No city on earth has a stronger claim to aviation than Wichita, Kansas. Since 1920, Wichita and its aircraft companies have produced approximately a quarter-million aircraft — more than any other city on the planet. That's not a marketing slogan. It's a documented record that earned Wichita its permanent title: the Air Capital of the World.

It all started on the Kansas prairie with a handful of visionaries. Aircraft pioneers like Clyde Cessna, Lloyd Stearman, Walter Beech, Al Mooney, and Bill Lear began manufacturing enterprises that made Wichita the nation's leading city in aircraft production. By 1928, the city's 16 manufacturers were rolling out 120 airplanes off production lines each week — at the time, one out of every four U.S.-built planes came from Wichita.

World War II transformed the city overnight. Wichita exploded from 111,000 residents in 1939 to 184,000 by 1943, driven by military aircraft production that drew workers from across the region. Boeing built B-29 bombers here. Beechcraft and Cessna cranked out trainers and utility aircraft. By 1944, Wichita Airport had a takeoff or landing every 90 seconds.

The postwar era brought more milestones. In 1956, Cessna set a world sales record with the introduction of the Cessna 172 — still the best-selling aircraft of all time. Then Bill Lear arrived to shake things up again: the Learjet 23 rolled off the assembly line in October 1963, ushering in the era of business aviation as we know it.

Today, Wichita boasts more than 450 aerospace companies and suppliers — including Textron Aviation, Beechcraft, Cessna, Bombardier Learjet, Spirit AeroSystems, and Airbus — with the third-largest concentration of aviation workers in the country. Aviation enthusiasts can visit the Kansas Aviation Museum, explore the B-29 Doc Hangar (home to one of only two airworthy B-29s left in the world), or catch the McConnell Air Force Base Open House and Airshow. For pilots and plane lovers, Wichita isn't just a stop on the map. It's hallowed ground.