For about twenty years beginning in 1908, the French firm Anzani, originally a motorcycle engine manufacturer, was prominent in the aircraft engine field. In July 1909, a three-cylinder Anzani engine powered Louis Bleriot's aircraft between England and France across the English Channel. Many Anzani engines were used during World War I and, after the War, the company concentrated on power plants for light sport planes. U.S. aircraft manufacturers using Anzani engines included Arrow, Driggs, Heath, Lincoln, Nicholas-Beazeley, Sikorsky, Ford, and Wasp.

During 1927 and 1928, Henry Lowe Brownback of Norristown, Pennsylvania cooperated with Anzani in engineering and sales distribution in the U.S. of engines resembling the French Anzanis, but having changes including a higher compression ratio. They ranged from a two-cylinder 11.2 kW (15 hp) engine to a 20-cylinder 447 kW (600 hp) model. Among these engines was this Anzani-Brownback 2-row radial engine built in 1928, which powered the Cessna Models A and AA aircraft.