In its monthly letter to salesmen, Wichita's Cessna Aircraft Co. could find only one way to describe business: "Sales are booming, booming, booming." Like the rest of the U.S. light-plane industry, Cessna is indeed in the midst of the biggest peacetime boom in its history. In 1955's first quarter alone, Cessna, Beech and Piper, the three top private plane makers, sold more than 1,000 planes, worth $20.8 million, a full 40% better than last year. Reason: businessmen are flying nearly 4,000,000 hours annually, more than all the scheduled airlines put together.
One day last...