Rearwin Airplanes

Rearwin Aircraft and Engines Inc.
Formerly
  • Rearwin Airplanes Inc.
  • Rearwin Aircraft Inc.
IndustryAerospace
Founded1928 (1928)
Defunct1942 (1942)
FateSold
SuccessorCommonwealth Aircraft
Headquarters
  • Salina, Kansas
  • Kansas City, Kansas
,
United States
Key people
  • R.A. Rearwin
  • Royce Rearwin
  • Ken Rearwin
SubsidiariesKen-Royce Engines

Rearwin Airplanes was a series of US airplane-manufacturing businesses founded by Andrew ("Rae") Rearwin in 1928.[1] Rae Rearwin was an American businessman who had developed several successful business ventures in the Salina, Kansas area in the early 20th century. Although he had no experience with aircraft manufacturing (and no pilot training), he felt that he could succeed with his solid business acumen. With his two sons, Ken and Royce, he hired some engineers and built the Ken-Royce in a garage in Salina. The business moved to the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas, and went through several variations before it was sold to Commonwealth Aircraft in 1942, which went bankrupt in 1946.[2]

  1. ^ Donald M. Pattillo. A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry. p. 20.
  2. ^ Wright, Bill (1997). Rearwin: A Story of Men, Planes, and Aircraft Manufacturing During the Great Depression. Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press. ISBN 0-89745-207-0.