The U.S. military trained thousands of pilots during WWII, pilots many aircraft manufacturers naturally assumed would continue flying once they returned home. But the hoped-for "an airplane in every garage" buying boom was never able to sustain itself, even if huge numbers of new airplanes were manufactured. Piper was building Cubs and, soon, Cruisers and Pacers pretty much as fast as it could.

With a few exceptions—Beech’s Bonanza, for example—most offerings were taildraggers. The first of Cessna’s to be built in volume was the diminutive Cessna 120, followed in short order by a fancier model called the 140. At the time, the Cessna 120/140s were perfectly serviceable and practical two-place airplanes.…