Wings Over Kansas Store Features

Vulcan, Boeing B-47 & B-52 Wilson

Flight Logbook Software

In Daryl Murphy's "Planes & People"

Clyde Cessna's Budget Racers

By DARYL MURPHY ©2003

The concept of powered, manned flight was only eight years old when 34-year-old Kansas farmer-turned auto salesman Clyde Cessna paid $7,500 for an American-built copy of the Blériot XI and taught himself to fly on the broad expanse of a salt plain in northern Oklahoma. He had to teach the French design to fly, as well; by the time both were successful they had crashed twelve times and the machine had been rebuilt--and improved--so often that it was more Cessna than Blériot.

During the winter of 1913-14, Cessna constructed an airplane of his own design to fly at exhibitions and fairs in Kansas and Oklahoma, and by 1916 had set up shop in Wichita. But when World War I interrupted civil aviation, he returned to his farm near Rago, Kan. Foregoing his own creations, he bought a biplane from Swallow salesman Walter Beech in 1924. A year later, Cessna, Beech and Lloyd Stearman jointly formed Travel Air and began manufacturing airplanes. While Cessna kept pushing for new monoplane designs, the other two partners favored the more popular biplane, and the partnership lasted for only two years. Cessna struck out on his own, and on the last day of 1927 founded the Cessna Aircraft Company to build exclusively monoplane designs.

The practicality and dependability of aircraft had been proven on Charles Lindbergh's epic transatlantic flight, and the public was quick to realize its value. In the company's first two years, 129 aircraft were delivered. Sales had soared after Cessna pilot Earl Rowland won a New York-Los Angeles race in 1928 and the Warner-powered Model AW was turned into a successful pylon racer by Clyde's son, Eldon.

Then came the October 1929 Wall Street crash. But, while the public had no money to buy aircraft, they continued to attend air races across the country. To a struggling manufacturer like Cessna, prize money offered in these events provided a ready and needed source of income.

So in 1930 when engine manufacturer American Cirrus offered $25,000 in prizes for the 5,541-mile Cirrus All-American Air Derby, Clyde Cessna designed his first purpose-built racer, the GC-1. Powered by a 90 hp, 310 cu. in. Cirrus (a requisite for the race) fitted with supercharger, the sleek, mid-wing airplane was dubbed the "Winged Torpedo" by the press but ironically suffered from so many engine problems that it could only earn seventh-place money. Sans supercharger, however, it placed fourth in a 1930 National Air Races event at a respectable 137.4 mph average.

The effects of the Depression grounded more customers, and in the spring of 1931 Clyde Cessna had lost control of his own company; the Board of Directors ordered the doors closed and locked. A similar fate had fallen on dozens of other Wichita planemakers. But Clyde Cessna was not out of business; he and Eldon still had the modified Model AW.

Eldon entered it a September cross-country event that ended at the National Air Races in Cleveland and earned $1,200 for a third-place finish, then followed that with a $750 check for winning a heat race. The Cessnas returned home and used the winnings to start a modest factory on East Pawnee Road a half-mile from former partner Lloyd Stearman's plant adjacent to Wichita Municipal Airport and began work on a racing airplane.

What emerged early in 1932 was a radically small monoplane, the CR-1 (The CR designation was for Cessna Racer). Barely 12 feet in length, it had a full cantilever wooden shoulder wing that spanned only 16 feet. Its most innovative feature was its landing gear, which retracted manually into the fuselage (Cessna didn't believe that the wings, the strongest part of the aircraft, "should have holes in them just to stow the gear") just aft of the NACA-cowled seven-cylinder, 110 hp Warner radial engine.

To the eye of an experienced aeronautical engineer (of which there were precious few at the time), the airplane's specifications were scary. While the airplane's power-to-weight ratio was more than adequate, the tiny wing area (estimated at about 40 sq. ft.) could provide only marginal lift, and the short distance between propeller and empennage would surely lead to longitudinal control problems.

Not being an experienced aeronautical engineer, Eldon climbed bravely into the CR-1 for its maiden flight in January. Bouncing across the field, the pair finally got airborne at 100 mph thanks to a mound of dirt that acted as a catapult. As he struggled to keep the racer in control, Eldon decided that discretion was more important than valor and returned as quickly as possible, making his approach at 130 mph and landing the CR-1 on its first and only flight.

Back at the drawing board, Clyde and Eldon began engineering away some of the racer's bad habits. Retaining the Warner engine (they had to; it was the only powerplant they owned), wingspan was increased to 18 ft., 4 in., length to 14 ft. 10 in., and the empennage area was enlarged to aid stability. When it was finished, the new airplane weighed only 677 lbs. empty. Christened the CR-2, it was piloted by Roy Liggett, a friend of Clyde's and a successful AW racer. The first flight in May was flawless, and in succeeding weeks leading up to its debut at the Omaha Air Races, speeds of 190 mph were attained.

In its first race the CR-2 placed fourth in the 500 cu. in. event and fifth in two unlimited races behind such famous racers as the Gee Bee Y, Benny Howard's "Mike," Keith Rider, and Johnny Livingston's clip-wing Monocoupe. Even though it was down by as much as 450 hp to some of the competition, the tiny Cessna's speed was less than 10 mph from victory, and after the Nationals, Clyde Cessna looked for a way to pick up the difference.

Horsepower was the quickest route to more speed, and Warner's 499 cu. in. 145 hp Super Scarab seemed to be the answer, but it cost money which was not available. Liggett continued to compete at other races with 110 hp version, but still had to continue settling for second behind Livingston's Monocoupe.

At the late summer National Air Races in Cleveland, with victory finally in sight after leading at the halfway point of a Cleveland-Cincinnati-Cleveland race, Liggett lost out to Livingston and Steve Wittman because he couldn't retract the landing gear for the last leg. In a later 510 cu. in. unlimited race, he placed the airplane second behind Benny Howard's "Ike," then was third in the Woolaroc Trophy race. Liggett's total for the week was $900 in prize money, and Eldon Cessna in the AW added another $770 to the company coffers.

In December, the 145 hp Warner was finally installed, and the CR-2 was flight tested at speeds up to 255 mph, according to Clyde Cessna. In January 1932, the new speedster copped the Col. E.H.R. Green Trophy at 194.056 mph at the All-American Air Races in Miami, finally beating Johnny Livingston in his Monocoupe. In March, Livingston flew to Wichita and placed an order for a new Cessna racing airplane.

Livingston had his own ideas, and one was a high-wing configuration which would minimize airspeed loss during pylon turns. The 145 hp Super Scarab from his Monocoupe was swapped for the CR-2's original 110 hp Scarab. Rolled out in June, the first flight of the CR-3 produced a few handling problems, but they were quickly cured with aerodynamic modifications.

At the 1933 Omaha races, Livingston held his own against Howard's "Mike," and in Chicago he won the Baby Ruth Trophy Race at more than 200 mph, followed closely by Art Davis in the revamped CR-2, and the pair repeated the sweep later in the Aero Digest Trophy.

Then Livingston went out to break the record for airplanes powered by engines of under 500 cu. in. displacement, which was set at 213.8 mph by Benny Howard in "Ike." Johnny smashed the mark, flying to a two-way average of 237.4 mph. On Aug. 1, when he couldn't get his landing gear to lock down on a flight at Columbus, Ohio, he bailed out of the CR-3 and let it smash itself against the ground.

Amazingly, it had only been 45 days since the CR-3's first flight, but it had won virtually every important race it had entered, and it could have been the catalyst Clyde Cessna needed to continue with a succession of speedy, small-displacement air racers. As it happened, it was the end of the line.

At the same time, the CR-2 had undergone some CR-3 style modifications and emerged as the CR-2A in time for the 1933 Chicago International Air Races. Roy Liggett started with a second place in the 550 cu. in. race at 191.14 mph. Four races remained in which the Cessna would be a favorite, but as the racer took off for the second event and flew across the field at about 175 mph, a section of its engine cowling reportedly blew off and sliced off the wing at its root. The CR-2A whipped into a vicious roll and crashed, killing the pilot instantly.

Clyde Cessna witnessed the accident. Besides losing his friend Liggett, the tragedy seemed to drain the drive and enthusiasm for flying he'd held since those early days on the salt plains in Oklahoma. He saw his nephew, Dwane Wallace, take over operation of his company in January 1934, and by 1936, Cessna had stepped down and retired to his farm, rarely to return to the company he had founded.

Cessna racers--specifications and performance

Cessna racers--record

Roy Liggett won the Col. Green Trophy and was second in the unlimited event at the 1933 Miami air races flying the CR-2 with 145 hp Warner engine.

Clyde Cessna designed his first racer, the GC-1, for the 5,541-mile Cirrus All-American Air Derby of 1930. Powered by a 90 hp supercharged Cirrus engine, the airplane was dubbed the "Winged Torpedo" by the press but suffered from so many engine problems that it could only earn seventh-place money. Sans supercharger, it placed fourth in a 1930 National Air Races event at a respectable 137.4 mph average.

Johnny Livingston's CR-3 was powered with the Super Scarab from his racing Monocoupe. It set a world record for aircraft powered by 500 cu. in. engines at 237.4 mph in its last competition.

The CR-1 made only one flight before being rebuilt into the CR-2. With a tiny wing spanning only 16 ft. and a length of 17 ft., it was a handful for Eldon Cessna on its maiden flight. He finally got airborne at 100 mph thanks to a mound of dirt that acted as a catapult. Deciding that discretion was more important than valor, he returned to the airfield quickly, making a 130-mph approach and landing safely.

Back to the In Daryl Murphy's "Planes & People" page.

Today is: Tuesday, May 21, 2013