Jet Fuel in Their Veins

B-29 Doc Superfortress built in Boeing Wichita’s Plant 2 in 1944 and restored by the Wichita nonprofit organization Doc’s Friends

ICT Shapes Early Aviation History

But Wichita’s ties to the aviation industry date back much further, more than a century ago, when Clyde Cessna established the first airplane manufacturing facility in Wichita, building The Comet just one year later in 1917. The Comet had a single set of wings, known as a monoplane, and featured a semi-enclosed cockpit. The aircraft set records for airspeed and distance. 

By 1925, Travel Air was formed when Cessna teamed up with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman, who both started their aviation careers at Laird Swallow Airplane Company — Beech was first hired as a test pilot and Stearman as a mechanic. The three men eventually separated to form their own businesses, but remained connected — a life-changing connection, particularly for Beech, who met his wife and eventual business partner, Olive Ann, through Cessna. 

“Clyde Cessna hired her and that’s how Walter and Olive Ann met,” said Jennifer Pitt, granddaughter of Walter and Olive Ann Beech. “Walter was the barnstormer, and Olive Ann was about refinement and class.” 

In the late 1920s, the aeronautical engineering department was established at Wichita State University to support the growth of the industry locally. It is now known as one of the oldest aerospace engineering departments in the country. 

Through the 1930s, Cessna Aircraft Company and Beech Aircraft Company manufactured well-known aircraft, such as the Cessna C-34, called the Airmaster and considered the world’s most efficient airplane. The Beechcraft 17 Staggerwing made its first flight in 1932 — a biplane with staggered wings known for luxury and high speed. 

‘The [Beechcraft] Staggerwing was iconic, it’s like the Model T of airplanes.’ — Jennifer Pitt

By the 1940s, Wichita became a hub for military aircraft. Beech produced several aircraft, including the Beechcraft Model 18, known as the C-45 Expeditor used for military training and Cessna built T-50 Bobcats and the Bamboo Bomber, among others. 

By then, the Boeing Company had taken over the Stearman Corporation, and Wichita operations were focused on building the B-29 Superfortress — a four-engine propeller-driven bomber, and the same model of military aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki to end the second World War. 

“We don’t realize how personal it is,” said Turner, who is also the Chairman of Doc’s Friends — an organization responsible for the restoration of the B-29, ‘Doc.’ “If you go back in your personal history and ask yourself, ‘What would happen if there had not been a B-29?’ If the war would have persisted, where would you be today? It’s fascinating.” 

By the end of WWII, Boeing Wichita was producing 4.2 Superfortresses each day, ultimately making 1,644 of the 3,888 B-29s built. 

The Aircraft Industry Shapes ICT

The military aircraft production completely changed the city. Neighborhoods like Planeview, Hilltop Manor and Beechwood were created to accommodate the thousands of workers moving to the city. Rosie the Riveters stepped in to fill the labor gap, and buses ran routes to help workers commute to Boeing from neighboring suburbs — the first facility of its kind to do so in the United States. 

Despite post-war layoffs at Wichita’s aviation companies, the industry continued to thrive and Wichita continued to cement itself in the aviation landscape. In the early 1950s, the United States Air Force established a base in Wichita as a training center for B-47 Stratojet crews, another aircraft manufactured at the then Boeing-Wichita site. In the mid-1960s, Bill Lear built and marketed the Learjet 23 — known for popularizing the business jet industry. Later, in 1985, the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) was established at WSU, now known as the largest aviation research center in the country. In the 2000s, WSU Tech opened the National Center for Aviation Training, a facility used for teaching students aviation manufacturing and composites technology skills. 

While the industry has changed throughout the years, one thing has remained the same: a major piece of Wichita’s identity is rooted in aviation, and a major piece of aviation history is rooted in Wichita. As time passes, and the industry continues to fluctuate, and signs on buildings change, Wichita residents must remember that flight as it is known today wouldn’t exist without the Air Capital of the World. 

“We have a deep sense of responsibility, because we stand on the shoulders of men and women who gave their lives literally and in the industry to build our community,” Turner said. “It’s something that our community should be very proud of, but also, it didn’t just happen from nothing, it has to be maintained.” 

To learn more about aviation history in Wichita, check out the Kansas Aviation Museum and the B-29 Doc Hangar located at Eisenhower National Airport. “I’ve been following Erwin for a quarter century or more because we’re inspired by him, by what he did,” said Greg Zuercher, a board member for the Bleckley Foundation. “It always has, it always will inspire us.”

The Bleckley Foundation was established to share the memory of Lt. Bleckley and his heroic actions during WWI. The group is behind the DH-4 restoration effort, which will include Lt. Bleckley’s 50th Aero Squadron “Dutch Girl” insignia and the tail number 6 — replicating the DH-4 from Lt. Bleckley’s fateful final flight.