Eldon W. Cessna; Engineer, Pilot for Aircraft Firm
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The son of the founder of the Cessna aircraft company, who was a test pilot and engineer for those widely praised small planes during their formative years, has died in Inglewood.
Eldon W. Cessna was 84 and his wife, Helen, said he had been ill for a few weeks before his death Saturday.
Cessna joined Clyde V. Cessna’s company about the time it was founded in 1927 in Kansas. After studying engineering at Kansas State University he became chief engineer for his father and designed more than 20 planes.
From 1929 to 1935 he was chief test pilot for the company while competing in dozens of air races, both closed-course and cross-country.
He left Cessna, which was forced to close briefly during the Depression, to come to California. In 1935 he went to work for Northrop. Later he worked for Douglas and North American. With North American he worked on projects ranging from the P-51 fighter to the X-15 to the Apollo moon landings.
Honored by several pioneer flight organizations, including the Early Birds of Aviation, he also managed the Cessna family farm in Kingman County, Kansas.
Besides his wife, he is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
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