changed their tone and began calling him a "daring hero" and nicknamed him the "Birdman of Enid". Cessna continued to teach himself how to fly over the next several months until December 1911, when he made a successful flight and a successful landing at the point of departure. He was the first person to build and fly an airplane in the Heartland of the United States—between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The middle years After the success of the Silverwing, Cessna permanently quit his work with the automobile industry to pursue his interests in aviation. Between 1912 and 1915, Cessna developed several new monoplanes, all powered by an Anzani 6-cylinder with 40–60 hp. During this time, Clyde often flew his aircraft at holiday events and county fairs, an endeavour that at the time proved to be lucrative. It was in 1916 that Clyde acquired a vacant building to begin building a new aircraft for the 1917 aviation exhibition season. His factory served a dual purpose, as he also opened a flight school in which he enrolled five student pilots. However, in April 1917 when the United States declared war, the exhibition flying market ground to a halt. With his primary source of income grounded, Clyde returned to his old home near Rago, Kansas, where he resumed his duties on the family farm. Travel Air Manufacturing Company In the years following World War I public interest in private flying increased, leading Cessna in 1925, along with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman, to found the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita, Kansas. While Cessna was president, the company soon became one of the leading US aircraft manufacturers. This success can be attributed to Cessna's advanced design concepts, creating aircraft that attained international recognition, while establishing numerous speed and distance records. After two years, Cessna left the company with plans to start his own firm, due to disputes with his partners over the monoplane design or the biplane design. Cessna Aircraft Corporation On September 7, 1927, Cessna and aviation entrepreneur Victor Roos paired to form Cessna-Roos Aircraft. Roos resigned just one month into the partnership, selling back his interest to Cessna, and the company changed its name to Cessna Aircraft Corporation in December. In the later part of 1927, Cessna struggled to design and build an efficient monoplane. The AW was completed near the end of 1927. Cessna followed the AW