2022, and the other six will be delivered in 2023. The Tunisian pilots started training at Textron Aviation Defense facilities in Wichita, Kansas, at the end of October.

“Tunisia is the thirteenth nation to acquire the T-6 and has now taken delivery of the 1,001st T-6 manufactured by our team in Wichita,” said Fouad Kasri, director of sales and strategy for Africa and the Middle East, Textron Aviation Defense. “We are delighted to welcome yet another North African and Mediterranean allied nation to the distinguished group of global air forces who rely on the next-generation T-6 Integrated Training System to achieve their pilot training objectives.”

The Tunisian Air Force modernization and growth program has been supported by Textron Aviation Defense, the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), and the U.S. Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron (AFSAT).

Textron also said that the Tunisian Air Force would work closely with TRU Simulation + Training to provide training devices and support. The devices will be installed on the Sfax Air Base in Tunisia and include ground-based training systems, an operational flight trainer, and a computer-based training lab. 

“Becoming a regional leader in military flight training excellence is one of the milestones on the path to achieving our counter-terrorism and border security mission requirements,” said Gen. Mohamed Hajjem, chief of staff for the Tunisian Air Force. “We are grateful to Textron Aviation Defense, AFLCMC, and AFSAT for supporting our acquisition of the Beechcraft T-6C Texan II, as well as our efforts to achieve territorial sovereignty and regional stability. This acquisition paves the way for additional bilateral engagements and strengthens our relationship with the United States.”

Textron said the global T-6 Texan II fleet consists of more than 1,000 aircraft and has flown more than 5 million flight hours across 13 nations and two NATO flight schools. 

The post Tunisian Air Force Takes Delivery of T-6C Texan II Integrated Trainers appeared first on FLYING Magazine.