/2
To keep his aircraft manufacturing company alive in the early years of the Great Depression, Clyde Cessna began to sell small and simple aircraft such as the CG-2 glider (Cessna Glider, model 2). Designed and built with his son, Eldon, the little sport glider sold by catalog for $398. The CG's spartan design was based on German primary gliders used to train pilots after World War I. It could be launched to flight speed by a slingshot-like device using bungee cords. Longer flights could be made off a hill or ridge, or pulled by automobile. Cessna advertisements of 1930 stated, "Glider pilots will be future transport pilots."
The CG-2 became the basis for many other small Cessna aircraft, including the CPG-1, a powered glider; the CS-1, a sailplane; and the EC-2, a tiny one-place monoplane. Cessna records show sales of only 54 CG-2 units, although many more may have been built from kits. Sadly, sales of the CG-2 and its offspring could not save the Cessna Company from shutting down in 1931. Clyde Cessna would revive the company in the mid-1930s with a successful line of air racers.
The Museum's CG-2 was purchased and assembled in 1930 by ten members of the Yakima Glider Club, which had been recently founded by pioneer Northwest aviator Charlie McAllister. The glider cost $400, paid in equal allotments by the 10 members. The club flew the glider for ten years. It was preserved and eventually donated to The Museum of Flight in 1987.
To keep his aircraft manufacturing company alive in the early years of the Great Depression, Clyde Cessna began to sell small and simple aircraft such as the CG-2 glider (Cessna Glider, model 2). Designed and built with his son, Eldon, the little sport glider sold by catalog for $398. The CG's spartan design was based on German primary gliders used to train pilots after World War I. It could be launched to flight speed by a slingshot-like device using bungee cords. Longer flights could be made off a hill or ridge, or pulled by automobile. Cessna advertisements of 1930 stated, "Glider pilots will be future transport pilots."
The CG-2 became the basis for many other small Cessna aircraft, including the CPG-1, a powered glider; the CS-1, a sailplane; and the EC-2, a tiny one-place monoplane. Cessna records show sales of only 54 CG-2 units, although many more may have been built from kits. Sadly, sales of the CG-2 and its offspring could not save the Cessna Company from shutting down in 1931. Clyde Cessna would revive the company in the mid-1930s with a successful line of air racers.
The Museum's CG-2 was purchased and assembled in 1930 by ten members of the Yakima Glider Club, which had been recently founded by pioneer Northwest aviator Charlie McAllister. The glider cost $400, paid in equal allotments by the 10 members. The club flew the glider for ten years. It was preserved and eventually donated to The Museum of Flight in 1987.
