An Autobiography by W.D. Thompson
This is the story of how Charles Lindberg's epoch-making
flight from New York to Paris flight in 1927 inspired a young 7 year
old boy to develop a consuming interest in aviation from the helmet
and goggle days of the 1930s to the wartime mentality of the 1940s,
and finally, the corporate and personal aviation style of the next
five decades.
Forerunners of this book are the author's CESSNA
WINGS FOR THE WORLD-The Single-Engine Development Story and a
second CESSNA book with the subtitle Development of the
300 Series Twins and Miscellaneous Prototypes. As Manager of Flight
Test and Aerodynamics for most of his 28 years at the Pawnee Division
of the Cessna Aircraft Company the author's Cessna career is described
effectively in those two books. Therefore, those technical details
will not be repeated in this book. Instead, this treatise will describe
the progression of a bedazzled school boy to an engineer, flight instructor,
test pilot, aerodynamicists, preliminary design engineer, technical
consultant, expert witness for lawsuits, and finally an aviation author.
This 6" x 9" soft cover book contains 144 pages and 46 photographs.
About the Author