After building thousands of P-51 Mustangs during World War II, North American Aviation entered commercial aviation with the Navion, which cost $10,000 to build but sold for only $7,000. They lost $8 million before the project was sold.
The Navion was built to meet US military standards.
Navion engineers used a monocoque structure for the wings and fuselage, reducing weight and eliminating the possibility of hidden structural weaknesses with age. They may never have imagined how solid its construction is.
After building 1,100 of these planes, North American sold its rights in 1948 to Ryan of San Diego, the same Ryan who built the Spirit of St. Louis for Charles Lindbergh.