The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Chapter Chapter 5 5 5 - - A AAviation:
A viation: F FFrom
F rom the the Cold Cold WW
War W ar to to Desert Desert Storm
Storm
airplanes filled some of this demand,
but the manufacturers also began
building new civilian airplanes
immediately after the war.
In 1946, Cessna Aircraft brought
out its first postwar aircraft called the
C-120 and the C-140. Both of them
were all-metal, high-wing
monoplanes. The 120 was a two-place
aircraft and the 140 a four-place. Prior
to World War II, all Cessna aircraft
were wood and fabric, but the new
technology that developed during the
war killed fabric aircraft. Both of
Taylorcraft BC-12D
these aircraft were very successful.
The 120 led directly to the Cessna 150/152 while the 140 was the direct ancestor of the Cessna 172. By the
end of the 1950s, Cessna had grown to the number one general aviation manufacturer.
Piper Aircraft also resumed production of general aviation aircraft right after the war. Here, too,
they initiated a change that has become a Piper trademark through the years. Their first new postwar
aircraft was called the Skysedan. It was a four-place, all-metal, low-wing monoplane. Prior to World
War II, all Piper aircraft were high-wing, fabric-and-wood aircraft. The Skysedan can be considered
the direct ancestor of the Cherokee series of Piper aircraft.
Of course, Piper also left World War II with the most famous light aircraft of all time. The J-3 Cub
was the traditional high-wing, fabric-covered aircraft. After the war, Piper continued production of the
Cub, producing the Piper PA-28 Super Cub that had a high wing and was fabric-covered.
During the war, the general aviation manufacturers had been involved in building training,
observation and liaison aircraft for the military. After World War II, they began immediately to convert
over to building aircraft for civilian use. Generally, the initial aircraft they built were the same types
they had been manufacturing for the military
with whatever changes were required to get
them licenses for civil use.
On December 7, 1945, just 16 weeks
after the war ended, Beech Aircraft
received a certificate for their Beech 18
executive aircraft. Beech had produced
more than 5,000 Model 18s during the war
and now began delivering the civilian
model at the rate of two airplanes per day.
In 1947, Beech first offered an airplane
that would become a classic. The Model
35 Bonanza was an all-metal, low-wing
retractable-gear aircraft that could fly at Cessna 140 (EAA)
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