The farm was Clyde Cessna’s safety net. In Oklahoma, Cessna risked life, limb, and wallet to get his airplane off the ground. In order to save money, the Cessna family, consisting of himself, his wife and two children, Eldon and Wonda, all lived in the single-story barn called the machine shop. It is not a large structure. The ground floor is a single wide room was Cessna would keep, repair, and improve on Silverwings. There was a set of sliding doors on the outside that were used to get the plane in and out. Cessna built an upstairs loft for his family to live in. It was a cramped space but was livable.[1] The family stuck it out for several winters while Clyde and Roy reassembled Silverwings, improving on the original design to the point Clyde Cessna could call it his own. Soon, the small town of Rago and throughout Kingman county knew Cessna for his flying machine. He flew it to the market, on errands for Europa, and even to Sunday Church. It was so useful to the Cessna family that he called it the family carriage.[2]
On his feet again, Cessna set out profitably flying air shows around Kansas and Oklahoma with this airplane as they got back on their feet again.[3] Newspapers would advertise the spectacle of the Birdman of Enid all across the state. They wrote stories of the farm boy turned aviator flying to their town to show off the plane. Cessna spent his time farming and flying. He soon built his 1914 model, which was his fastest aircraft yet and one of his most profitable. Cessna made $250 for a forty-minute flight going circles around Larned, Kansas.[4] His flights were truly a spectacle for the time. A that was just one of his many shows. In the winter of 1914, now squarely back on his feet economically, Clyde bought and transported a new home to the farm and added a hanger to the property to give his family and his three airplanes respectable quarters.[5] With the money Clyde made. Additionally, Cessna could afford to hire our workers to manage the farm while he was away, allowing him to perform even more flyovers. Cessna was finding real success and was commissioned for flights in everything from ball games to state fairs. Any time his shows took him near home, however, he would be sure to fly in for a visit and perhaps family dinner.[6] Returning to the farm allowed Cessna to get back on his feet. Saving money and living out of the small structure on the property, Clyde was able to improve his air crafts and afford to move a real house to make the farm a real home for his family.
In 1916 Clyde Cessna was approached by the Wichita Aero Club to build planes in their town, to which he agreed. Located on the property of J.J. Jones Motor Company in Wichita, Kansas, this venture became the unofficial beginning of Cessna Aircraft and was the first airplane factory in Wichita. By 1917 Cessna was well into the business of manufacturing planes, operating a flight school, and even held the U.S. speed record at 124 mph.[7] However, just as soon as Cessna had established himself, the United States entered the First World War. Cessna was forced to close his factory and halt his airshows due to wartime rationing. From 1917 to 1925 Clyde Cessna stepped away from the airplane business to feed the doughboys and farm his 40-acre property.[8]
[1] Rodengen, The Legend of Cessna, 35.
[2] “Kingman Youth Flies to Market and to Fairs,” The Topeka Daily Capital, September 15, 1915. https://www.newspapers.com/image/64103302/.
[3] Rodengen, The Legend of Cessna, 36.
[4] “Airship Flights at Burdett,” The Tiller and Toiler, August 14, 1914, https://www.newspapers.com/image/199522957, 3.
[5] “Kingman Youth Flys to Market and to Fairs.”
[6] Phillips, Cessna, A Master’s Expression, 23.
[7] Rodengen, The Legend of Cessna, 39.
[8] Phillips, Cessna, A Master’s Expression, 33.
