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The Cessna 120 is a two-seat single engined high wing light utility aircraft. The aircraft features fabric
covered wings with a metal fuselage and metal control surfaces. During WWII Cessna Aircraft Company was
busy with the production of aircraft, gliders and parts for the USAAF and Canada. By this means the company created a manufacturing
organisation which was well placed to meet the demand of postwar General Aviation. When peace came, Cessna Aircraft Company set its
sights on the low-priced personal aircraft market. Many wartime pilots wanted to continue flying their own aircraft and many
ex-servicemen saw flying training as the entry to a new career. The first of the post-war Cessnas to be built in volume was the
Cessna 140, followed a month later by a stripped-down model called the 120. Model 140 was an all-metal 2 seat trainer with tailwheel
undercarriage; two wing struts; flaps and extra side window; Model 120, was a stripped-down version of Model 140 with side-by-side seating,
yokes rather than sticks, no flaps and no rear window. Both the 120 and 140 had Continental C-85-12 engines. At the time, the
Cessna 120/140s were perfectly serviceable and practical two-place airplanes. They were reasonably priced to buy and economical to own.
Although they all initially had fabric wings, they were made mostly of metal, avoiding the periodic need for recovering. The postwar boom
ran out and sales dropped annually. In 1949, Model 140A was introduced. The Cessna 140A had an entirely new C170 style tapered wing design
with a single wing strut. The strut replaced the two-piece struts of its predecessors, with a single attach point at the fuselage and two
attach points under the wings. Model 140A also had the option of a C-85-12F or C-90 engine. Despite the introduction of Models like the 140A,
Cessna ran into troubles but managed to survive because of its size and resources and through a period of manufacturing office furniture,
domestic goods and anything else it could find next to the too small amount of aircraft to keep its factories in production. It took until
the mid-1950s before Cessna started with the development of the Model 142 as successor to the Cessna 140. Model 142,
a tricycle-geared two place trainer, was based on the tail-wheel Model 140. After the Cessna 142 N34258 was flown first in September 1957,
the Model 142 was renamed Model 150. The Cessna 140 was in production from 1946 until 1951 with a total of 5430 Model 140 built, including
525 140A airplanes that were built from 1949 until 1951; the Cessna 120 was produced from June 1946 through May 1949 with 2171 Model 120 built.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for the Cessna 120 is C120 |
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On 17 March 1947, Cessna 140 s/n 13047 was first flown and issued with the registration NC2786N in the USA. On 4 August 1947, the by a Contnental C-85-12F
engine powered aircraft was delivered to Mr L.E.Stucky, Moundridge, Kansas. In that year often NC instead of N was used. In short order Cessna 120 N2786N
was traded to aircraft broker Yingling Aircraft Company who, in turn, sold it in May 1949 to Milton H Ewy, Moundridge, Kansas. On 24 May 1950, the aircraft
was registered as N1160M. In February 1951, the Cessna 120 was exported to Venezuela, with Mr O.L. Crump / Creole Petroleum Corporation. In Venezuela, the aircraft
was also used by the Cachipo Aero Club in Cachipo. In April 1952, the Cessna was registered YVT-CTA in Venezuela, but the same month the aircraft was reverted
to N1106M in preparation for a move to the British West Indies, having been acquired by William Alcorn, Port of Spain for the Light Aeroplane Club of Trinidad
and Tobago, operating from Piarco airport. As the Trinidad Government recognised the Light Aeroplane Club of Trinidad and Tobago as a British registered company,
the aircraft had to be given a local ‘British Colonial’ registration: VP-TBO. On 27 August 1953, registration N1160M was cancelled. As the Cessna 120 was
registered in Trinidad and Tobago, is next to registration VP-TBO also the use of registration 9Y-TBO suggested, but it wasn't until 31 Augustus 1962 that Trinidad
and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom. On 19 December 1961, registration VP-TBO was cancelled and the aircraft was registered VP-GBO with the
Demerara Light Aeroplane Club, Georgetown, British Guyana. On 26 May 1966, Guyana gained its independence and 19 July 1967, with the introduction of the new 8R-
registrations the Cessna 120 was re-registered 8R-GBO. At that time, H.A. Yankana, Bel Air Park, East Coast Damara, was the registered owner of the aircraft. On
31 August 1971, Cessna 120 8R-GBO crashed after take-off from Ogle airstrip, due to a fuel starvation, and ended up in a field just off the end of the runway when
the engine stopped on climb out. the heavily damaged aircraft was dismantled and removed from the field and later sold to Mr Liam Sharkey, who had it crated and
shipped to the USA for a re-build. Registration 8R-GBO was cancelled. In 1986 the fully restored, but still dismantled, airframe was shipped to the UK, still in
the ownership of Liam Sharkey, where it was re-assembled but remained grounded for a few years. Finally, on 7 January 1987, the Cessna 120 was registered G-AJSS
in the UK with Mr Liam Gerrard Sharkey, London, as owner. On 9 July 1992, ownership changed to Robhurst Flying Group in Woodchurch, Kent. On 27 May 2010, the
Juliet Sierra Group, Northampton, was registered as the next owner of the G-AJJS. On 26 May 2010, Cesnna 120 G-AJJS caused extensive damage in precautionary
landing following power loss at Bicester airfield. During the landing roll, the left main gear leg fell into a deep rabbit hole, which caused extensive damage
to the forward fuselage. It was re-build at Bruntingthorpe and sold to Mr. G.A. Robson. On 31 July 2014, Cessna 120 G-AJJS was registered with its
present owner Mr. Graham Andrew Robson in Harmston, Lincoln.
On 12 August 2007, Cessna 120 G-AJJS visited the International Old Timer
Fly-in at Schaffen-Diest aerodrome (EBDT). |
