- …,Formed by C.G. Yankey and Al Mooney (Formerly of Culver Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas), the Mooney Aircraft Company of Wichita Kansas introduced the famous Mooney Model M-18 “Mite” in 1948. The Mooney “Mite” was an attempt to provide a low-cost (selling initially for less than $2,000), one place personal sport aircraft for the masses. The “Mite” originally used a 25 HP Crosely Auto engine, and construction of the airframe relied quite a bit on using wood to keep costs down. Perhaps the most distinctive hallmark of Mooney aircraft was the forward swept vertical tail as found on the “Mite”. Although the forward swept vertical tail provides the public with a means to easily identify an aircraft as being a Mooney (partly styling), the unusual tail design is also credited to enable the aircraft to better recover from spins. Mooney produced the “Mite” from 1947 until the company moved to Kerrville, Texas in 1953. Approximately 290 “Mites” were built in Wichita. The Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, Kansas has a restored and fully operational Mooney “Mite” in it’s collection of aircraft.
- …The Waco CG-4A Combat Glider was built under contract by Cessna Aircraft Company (Wichita, Kansas) and Commonwealth Aircraft Company (formerly known as Rearwin Aircraft Company, Kansas City, Kansas). Designed by the Waco Aircraft Company of Troy, Ohio, the CG-4A was contracted out to be built by 16 U.S. companies. Cessna and Commonwealth built a combined total of 2,320 CG-4A’s, or about 18% of all CG-4A’s built in the United States. The CG-4A was used in combat air assaults in Burma, France, Holland and Sicily during World War II. The CG-4A would typically carry a crew of 2 and 13 fully loaded infantrymen.
- …16 Army and 2 Navy training bases were located in Kansas during World War II. One of the Air Corps fields was located near Liberal, Kansas and covered 1,946 acres. Approximately one quarter of all U. S. B-24 “Liberator” commanders passed through the training program in Liberal, Kansas during it’s 27 months of operation. Additional history of the Liberal Air Base can be viewed at the Liberal Air Museum, Liberal, Kansas.