1900

Three years before the Wright brothers successfully take off at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Carl Dryden Browne promotes a commercial airplane factory in Freedom, Kansas, building a factory and a prototype, but never flies his aircraft. The factory closes in 1902.

1909

William Purvis and Charles Wilson, two railroad mechanics in Goodland, quit their jobs to work on a rotary-winged aircraft. The venture fails, but their design is believed to be the first rotary-winged aircraft ever patented, a predecessor to the helicopter.

1910

The first successful Kansas plane, the 1910 Longren Flyer, was built in Topeka.

1911

Clyde Cessna builds a plane near Rago and puts on a public flight at the Salt Plains near Enid, Oklahoma.

1916

Cessna moves his airplane manufacturing business from his farm in Kingman County to an auto factory in north Wichita.

1919

Two aircraft factories are formed in Wichita, Wichita Aeroplane Service Co. and the Wichita Aircraft Co. J.M. Moellendick, oil tycoon, invests in the Wichita Aircraft Co. Upset with the management, he persuades William Burke from Okmulgee, Oklahoma, to take over. Burke flies to Chicago, meets with E.M. "Matty" Laird, and proposes the three form a company in Wichita to build planes.

1920

E.M. Laird Airplane company is formed in Wichita. The staff includes Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman.

1921

State census shows 21 plane manufacturers in the state.

1925

Travel Air is formed by Cessna, Beech and Stearman. Two years later, Cessna and Beech split after a disagreement over whether to build monoplanes or biplanes.

1926

Stearman forms his own company in California and a year later moves it to Wichita.

1927

Clyde Cessna forms Cessna Aircraft Co. 1928: Cessna produced the first full cantilever wing light airplane to go into production in this country. Wichita begins promoting itself as "The Air Capital"

1929

Beech sells Travel Air to Curtiss Wright; United Aircraft and Transportation, forerunner of the Boeing Co., buys Stearman; Al Mooney formed the Mooney Aircraft Corp. in Wichita.

1932

Walter Beech and business-savvy wife Olive Ann start Beech Aircraft Co., based on East Central. The first Beechcraft, the classic Model 17R Staggerwing, mades its initial flight Nov. 4, 1932.

1938

Cessna Airmaster goes into production, considered the "world's most efficient airplane."

1941 to 1945

Aircraft companies enjoy a boom because of World War II. More than 25,000 aircraft workers are employed in Kansas plants, most of them in Wichita. Boeing built B-29 bombers. Beech (C-45 from the Beech 18 among others) and Cessna (T-50 Bobcat, "Bamboo Bomber" and others) built military aircraft.

1944

Boeing Wichita is the first manufacturing facility in the United States to use mass transportation for workers. Buses take people from downtown Wichita, Arkansas City, Winfield, Salina, Ponca City and Newkirk to Boeing and back.

1945

Culver Aircraft Corp. of Wichita operates in a complete blanket of secrecy for the duration of World War II. It built radio-controlled drones.

1945

Postwar Layoffs: Aircraft factories lay off workers, 16,000 people at Boeing in one day.

1945

Beech's Model 35 Bonanza twice holds the world's non-stop distance record for light planes.

1946

In 1946, when kid-genius Al Mooney re-enters the manufacturing scene at age 40, he and Charles G. Yankey formed Mooney Aircraft, Inc.

1948

Boeing Wichita conducts initial aerial refueling tests with B-29s.

1951

The first jet bomber, Boeing B-47, rolls off the Wichita production lines.

1953

Boeing begins production on the B-52 bomber; the airplane still flying active missions in 2002.

1954

David Blanton of Wichita invented the airplane autopilot in 1954
Production of the T-37 (Tweety-Bird) Air Force jet trainer began. Still flying for the USAF in Oklahoma; see up close on ramp at Kansas Aviation Museum.

1956

Introduction of the Cessna Skyhawk, which became the most popular airplane in history. (Cessna's Model 172 sets world sales records. Over 14,000 are built in 13 years.) Photo: N1420F is 1966 H model, owned by Eaglecliff Inc., and flown by Maribeth C. Yarnell of Wichita.

1962

Bill Lear moves from Switzerland to Wichita to design, build and market a business jet. The first Learjet flight is Oct. 7, 1963. The Learjet 23, the first to be developed and financed by a single individual, became the first small jet aircraft to enter mass production. Chemical and Industrial Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio, took delivery of the first production Learjet on October 13, 1964, one year after its initial flight. The Learjet 24 (the 150th Learjet built) flew in March 1966, and two months later, became the first business jet to circumnavigate the globe, taking just four days to complete the journey. Stretched turbofan versions of the Learjet 25, dubbed the Learjet 35/36, became the company's bestseller, and golfer Arnold Palmer flew a Learjet 36 on an around-the-world goodwill tour in 1976. YEAR??On March 17, Learjet model 24 becomes first business aircraft certificated under FAR Part 25.

1968

Cessna's 1,000th T-37 jet trainer, affectionately called "Tweety Bird" was delivered to the Air Force.
In 1968, Beech enters an expanding commuter airline market with the Beechcraft 99 Airliner.

1969

First flight of Cessna business jet prototype which became the Citation.

1972

First Citation business jet delivered (Cessna).

1975

Beech delivers the first C-12, the military version of the Beech Super King Air 200—to the U.S. Army. Today, all four branches of the U.S. Armed Forces—Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps—fly C-12s in various configurations. The Navy also uses Beech T-34C jetprop trainers for primary flight training, and versions of the Beech King Air Model 90, designated T-44A, for multi-engine training.

1978

Cessna led the industry with the availability of weather radar on single-engine aircraft.
The Ag Husky was introduced as the only turbocharged agricultural aircraft in the world.

1979

Beech Aircraft is acquired by the Raytheon Company.
The Turbo Centurion and Pressurized Centurion were certified for flight into icing, the only production singles to achieve this capability.

1982

Summer '81 to Spring '82 Beech lays off 2,500 people and Cessna lays off 3,045.

1983

Beech announces plans for all-composite Starship, a Burt Rutan design. Certification and marketing problems derail the Starship, production stopped at about 50 delivered. To support full-scale Starship production and to handle the composite subcontract work that was hoped would follow, a huge new autoclave, 60x25ft was installed. When completed, it would be the second largest in North America.

1984

Learjet lays off 1,000 workers.
Early in 1984, Beech delivers the first of its new pressurized 1900 Airliners to regional airlines. Today, more than 600 of the 19-passenger jetprops have been delivered worldwide.

1986

General Dynamics Corp. buys out Cessna..

1987

1988

1989

1990

Bombardier Inc. purchases Learjet Inc., the first Kansas business jet maker.
Cessna opened a unique training/manufacturing facility in an economically depressed area of Wichita, where it will train individuals who previously were considered unemployable.
1990, In February U.S. Air Force officials announce the selection of the Beechjet for its T-1A Jayhawk program to train tanker and transport pilots. With all contract options exercised, Beech Aircraft is to provide 180 Beechjets to the Air Force for specialized undergraduate pilot training.

1992

Textron Corp. acquires Cessna from General Dynamics.

1993

In August Raytheon Company acquires Raytheon Corporate Jets, producers of the mid-sized Hawker jet line, from British Aerospace. On July 6, 1993, Mrs. O.A. Beech, co-founder of Beech Aircraft, dies in Wichita at age 89.

1994

Beech Aircraft, after 62 years, is renamed Raytheon Aircraft Co. Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer participated in the signing of the General Aviation Revitalization Act by President Clinton.

1995

1996

Cessna's New "R" Model 172 Skyhawk granted certification by the FAA. Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer was inducted into Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame. First Cessna 172 Skyhawk produced at the new facility in Independence, Kansas, rolled out. Raytheon Aircraft introduces the company's all-new, super mid-sized jet, the Hawker Horizon, during the National Business Aircraft Association convention in November 1996.

1999

2001

2002

2005

Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer, piloted by Steve Fossett, designed by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, launches from Salina, Kansas airport for around-the-world trip, landing 3 days later without refueling. Kansas State University at Salina acts as Mission Control for the record-setting event.