文档介绍："The Air Capital of the World"[ edit ] Inthe 20th century, aircraft pioneers such asClyde Cessna and Walter Beech began projects that led toWichita's establishment asthe "Air Capital ofthe World". The aircraft corporations Stearman ,Cessna ,Mooney , and Beechcraft were all founded inWichita inthe late 1920s and early 1930s. [12] [13] [20] [21] In1914 and 1915, oil was discovered nearby and Wichita became amajor oil center. The money derived from oil allowed local entrepreneurs to invest inanascent airplane industry. In1917 the et became the first aircraft tobebuilt inWichita. [12] [13] [21] [22]In1920, oilmen Jacob M."Jake" Mollendick and Billy Burke invited young Chicago barnstormer and aircraft builder Emil Matthew "Matty" Laird e toWichita tobuild his new airplane design, backed bytheir money. The Laird Swallow became aninstant ess, the first essful "commercial" airplane manufactured inthe United States; Laird built 43ofthem between 1920 and 1923. When Matty Laird returned toChicago, the Wichita enterprise was renamed Swallow pany .Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech were both employees ofthe pany, but inJanuary 1925 they left Swallow and teamed upwith Clyde Cessna toform Travel Air .Stearman left Travel Air in1926 tostart Stearman Aircraft inVenice ,California, and Cessna quit inJanuary 1927 tostart Cessna. In1927 Stearman would relocate his factory back toWichita. [12] [13] [2