CESSNA THE ENIGMATIC ERA

摘要

Few aviators have not at some time or another flown in a Cessna - the 152 having been the ubiquitous two-seat trainer world-wide for over 40 years. Those who graduate into club flying often discover that the 172 and related four-seat variants are the world's most popular touring aircraft, too. No aircraft manufacturer has built more aircraft, and yet whilst it is a firm whose name is synonymous with these small aircraft, Cessna has for some 60 years also been a producer of jet aircraft. With the demise of Concorde, the Cessna Citation X is now the world's highest cruise speed civil aircraft in production. Cessna's roots can be traced back to 1911, when Clyde V Cessna created the company, although he did not incorporate it, and start aircraft production, until 1927. The firm's full history is a fascinating one, but we will concentrate here on the aircraft from which its current business grew, largely through initiatives from the 1940s to around 1980. It was Cessna's 'enigmatic era'.