MORT BROWN
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| One of the world's most experienced pilots, 99-year-old Mort Brown, former chief production test pilot for Cessna, sits at the controls of one of his favorite aircraft, a Cessna 190/195. Generations ago, Mort was the person who flight tested more of these planes than any other pilot -- and more Cessnas, of every kind, than anyone, ever. A generation after his retirement, the 99-year-old aviator still knows how! See below for details. (R. Harris photo) |
CAPTION: A historic Cessna 190/195, roars into the air with Cessna's former chief production test pilot, Mort Brown -- now 99 years old -- in the pilot's seat, and Cessna president Jack Pelton flying as his co-pilot.
This specific airplane was actually the personal plane of the man who designed this series, Dwane Wallace. Nephew of the company's founder and namesake, Clyde Cessna, Dwane led Cessna Aircraft after his uncle's retirement in the 1930s -- until Russ Meyer's takeover in the 1970s. The late Wallace is often credited as the man who made Cessna a household name, the dominant force in general aviation aircraft manufacturing, and the most prolific maker of planes in the world.
The Cessna 190/195, built in the 1940s and 1950s, was the first all-metal Cessna, and one of the last single-engine Cessnas to use the sleek, strutless, "cantilever" wing largely pioneered by Clyde Cessna. Stretched the length of the runway is a line of dozens of 190s and 195s gathered for the 60th Annual International 195 Association Fly-In.
CREDIT: (R.Harris)
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CAPTION: Brown and Pelton bring Wallace's priceless heirloom gently back to earth, landing at Stearman Field (Benton Airport), northwest of Wichita, as Brown's wife, Sharon, and Cessna historian Douglass Miller watch eagerly.
CREDIT: (R.Harris)
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CAPTION: A crowd of reporters, photographers and well-wishers gather around the dynamic duo as they emerge, triumphant, from Wallace's classic craft.
CREDIT: (R.Harris)
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CAPTION: Mort Brown (center), poses for photographers while chatting with his co-pilot, Cessna CEO Jack Pelton (right), about the history and characteristics of the plane he's just flown. During the years the Cessna 190/195 was produced, Brown was the Cessna chief of production flight test, and senior production test pilot -- in charge of flight-testing planes before their delivery to customers. With over 20,000 hours of flight time in his logbook, Brown personally earned fame as one of the most experienced pilots of all time -- and it's widely suggested that he probably has completed more takeoffs and landings than any other test pilot in history.
On this flight, says Pelton, the elder aviator "flew a full test card: steep turns, stalls (power-on and power-off), the works" -- recovering from the extreme maneuvers "with just two fingers" -- a feather-light touch of the controls. Still the pro, after all these years!
CREDIT: (R.Harris)
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CAPTION:
CREDIT: (R.Harris)
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