Victor H. Roos (April 26, 1888 - October 6, 1964) was an American entrepreneur and the founder or co-founder of several early aircraft companies, including Cessna Aircraft.

Biography

The only Bellanca CF built, at the National Air and Space Museum An American Eaglet B-31 In 1917 Roos was a distributor of

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in Lo ...

pedal cycles in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, becoming one of the largest distributors in the Midwest. In 1922, Roos and partner A.H. Fetters bought the aviation assets of the

Maryland Pressed Steel Company Maryland Pressed Steel Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of the Bellanca CD, and CE aircraft. The New York & Hagerstown Metal Stamping Co manufactured arms for the British and was reorganized into the Maryland Pressed Steel Company ...

and formed the Roos-Bellanca company (also known as the Omaha Aircraft Company) to build rising designer

Giuseppe Bellanca Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into t ...

's monoplane design, the CF. Only one example was built, but it became famous from its modern design, and publicity stunts such as holding in-flight weddings. The company dissolved in 1924. In September 1927,

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. History The company initially built a series of sporting and tr ...

founder Clyde Cessna split from Walter Beech forming Cessna-Roos aircraft. Roos became the second largest shareholder in the start-up venture that went on to produce the most popular general aviation aircraft in the world. Roos resigned just one month into the partnership, selling back his interest to Cessna, and the company changed its name to Cessna Aircraft in December 1927. In November 1927, the owner of the Swallow Airplane Company, Moellendick, became insolvent after sidelining Swallow production to make the ''

Dallas Spirit ''Dallas Spirit'', (aka Swallow Monoplane or Swallow Dole Racer), was a custom-built aircraft designed to compete in the ill-fated Dole Air Race, Dole Air Derby between California and Hawaii. Development ''Dallas Spirit'' was built to attempt t ...

'' on credit to enter the Dole Air Derby. Roos took control of the company, becoming the general manager, then left in 1928. In 1928 Roos joined the American Eagle aircraft company, which produced more Bellanca designed aircraft. Roos and partners agreed to merge with Lincoln-Page Aircraft Company, becoming the American Eagle-Lincoln Aircraft based at Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Missouri, where he became president. When the company dissolved during the depression, Roos founded the short lived Victor H. Roos Aircraft Company to continue to sell the American Eaglet design. With Roos's permission, Ben Howard built his famous air racer " Mr. Mulligan" at the factory site after production of the Eaglet had ceased. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Roos founded the Automatic Coin Machine Company in Kansas City to distribute jukebox machines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roos, Victor 1888 births 1964 deaths American aviation businesspeople Cessna Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska 20th-century American businesspeople