Clyde Cessna in front of the 1914 monoplane. [Courtesy Kansas Aviation Museum]
Key Takeaways:
Wichita, Kansas earned its "Air Capital of the World" title due to an early concentration of aviation activity, fostered by pioneering entrepreneurs like E.M. Laird, Lloyd Stearman, and Walter Beech.
Clyde Cessna was inspired by an air circus in 1911, taught himself to fly despite numerous crashes, and became the first pilot to fly over Wichita in 1913.
Supported by local businessmen, Cessna established the Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita in 1916, where he built monoplanes and conducted flight training.
In 1925, Clyde Cessna joined forces with Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech to form the influential Travel Air Company, further solidifying Wichita's aviation industry.
Why on earth is Wichita, Kansas, known as the Air Capital of the World?
Perhaps because at one point it incubated 16 aircraft manufacturers, 11 airports, and a dozen flying schools, according to Wichita, Where Aviation Took Wing, an aviation history of the city published by the Greteman Group.
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