I’d like to revisit this thread but narrow the topic to books on Cessna history. I recently bought
Cessna: Wings for the World by William D. Thompson. It’s selling for as much as
$243.88 online—that’s a discount from their list price of $466.73! I bought it directly from Bill’s daughter, Connie, for $25.
Here’s the website. It’s a fascinating read on the development of Cessna’s single-engine aircraft from a test pilot’s perspective. He starts out describing his getting hired straight out of Purdue as a sales pilot but then being offered a job to replace one of two experimental test pilots who had been killed in C-195 accidents. The last page of the book says, “Distribution of
Cessna: Wings for the World is available through the author’s company, Thompson Aeronautical Consultants, ... the various Cessna model-specific groups such as the C-140, C-140,
C-170, and C-195 clubs.” It’d be great if we could get a club discount on the book. On the back cover he says, “Unlike other published books on this subject such as
An Eye to th Sky by Gerald O. Deneau,
Wings of Cessna by Edward H. Phillips and
Cessna — 50 Years of Leadership by Donald Simon, this book describes the design philosophies, unique features, development problems, methods of improving performance and flight characteristics, participants in the technical work, and evolution of the models.”
An Eye to the Sky is only 77 pages. It’s author, Gerald Deneau, was an “Administrative Engineer (whatever that is) for the Commercial Aircraft Division.” More a cataloging of the development of Cessna from 1911-1961. It does have some interesting vignettes though. Like when Clyde, as a young man growing up on a farm in Kansas, was often called on to fix their neighbor’s farm equipment. “No pay was asked or offered; it was just outright neighborliness. Then, an implement dealer in Harper, Kansas, who often sold farm equipment in the Rago neighborhood, investigated why Rago farmers almost never asked for service. When he found out, he offered Clyde good pay if he would be his service man.”
Has anyone read the other books which Thompson listed? How about other books on Cessna history not listed? Any to recommend?