The Cessna Aircraft Company (/ˈsɛsnə/[3]) was an American general aviation aircraft

manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Best known for small, piston-
powered aircraft, Cessna also produced business jets. For many years the company was
one of the highest-volume producers of general aviation aircraft in the world. Founded in
1927, it was purchased by General Dynamics in 1985, then by Textron, Inc., in 1992. In
March 2014, when Textron purchased the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft businesses,
Cessna ceased operations as a subsidiary company and joined the others as one of the
three distinct brands produced by Textron Aviation.[4]

Contents

• 1History
• 1.1Chinese production controversy
• 1.22008–2010 economic crisis
• 1.32010s
• 2Marketing initiatives
• 2.1Company terminology
• 3Aircraft models
• 4References
• 5External links

History[edit]
Clyde Cessna, a farmer in Rago, Kansas, built his own aircraft and flew it in June 1911, the
first person to do so between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Cessna
started his wood-and-fabric aircraft ventures in Enid, Oklahoma, testing many of his early
planes on the salt flats. When bankers in Enid refused to lend him more money to build his
planes, he moved to Wichita.[5]

Cessna DC-6
Cessna Aircraft was formed when Clyde Cessna and Victor Roos became partners in the
Cessna-Roos Aircraft Company in 1927. Roos resigned just one month into the partnership
selling back his interest to Cessna.[6] In the same year, the Kansas Secretary of
State approved dropping Roos's name from the company name.[7]
The Cessna DC-6 earned certification on the same day as the stock market crash of 1929,
October 29, 1929.[7]
In 1932 the Cessna Aircraft Company closed its doors due to the Great Depression.
However the Cessna CR-3 custom racer took its first flight in 1933. The plane won the
1933 American Air Race in Chicago and later set a new world speed record for engines
smaller than 500 cubic inches by averaging 237 mph (381 km/h).[7]
Cessna's nephews, Dwane Wallace and his brother Dwight, bought the company from
Cessna in 1934. They reopened it and began the process of building it into what would
become a global success.[8]
 Cessna C-34 at Blackpool (Squires Gate) Airport in 1950
The Cessna C-37 was introduced in 1937 as Cessna's first seaplane when equipped
with Edo floats.[7] In 1940, Cessna received their largest order to date, when they signed a
contract with the U.S. Army for 33 specially equipped Cessna T-50s. Later in 1940,
the Royal Canadian Air Force placed an order for 180 T-50s.[9]
Cessna returned to commercial production in 1946, after the revocation of wartime
production restrictions (L-48) with the release of the Model 120 and Model 140. The
approach was to introduce a new line of all-metal aircraft that used production tools, dies
and jigs rather than the hand-built process tube-and-fabric construction used before the
war.[9][10]
The Model 140 was named by the US Flight Instructors Association as the "Outstanding
Plane of the Year", in 1948.[9]
Cessna's first helicopter, the Cessna CH-1, received FAA type certification, in 1955.[11]

Cessna 172
Cessna introduced the Cessna 172 in 1956. It became the most produced airplane in
history.[11]
In 1960 Cessna affiliated itself with Reims Aviation of Reims, France.[12] In 1963 Cessna
produced its 50,000th airplane, a Cessna 172.[12]
Cessna's first business jet, the Cessna Citation I performed its maiden flight on September
15, 1969.[12]
Cessna produced its 100,000th single-engine airplane in 1975. [13]
In 1985 Cessna ceased to be an independent company. It was purchased by General
Dynamics Corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary. Production of the Cessna
Caravan began.[14] General Dynamics in turn, sold Cessna to Textron, in 1992.[15]
 Columbia-designed Cessna 350
Late in 2007, Cessna purchased the bankrupt Columbia Aircraft company for US$26.4M
and would continue production of the Columbia 350 and 400 as the Cessna
350 and Cessna 400 at the Columbia factory in Bend, Oregon.[16][17] However, production
of both aircraft had ended by 2018.

Chinese production controversy[edit]

Cessna 162 Skycatcher

On November 27, 2007, Cessna announced the then-new Cessna 162 would be built in the
People's Republic of China by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the
China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), a Chinese government-owned consortium of
aircraft manufacturers. Cessna reported that the decision was made to save money and
also that the company had no more plant capacity in the United States at the time. Cessna
received much negative feedback for this decision, with complaints centering on the
recent quality problems with Chinese production of other consumer products, China's
human rights record, exporting of jobs, and China's less than friendly political relationship
with the United States. The customer backlash surprised Cessna and resulted in a
company public relations campaign. In early 2009, the company attracted further criticism
for continuing plans to build the 162 in China while laying off large numbers of workers in
the United States. In the end the Cessna 162 was not a commercial success and only a
small number were delivered before production was cancelled. [18][19][20][21][20][22][23]
[24][25]
2008–2010 economic crisis[edit]
The company's business suffered notably during the late-2000s recession, laying off more
than half its workforce between January 2009 and September 2010.
 Cessna 525 CitationJet
On November 4, 2008, Cessna's parent company, Textron, indicated
that Citation production would be reduced from the original 2009 target of 535 "due to
continued softening in the global economic environment" and that this would result in an
undetermined number of lay-offs at Cessna.[26]
On November 8, 2008, at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Expo, CEO Jack
Pelton indicated that sales of Cessna aircraft to individual buyers had fallen but piston and
turboprop sales to businesses had not. "While the economic slowdown has created a
difficult business environment, we are encouraged by brisk activity from new and existing
propeller fleet operators placing almost 200 orders for 2009 production aircraft," Pelton
stated.[27][28]
Beginning in January 2009, a total of 665 jobs were cut at Cessna's Wichita and Bend,
Oregon plants. The Cessna factory at Independence, Kansas, which builds the Cessna
piston-engined aircraft and the Cessna Mustang, did not see any layoffs, but one third of
the workforce at the former Columbia Aircraft facility in Bend was laid off. This included
165 of the 460 employees who built the Cessna 350 and 400. The remaining 500 jobs were
eliminated at the main Cessna Wichita plant.[29]
In January 2009, the company laid off an additional 2,000 employees, bringing the total to
4,600. The job cuts included 120 at the Bend, Oregon, facility reducing the plant that built
the Cessna 350 and 400 to fewer than half the number of workers that it had when Cessna
bought it. Other cuts included 200 at the Independence, Kansas, plant that builds the
single-engined Cessnas and the Mustang, reducing that facility to 1,300 workers. [22]
On April 29, 2009 the company suspended the Citation Columbus program and closing the
Bend, Oregon, facility. The Columbus program was finally cancelled in early July 2009. The
company reported "Upon additional analysis of the business jet market related to this
product offering, we decided to formally cancel further development of the Citation
Columbus". With the 350 and 400 production moving to Kansas, the company indicated
that it would lay off 1,600 more workers, including the remaining 150 employees at the
Bend plant and up to 700 workers from the Columbus program. [30][31]
In early June 2009 Cessna laid off an additional 700 salaried employees, bringing the total
number of lay-offs to 7,600, which was more than half the company's workers at the time.
[32]

The company closed its three Columbus, Georgia, manufacturing facilities between June
2010 and December 2011. The closures included the new 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2)
facility that was opened in August 2008 at a cost of US$25M, plus the McCauley Propeller
Systems plant. These closures resulted in total job losses of 600 in Georgia. Some of the
work was relocated to Cessna's Independence, Kansas, or Mexican facilities.[33]
Cessna's parent company, Textron, posted a loss of US$8M in the first quarter of 2010,
largely driven by continuing low sales at Cessna, which were down 44%. Half of Cessna's
workforce remained laid-off and CEO Jack Pelton stated that he expected the recovery to
be long and slow.[34]
In September 2010, a further 700 employees were laid off, bringing the total to 8,000 jobs
lost. CEO Jack Pelton indicated this round of layoffs was due to a "stalled [and] lackluster
economy" and noted that while the number of orders cancelled for jets had been
decreasing new orders had not met expectations. Pelton added "our strategy is to defend
and protect our current markets while investing in products and services to secure our
future, but we can do this only if we succeed in restructuring our processes and reducing
our costs."[35][36]

2010s[edit]
On May 2, 2011 CEO Jack J. Pelton retired. The new CEO, Scott A. Ernest, started on May
31, 2011.[37] Ernest joined Textron after 29 years at General Electric, where he had most
recently served as vice president and general manager, global supply chain for GE
Aviation. Ernest previously worked for Textron CEO Scott Donnelly when both worked at
General Electric.[38]
In September 2011 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a US$2.4 million
fine against the company for its failure to follow quality assurance requirements while
producing fiberglass components at its plant in Chihuahua, Mexico. Excess humidity meant
that the parts did not cure correctly and quality assurance did not detect the problems.
The failure to follow procedures resulted in the delamination in flight of a 7 ft (2.1 m)
section of one Cessna 400's wing skin from the spar while the aircraft was being flown by
an FAA test pilot. The aircraft was landed safely. The FAA also discovered 82 other aircraft
parts that had been incorrectly made and not detected by the company's quality
assurance. The investigation resulted in an emergency Airworthiness Directive that
affected 13 Cessna 400s.[39]
Since March 2012, Cessna has been pursuing building business jets in China as part of a
joint venture with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The company stated that
it intends to eventually build all aircraft models in China, saying "The agreements together
pave the way for a range of business jets, utility single-engine turboprops and single-
engine piston aircraft to be manufactured and certified in China."[40][41]
In late April 2012 the company added 150 workers in Wichita as a result of anticipated
increased demand for aircraft production. Overall, they have cut more than 6000 jobs in
the Wichita plant since 2009.[42]
In March 2014 Cessna ceased operations as a company and instead became a brand
of Textron Aviation.[4]

Marketing initiatives[edit]
During the 1950s and 1960s Cessna's marketing department followed the lead of Detroit
automakers and came up with many unique marketing terms in an effort to differentiate its
product line from their competitions'.
Other manufacturers and the aviation press widely ridiculed and spoofed many of the
marketing terms, but Cessna built and sold more aircraft than any other manufacturer
during the boom years of the 1960s and 1970s.
Generally, the names of Cessna models do not follow a theme, but there is logic to the
numbering: the 100 series are the light singles, the 200s are the heftier, the 300s are light
to medium twins, the 400s have “wide oval” cabin-class accommodation, and the 500s are
jets. Many Cessna models have names starting with C for the sake of alliteration (e.g.
Citation, Crusader, Chancellor).[43]

Company terminology[edit]
Cessna marketing terminology includes:

A 1965 Cessna 150 with "omni-vision" rear windows

•Para-Lift Flaps – Large Fowler flaps Cessna introduced on the 170B in 1952, replacing
the narrow chord plain flaps then in use.[44]
•Land-O-Matic – In 1956, Cessna introduced sprung-steel tricycle landing gear on the
172. The marketing department chose “Land-O-Matic” to imply that these aircraft were
much easier to land and take off than the preceding conventional landing gear equipped
Cessna 170. They even went as far as to say pilots could do “drive-up take-offs and drive-
in landings”, implying that flying these aircraft was as easy as driving a car. In later years
some Cessna models had their steel sprung landing gear replaced with steel tube gear
legs. The 206 retains the original spring steel landing gear today.[44]
•Omni-Vision – The rear windows on some Cessna singles, starting with
the 182 and 210 in 1962, the 172 in 1963 and the 150 in 1964. The term was intended to
make the pilot feel visibility was improved on the notably poor-visibility Cessna line. The
introduction of the rear window caused in most models a loss of cruise speed due to the
extra drag, while not adding any useful visibility.[44]
•Cushioned Power – The rubber mounts on the cowling of the 1967 model 150, in
addition to the rubber mounts isolating the engine from the cabin.
•Omni-Flash – The flashing beacon on the tip of the fin that could be seen all around.
•Open-View – This referred to the removal of the top section of the control wheel in 1967
models. These had been rectangular, they now became “ram’s horn” shaped, thus not
blocking the instrument panel as much.
•Quick-Scan – Cessna introduced a new instrument panel layout in the 1960s and this
buzzword was to indicate Cessna’s panels were ahead of the competition.
•Nav-O-Matic – The name of the Cessna autopilot system, which implied the system was
relatively simple.
•Camber-Lift – A marketing name used to describe Cessna aircraft wings starting in 1972
when the aerodynamics designers at Cessna added a slightly drooped leading edge to the
standard NACA 2412 airfoil used on most of the light aircraft fleet. Writer Joe Christy
described the name as "stupid" and added "Is there any other kind [of lift]?" [45]
•Stabila-Tip – Cessna started commonly using wingtip fuel tanks, carefully shaped for
aerodynamic effect rather than being tubular-shaped. Tip tanks do have an advantage of
reducing free surface effect of fuel affecting the balance of the aircraft in rolling
manoeuvres.

Aircraft models