Pawnees and Cessna Ag Wagons are introduced, further increasing aircraft options for the agricultural aviation industry.
Cessna Aircraft entered the agricultural aviation sector in the mid-1960s. Its first aircraft designed solely for agricultural aviation was the Ag Wagon, which quickly became popular with aerial applicators.
Building upon the original 150-gallon-hopper Piper Pawnee, future iterations in the 1960s brought more improvements and power. In 1964, the Pawnee B was upgraded to a 235-horsepower Lycoming O-540-B2B5 six-cylinder engine. The hopper increased in size to handle 1,200 more pounds. Three years later, the Pawnee C came out followed by the Pawnee D in 1974. Almost 5,200 Pawnees were built between 1959 and 1981, when production ended—32 years after Fred Weick started his Ag-1 project at Texas A&M.