The World’s First Cessna: What Was The Comet?

Cessna is one of the world’s most recognizable aircraft manufacturers. The Wichita, Kansas-based company, which is currently owned by its parent company Textron Aviation, has helped the aviation industry make great strides since it was founded in 1927. It is well known for its Citation line of aircraft, which are business jets that range from very light jets to midsized cabins, and it includes famous aircraft like the Citation X, which was once the fastest business jet in the world.

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However, Cessna is also well-known for its most popular set of aircraft, its single-engine piston aircraft. This includes the most popular aircraft in the world, the Cessna 172, which Cessna has produced nearly 50,000 of since it was introduced in 1956.

Prior to the Cessna 172, Cessna had manufactured many other single-engine piston aircraft, which dates back to the early 1900s. This line of aircraft began with the first aircraft that Clyde Cessna, the founder of Cessna, built. Let’s take a closer look at the first aircraft that Cessna built, which is called the Cessna Comet. Let’s also take a look at how this shaped the company’s future and led to the single-engine aircraft that are currently produced.

The first Cessna-made aircraft

Clyde Cessna, born in 1879, was a self-taught engineer who found an early interest in machinery on his farm. His tinkering with machines eventually transitioned to airplanes after witnessing an aerial exhibition near his farm in Kansas. This led to Clyde Cessna working to build a plane in his barn back at his farm.

Photo: Serginho Vellila | Shutterstock

Clyde’s first attempt at building an aircraft was in 1911. He built a small wood monoplane that he nicknamed the Silverwing. His first attempt at flying the Silverwing resulted in a loop that crashed into the ground. Clyde attempted to fly the Silverwing 13 more times, but each flight eventually resulted in a crash or failure. In 1911, Clyde successfully flew the Silverwing for the first time.

This successful home-built aircraft motivated Clyde to continue building aircraft. After several years of fine-tuning his aircraft design and teaching himself to fly, Clyde acquired a building to begin permanently manufacturing aircraft. This was the start of the airplane-building business that became Cessna Aircraft Company.

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Once Clyde purchased a separate building, he began building the aircraft that is officially listed as the first Cessna aircraft. This aircraft is called the Cessna Comet. It flew for the first time in 1917 after Clyde spent several years building it. It was a conventional monoplane that included a semi-enclosed cabin. It could fit one passenger behind the pilot. The Cessna Comet was powered by an Anzani engine that provided approximately 60 horsepower. Clyde used the Cessna Comet to set the following records on July 5, 1917:

• Flight route: Blackwell, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas
• National airspeed record: 124.6 miles per hour
• National distance record: 76 miles

Leading to the founding of Cessna

Shortly after Clyde launched the Cessna Comet, the United States joined World War I. Clyde was forced to return to his farm because his business was no longer profitable. After the war ended, however, Clyde went back into the aviation business. First, he partnered with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman before leaving to found his own aircraft company in September 1927.

Photo: Textron

After the founding of Cessna Aircraft Company, Clyde and his son designed several efficient single-wing aircraft. However, the Great Depression led to a decline in aircraft sales and Cessna closed its doors in 1931. Clyde’s nephews, Dwane and Dwight Wallace, eventually resumed ownership of the company and reopened its doors in 1934. However, the Wallace brothers rarely strayed from Clyde’s single-wing and single-engine designs. This includes several military contracts for the Cessna T-50 and the success of the first Cessna seaplane, the C-37.

Photo: Textron Aviation

The Wallaces continued overseeing Cessna Aircraft Company and introduced several new technologies in the following years. This included a new line of all-metal aircraft in the late 1940s, certifying Cessna’s first helicopter, and even introducing the Cessna 172, which would become the world’s most produced airplane. Over the last 100 years, Cessna has continued to produce single-engine monoplanes, similar to what Clyde envisioned in the early days of Cessna Aircraft Corporation.

Current single-engine piston aircraft made by Cessna

Even today, Cessna produces several piston aircraft under its parent company, Textron Aviation. The most produced aircraft is the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which has seen nearly 50,000 aircraft produced. This aircraft was originally introduced in 1956, and after a brief hiatus in the 1980s, it was brought back into production in 1996. Newer variants operate with a 180 horsepower engine and the Garmin G1000 avionics system.

The next single-engine aircraft currently produced is the Cessna 182 Skylane. There is currently a turbo version and a standard version. The standard Skylane was introduced the same year as the Cessna 172. The turbo variant was produced from 2001 to 2013 but was recently reintroduced.

The final single-engine aircraft that Cessna produces is the Cessna T206 Turbo Stationair. The aircraft was originally introduced in 1962 and then reintroduced in 1998. Since its introduction, over 10,000 aircraft have been produced.