Everett
Cushman and his cousin, Clinton Cushman, began experimenting
with the construction of farm machinery around 1901 in Lincoln.
Initially, they built two-cycle farm engines and boat engines.
The first Cushman motor scooter was manufactured in 1936. By
1950 Cushman had manufactured more than 200,000 "engines
on wheels" as the scooters were known. Today the company
is owned by Textron Turf Care and Specialty Products of Racine,
Wisconsin. After more than 100 years in Lincoln the plant will
be closing in 2003.
Patriot truck inventor A. G. Hebb founded
the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation in 1919 to refurbish surplus
military aircraft for civilian use. In 1922 the firm reorganized
as the Lincoln Aircraft Company and operated a factory and flying
school. Reincorporated in 1927 as the Lincoln-Page Aircraft Corporation,
the company turned to building new aircraft, introducing several
successful models. In 1931 Lincoln-Page merged with the American
Eagle Company to form American Eagle-Lincoln and the Lincoln
location was closed when production was shifted to Kansas City.
Johnny Moore designed and built the
first Arrow aircraft in a Lincoln barn in 1924. Mark W. Woods,
and his son Pace, purchased Arrow Aircraft Corporation in 1926,
and moved production to their Patriot Motors factory in Havelock.
In late 1929 the stock market crash brought production to a virtual
halt. Unable to get re-financing, the company ceased production
in 1938. An Arrow airplane from the collections of the Nebraska
State Historical Society hangs at the Lincoln Municipal Airport.
The Angus Automobile Company enjoyed a successful, if brief,
production run as one of the earliest Nebraska automobile manufacturers.
Under the direction of designer and factory manager Charles M.
Fuller, the factory in Angus produced about six hundred Fuller
cars between 1907 and 1909. Disagreement with stockholders over
a buy-out offer in 1908 prompted Fuller to sever all relations
with the company and close the plant.
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