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Hitting Turbulence: The First Patented ‘Helicopter’

• Following the Wright Brothers first successful flight in 1903, many other pioneers set out to conquer the skies, including William J. Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland.
• In 1909, Purvis and Wilson put together the plans and built a two-story tall aircraft designed to take off and land vertically. They filed for a patent in March of 1910 making them the first in the world to get a rotary winged aircraft patent.
• Together these gentlemen formed the Goodland Aviation Company and built a model that could fly – just not the way they intended.
• Less than two years later Purvis and Wilson would abandon their project after an unsuccessful demonstration flight and disagreements with investors. While the project was unsuccessful, the concept was revolutionary, and it is celebrated as a predecessor to the helicopter.

Soaring High: Success in the Air Capital

• Clyde Vernon Cessna was a self-taught aviator, aircraft designer, and entrepreneur who helped shape the future of flight. A mechanic turned inventor, Cessna built his first plane, ‘Silverwing’, in 1911 and used it to fund his research and work.
• In 1925, Clyde Cessna joined forces with two other leaders in aviation – Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman – to form the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita. Cessna left the company two years later and two years after that Travel Air Manufacturing was bought out ultimately leading the founders to pursue their own businesses.
• Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman would go on to found their own aviation companies in Wichita, creating a friendly business rivalry between former partners.
• In 1927, Cessna founded the Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita to prove that monoplanes (one set of wings) were the future rather than the popular biplane (two sets of wings). His aircraft showed the design’s safety and reliability, and today nearly all modern airplanes are monoplanes.
• Cessna, and the other aviation industry titans of the era (like Beech and Stearman), helped establish Wichita as the “Air Capital of the World,” making Kansas the epicenter of aviation innovation.

Ron Evans - Astronaut

• Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr. was an astronaut born in Kansas who played an important role in the NASA Apollo missions – especially the final Apollo mission.
• Born on November 10, 1933, in St. Francis, Evans grew up in state and graduated from Highland Park High School in Topeka before earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1956. After college, Evans served as a naval aviator and fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy flying more than 100 missions and 5,000 hours during the Vietnam War. He received a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1964. 
• Evans was chosen as one of 19 astronauts for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo program in 1966. At NASA, he served on the support teams for Apollo 7 and Apollo 11 and later became the backup command module pilot for Apollo 14. These roles prepared him for his historic flight as command module pilot on Apollo 17, the final crewed mission of the Apollo lunar program.
• People would not return to the Moon until the recent Artemis II expedition.
• Launched in December 1972, Apollo 17 carried Evans along with mission commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt. While Cernan and Schmitt descended to explore the moon, Evans remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module America. From orbit he conducted scientific observations, photographed the lunar surface, and operated the spacecraft’s scientific instruments.
• Even though he never walked on the moon, Evans spent more time orbiting it than anyone else in history. On the way back to Earth, he performed a spacewalk to check equipment and collect cameras, becoming one of the few astronauts to do this so far from Earth.
• After the crew’s splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean, they were greeted by the air carrier Ticonderoga, the same vessel that Evans had served on in the Navy years earlier.

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"You can’t discover the source of the Missouri anymore, so where are you going to go but space?” – Ron Evans

“I consider myself a flying geologist.”  – Ron Evans

“Hot diggity- dog!” – Ron Evanss

About Kansas 250

The Kansas 250 Commission is the official organization responsible for leading the state's efforts to commemorate America's Semiquincentennial throughout 2026. The Kansas 250 Commission works closely with local communities and partner organizations to provide a wide array of activities and events focused on America's 250th birthday. To learn more about the Kansas 250 Commission, visit their website by clicking here.