I have always liked Cessna aircraft, and I have a little story about them.
My first flight in one was at the naval air facility in Millington, Tennessee. My instructor partner I worked with had his new pilot's license and we would go over to the airfield and take short hops while he built up his hours in his flight log. It was fun and historical for me. During WW-2 the navy trained pilots from that same field. They learned navigation techniques there. It was a great place to train them because if they got lost all they had to do was find the Mississippi river and then follow it back to the field.
Later on, I found out my cousin-in-law who had been a submarine mechanic and a buddy submariner got into aviation after their navy tours were done. They were flying Cessna planes and my cousin decided there was a better way to operate the propellers, so he invented a better way and patented it. He then went to Cessna to sell them the idea. They installed his new device and tried it out. It worked well, but they turned him down and said it would not work out. He found out later that they had gone into full production using his patented device. He then filed suit against the company. He ended up with an 8 million dollar settlement and then went out and bought a Cessna twin prop plane.
There are a lot of stories about men who invented things, patented them and they were then used by companies without paying the inventors. The intermittent windshield wipers in all cars these days were invented by a guy who worked for Sears. None of Chrysler, Ford or GM said his invention was any good, and then they all put them in their cars. He had to file suit against all of the big 3. They tied him up in court for years and when they finally paid up he was none the better because his legal fees absorbed most of the settlement. Being the little guy against the big corporations is never easy. Sometimes it works, but most of the time the little guy loses. There have been many men who have invented fuel saving carburetors for cars. The energy (fuel) companies bought the patents and then put them on the shelf so they would never get into use and then cut into oil company's profits.
Copyright Bill Weber 2018 and beyond.
Later on, I found out my cousin-in-law who had been a submarine mechanic and a buddy submariner got into aviation after their navy tours were done. They were flying Cessna planes and my cousin decided there was a better way to operate the propellers, so he invented a better way and patented it. He then went to Cessna to sell them the idea. They installed his new device and tried it out. It worked well, but they turned him down and said it would not work out. He found out later that they had gone into full production using his patented device. He then filed suit against the company. He ended up with an 8 million dollar settlement and then went out and bought a Cessna twin prop plane.
There are a lot of stories about men who invented things, patented them and they were then used by companies without paying the inventors. The intermittent windshield wipers in all cars these days were invented by a guy who worked for Sears. None of Chrysler, Ford or GM said his invention was any good, and then they all put them in their cars. He had to file suit against all of the big 3. They tied him up in court for years and when they finally paid up he was none the better because his legal fees absorbed most of the settlement. Being the little guy against the big corporations is never easy. Sometimes it works, but most of the time the little guy loses. There have been many men who have invented fuel saving carburetors for cars. The energy (fuel) companies bought the patents and then put them on the shelf so they would never get into use and then cut into oil company's profits.
Copyright Bill Weber 2018 and beyond.
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