A century in Kansas flight

May 1911 — More than 12,000 people gather at the Walnut Grove Air Meet in Wichita to see barnstormers circle and glide their planes through the air.

Sept. 2, 1911 — A.K. Longren makes a flight near Topeka, becoming the first person to successfully fly in a Kansas-made aircraft over Kansas.

1916-1917 — Clyde Cessna, a Kingman County farmer with no formal training in engineering or flying, builds the first plane in Wichita during the winter.

Oct. 6, 1918— Wichitan Lt. Erwin Bleckley dies in a plane crash in France's Argonne Forest while dropping supplies of chocolate, bandages and ammunition to soldiers of the Lost Battalion. Bleckley efforts are the first time a ground unit is supplied by an airplane. He is awarded the Medal of Honor.

1920s — Lloyd Stearman joins Walter Beech and Cessna to create Travel Air. Later, his own Stearman Aircraft Co. would lay the foundation for Boeing Wichita.

1930s — Walter and Olive Ann Beech begin Beech Aircraft Corp.

March 31, 1931 — A Transcontinental-Western flight en route from Kansas City to Los Angeles crashes over the Flint Hills outside Bazaar, killing national football legend Knute Rockne and seven other men.

1937 — Atchison native Amelia Earhart disappears in a record-setting attempt to fly around the equator.

1941-1945 — Wichita becomes a hub of military activity during World War II.

* The Wichita-built Boeing line of trainers and the B-29 Superfortress push the Wichita factory into the national forefront of military activity. During the war, Wichita's Boeing division delivers 1,644 B-29 Super Fortresses and 8,584 Kaydett Trainers.

* Beech produces 7,415 military Beechcrafts while Cessna builds 5,359 T-50 military Bobcat trainers and 750 gliders. Culver Aircraft, another Wichita company, builds 2,448 radio-controlled, pilotless aircraft.

1943 — From 1943 to 1946, B-29s flying from bases in Pratt, Salina, Herington and Great Bend are a common sight in Kansas skies. More than 24,000 B-29 pilots train at Kansas bases.

1951 — McConnell Air Force Base is activated to train crewmen assigned to fly the B-47 Stratojet.

August 1961 — Learjet breaks ground on a new plant near Wichita Municipal Airport.

1963 — Bill Lear's first prototype for a business jet — the Learjet Model 23 — makes its maiden flight from Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. In 1967, Lear's company is bought by Gates Rubber Co. The company goes through a series of owners and name changes until it is purchased in 1990 by Bombardier.

Jan. 16, 1965 — KC-135 tanker from McConnell crashes on Piatt Street in north Wichita. Thirty people are killed, including the seven crew members.

1980 — Wichita aircraft plants lay off thousands.

1982 — Olive Ann Beech retires as chairman of the aircraft company that bears her family's name.

2001-2002 — A recession following 9/11 terrorist attacks forces Wichita aircraft companies to lay off more than 14,000 employees over a two-year period.

2002 — Airbus opens its first U.S. design and engineering facility in Wichita's Old Town.

2005 — Canada's Onex Corp. buys Boeing's commercial aircraft division in Wichita, forming Spirit AeroSystems.

2008 — Beginning in late 2008 through 2009, Wichita experiences the affects of another recession, this time losing 12,000 jobs in the aviation industry as customers cancel and delay orders for business aircraft.

This story was originally published September 18, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "A century in Kansas flight."