The Cessna
company is the most successful
small-plane manufacturer ever. Their self-titled
Cessna 172 "SkyHawk" reigned the skies for almost 47 years with no competition; and even when competition hit the skies, people still take preference to the old,
trusted-and-true Cessna.
It all started back in
1937.
August 13, 1937. A small company in Wichita flew a full cantelever winged monoplane (cantelever wings have no supporting struts or braces). The inventor,
Clyde Cessna, takes credit for the design and patents it later that year.
Clyde wasn't new to this whole airplane business - in fact, in
1911 he built and flew his own biplane. On
September 7, 1927, Clyde incorporated Cessna Inc., and started production of his various designs.
Cessna currently manufactures and has in their inventory quite a number of planes and models; too many to list here. I advise you check out their own website for details on all of their products.
Cessna aircraft currently noded:
Sources: Cessna.Com, my memory, and my flight manual for the Cessna. Thx to Kermitov for timeline corrections. If you have any additions or corrections, pls /msg me.