Cessna, Clyde

Cessna, Clyde (Vernon)

(1879–1954) airplane manufacturer; born in Hawthorne, Iowa. He built and flew his first plane in 1911. In 1925 he and others organized the Travel Air Company. In 1928, having built the first cantilever plane in the country, he created Cessna Aircraft to produce them. Affected by the Depression, plant operations were suspended in 1931. Although business resumed in 1934, he retired.