1900

Three years before the Wright brothers successfully take off at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Carl Dryden Browne promotes a commercial airplane factory in Freedom, Kan., building a factory and a prototype, but never flies his aircraft. The factory closes in 1902.

1909

William Purvis and Charles Wilson, two railroad mechanics in Goodland, quit their jobs to work on a rotary-winged aircraft. The venture fails, but their design is believed to be the first rotary-winged aircraft ever patented, a predecessor to the helicopter.

1911

Albin Longren flies the first successful Kansas plane on Sept. 2, outside Topeka.

Clyde Cessna builds a plane near Rago and puts on a public flight at the Salt Plains near Enid, Okla.

1916

Cessna moves his airplane manufacturing business from his farm in Kingman County to an auto factory in north Wichita.

Walter Beech, left, is pictured with Art Goebel in front of the Woolaroc, a Travel Air 5000 that won the famous Dole race to Hawaii in 1927. The photo is from the Robert J. Pickett Collection at the Kansas Aviation Museum/Beech Aircraft Co. in Wichita.

1919

Two aircraft factories are formed in Wichita, Wichita Aeroplane Service Co. and the Wichita Aircraft Co. J.M. Moellendick, oil tycoon, invests in the Wichita Aircraft Co. Upset with the management, he persuades William Burke from Okmulgee, Okla., to take over. Burke flies to Chicago, meets with E.M. “Matty” Laird, and proposes the three form a company in Wichita to build planes.

1920

E.M. Laird Airplane company is formed in Wichita. The staff includes Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman.

1921

State census shows 21 plane manufacturers in the state.

1925

Photo gallery: History of Flight History of flight in Kansas predates Wright brothers World flight timeline Kansas Aviation Museum

Travel Air is formed by Cessna, Beech and Stearman. Two years later, Cessna and Beech split after a disagreement over whether to build monoplanes or biplanes.

1926

Stearman forms his own company in California and a year later moves it to Wichita.

1927

Clyde Cessna forms Cessna Aircraft Co. Wichita begins promoting itself as “The Air Capital of the U.S.”

1929

Beech sells Travel Air to Curtiss Wright; United Aircraft and Transportation, forerunner of the Boeing Co., buys Stearman; Al Mooney forms the Mooney Aircraft Corp. in Wichita.

1932

Walter Beech and his business-savvy wife, Olive Ann, start Beech Aircraft Co., based on East Central Street in Wichita. The first Beechcraft, the classic Model 17R Staggerwing, makes its initial flight Nov. 4, 1932.

1938

Cessna Airmaster, considered the “world’s most efficient airplane,” goes into production.

1941 to 1945

Aircraft companies enjoy a boom because of World War II. More than 50,000 aircraft workers are employed in Kansas plants, most of them in Wichita. Boeing built B-29 bombers. Beech (C-45 from the Beech 18 among others) and Cessna (T-50 Bobcat, “Bamboo Bomber” and others) built military aircraft.

1944

Boeing Wichita is the first manufacturing facility in the United States to use mass transportation for workers. Buses take people from downtown Wichita, Arkansas City, Winfield, Salina, and Ponca City and Newkirk, Okla., to Boeing and back.

1945

Culver Aircraft Corp. of Wichita operates in a complete blanket of secrecy for the duration of World War II. It built radio-controlled drones.

Postwar layoffs: Aircraft factories lay off workers, 16,000 people lose jobs at Boeing in one day.

Beech’s Model 35 Bonanza twice holds the world’s nonstop distance record for light planes.

1946

In 1946, when Al Mooney re-enters the manufacturing scene at age 40, he and Charles G. Yankey formed Mooney Aircraft Inc.

1948

Boeing Wichita conducts initial aerial refueling tests with B-29s.

1951

The first jet bomber, Boeing the B-47, rolls off the Wichita production lines.

1953

Boeing begins production on the B-52 bomber; the airplane still was flying active missions in 2002.

1956

Cessna’s Model 172 sets world sales records. More than 14,000 were built in 13 years.

1962

Bill Lear moves from Switzerland to Wichita to design, build and market a business jet. The first Learjet flight is Oct. 7, 1963.

1969

First flight of Cessna business jet prototype, which became the Citation.

1979

Beech Aircraft is acquired by the Raytheon Co.

1982

Summer ’81 to Spring ’82 Beech lays off 2,500 people and Cessna lays off 3,045.

1983

Beech announces plans for all-composite Starship. Certification and marketing problems derail the Starship; production stopped with about 50 delivered.

1984

Learjet lays off 1,000 workers.

1986

After 35,000 model 172s had been built, Cessna halts production, due primarily to soaring product-liability costs.

General Dynamics Corp. buys out Cessna.

1990

Bombardier Inc. purchases Learjet Inc., the first Kansas business jet maker.

1992

Textron Corp. acquires Cessna from General Dynamics.

1994

Beech Aircraft, after 62 years, is renamed Raytheon Aircraft Co.