Page 8 - Volume 19 Number 10

TheCessnaby LeRoy CookA Versatile6 • TWIN & TURBINEOCTOBER 2015By the mid-1960s, Cessna Aircraft Company was on a growth spurt, bringing out new aircraft models to fill every possible marketing opportunity. Recognizing that business aircraft was the key to the company’s future, it was obvious that expanding the twin-engine line was vital. The Model 310 was over ten years old and had seen its share of upgrades, but Beech Aircraft had introduced the cabin-class Queen Air in1960. To compete, Cessna needed a bigger plane.What the engineers came up with was something called the “Cessna 411”. Originally, it was one of Cessna’s few design mistakes, but it did serve as the foundation for a successful family of rear- door twins, extending for the next 20 years. The 411 utilized the 310/320 wing, complete with wingtip fuel tanks, split flaps and electrically-operated landing gear, but with an entirely-new “wide oval” fuselage. Unlike Beech’s taller, but narrower, “bread loaf” cross-section, the new Cessna twin sacrificed headroom in favor of a wider cabin, since most of the trip is spent in a seated position. A split entrance door