1920's Cessna AW - My Kind Of Cessna (With Video)
Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 10:06PM 
A 1929 Cessna AW - 110hp 4-place piece of classic antique beauty
I haven't been emotionally moved by the sight of a single engine Cessna since they moved that little wheel in the back up to the front back in the mid 1950's. And if you go way back to the 1920's, you find the first aircraft that Cessna built in any large numbers (even tho only 83 were built), the Cessna Model A. The AW version was powered by the 110hp Warner, and yet it performed remarkably well even with 4 seats! How can we have had so little progress (or none) in all those years? That's a long discussion - we'll save that for another day.
Anyway, I've known about the AW for many years. I followed along with the AW restoration that Gar Williams did thru the late 70's, and I've always thought the airplane had a really special charm about it. I was also always intrigued by that unique wing. It's fabric covered, but it doesn't have any struts to control twist. Quite an engineering feat for the late 20's.
So, I thought I'd put a quick post up about it with the video of the AW that Gar restored when it was recently moved from Illinois to the Eagles Mere Air Museum in Pennsylvania... but when I looked at that classic image above of an AW, it reminded me a little of my fantasy design I call the Dreambird. What really caught my eye was the fact that the pilot's eyes are right at, or even forward of the leading edge of the wing. That was one of the primary things I wanted to accomplish with the Dreambird. And while I envisioned the Dreambird with a 110hp radial engine (Rotec), it's actually just a 2-seater with a really big baggage area. Here's the graphic I drew last year of the Dreambird.
My fantasy design from 2010 called Dreambird
Check out the video below, and let me know if you think an antique like the AW is more interesting than what Cessna builds these days. I certainly do.
Reader Comments (4)
That was a wonderful video of the Cessna AW. Thanks for sharing it. I just hope that someone can design a digital video camera that doesn't result in wierd looking spinning propellers.
Good video, Martt, although I think I would rather listen to the engine than the music (I know it's not your doing.) I remember reading about Gar Williams restoration at the time it was done. Pictures of the 40-foot, one-piece wing certainly spoke to his dedication. If I recall correctly, Clyde Cessna was still alive at the time and paid him a visit. As far as transportation goes, 20 years after the AW, I think the PA-20 Pacer did the same job, but it is nowhere near as impressive.
I agree, I wish the video would have been all round sound : )
A fine video, thank you. I saw an AW at the Yanks museum in Chino this weekend and went looking for more information. The plane has remarkably clean lines for its era. With the later Cessna spring steel gear, it would be quite the looker.