Employing lessons learned during his years at the Travel Air Company, Walter Beech forged a chain of dealers and distributors worldwide to sell Beechcraft airplanes in the midst of the worst economic collapse in America’s history
In April 1932 when Walter and Olive Ann Beech co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company, they were taking an enormous risk that many of their closest friends considered reckless. The couple, however, did have a number of advantages that would work in their favor. Among the more salient were five years of valuable manufacturing, sales and marketing experience at the Travel Air Company, a skeleton network of ex-Travel Air dealers and distributors that had not yet succumbed to the ravages of the Great Depression, and an excellent reputation both domestically and internationally, for building quality airplanes and supporting the product after the sale.
In the author’s opinion, it cannot be overemphasized how important those years at Travel Air would prove to be for Walter and Olive Ann Beech when they launched their airplane company. It should be made clear, however, that from a purely historical standpoint Travel Air and the Beech Aircraft Company shared nothing in common. They were two independent organizations existing at two different times in history despite being linked together by the name Beech. As a result, Walter was armed with a considerable wealth of knowledge regarding how to create and implement a fledgling network of dealers and distributors designed to operate in a Depression-plagued marketplace.
It is important to remember that the last few years of the unforgettable “Roarin’ Twenties” proved to be both a blessing and a curse for the aviation industry in Wichita, Kansas. Those raucous years were a blessing because demand for new aircraft swelled the order books, but it was a curse because when the debacle on Wall Street in October 1929 finally struck, it quickly crippled the city’s three major manufacturers: the Travel Air Company, Cessna Aircraft Company and the Stearman Aircraft Company.
Of these, only Stearman would barely manage to survive through the ultra-lean mid-1930s without closing its doors. In fact, had it not become a subsidiary of William Boeing’s famous company, it probably would have disappeared without a whisper. Travel Air had succumbed to the Great Depression by September 1932 and Clyde V. Cessna’s once-busy factory had been locked up by the board of directors a year earlier. In addition, there were other, much smaller companies located in the city that had barely begun operating when the curtain of “Black Thursday” came crashing down on the airplane business.
Despite dire warnings of an impending catastrophe, the infamous stock market “crash” took many aviation industry executives by surprise. They, along with many other Americans, had become desensitized to the increasingly dark danger that was closing in for the kill. For men such as Walter H. Beech, who had served as president of Travel Air since 1927, the collapse was both swift and devastating.
In the wake of the debacle on Wall Street, Mr. Beech may have sadly recalled that less than a year earlier the company had not only smashed all previous sales records up to that time, but was sitting on orders for new airplanes worth more than $300,000 (and that was just one month’s tally!). With customer demand far exceeding limited production capacity, delivery schedules soon became unmanageable. For example, in June 1929 the company was struggling to build 25 airplanes per week despite employing about 600 workers in three shifts, five and occasionally six days a week.
A great deal of credit for Travel Air’s bountiful success during 1928 and well into 1929 was due to the sales and marketing talents of Ray W. Brown and Owen G. Harned. Brown was hired by Walter Beech in 1928 and was instrumental in building a strong sales force in the field, while Harned formulated sales policy and led efforts to construct a worldwide network of Travel Air distributors that would prove highly successful. In addition to these duties, Brown was in charge of sales in the region between Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colo.; Harned was responsible for the entire East Coast region. Both men were competent aviators as well as savvy salesmen. Another important facet of their jobs was to fly new Travel Air aircraft and visit every dealer and distributor in the United States. By doing so they established new dealerships, implemented sales policies and taught personnel sales techniques and methods, particularly how to “close the sale.”
One distinct advantage of Travel Air’s acquisition by Curtiss-Wright in August 1929 was the availability of up to $10 million in financing for customers buying aircraft built by the corporation’s subsidiaries. These included, in addition to Travel Air, Wright Aeronautical Corporation (static, air-cooled radial engines), Curtiss Flying Service (Cessna and Curtiss airplanes) and Keystone/Loening (land and amphibious aircraft), all of which had access to the massive fund to help finance sales. It made buying an airplane almost as easy as buying a house or an automobile.
The years at Travel Air not only taught Walter Beech the ups and downs of the capricious airplane business, but also impressed upon him the value of an effective marketing, sales and support infrastructure. He also realized the value of a repeat customer and their loyalty to Travel Air airplanes. If a customer was treated fairly and with respect, he would probably return when ready to make another purchase. Mr. Beech believed and practiced that philosophy and worked diligently to instill it in every employee from the front office to the factory shops and flight line.
To keep an accurate track of what was transpiring in the field, dealers were required to complete a monthly sales form that was evaluated by the appropriate distributor and sent to the factory in Wichita. Office manager Ms. Olive Ann Mellor and her office ladies kept a file on every dealer and distributor for perusal by Mr. Beech or other company officials. In today’s electronic world of customer support, it may surprise King Air owners and operators to learn that Travel Air did not publish service manuals – maintenance was simply accomplished according to “acceptable practices and methods” of maintaining airworthiness. It was not until 1928 when the Type 6000 cabin monoplane was introduced that the first maintenance manual, albeit brief and simplistic, was provided to mechanics in the field.
That year also marked publication of the company’s first parts catalog. It was deemed necessary because so many dealers and distributors ordered wrong parts because there was no guidance available from the airframe manufacturer, and part numbers were not easily obtained. By contrast, detailed maintenance and parts publications were available for radial engines built by Pratt & Whitney, Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Kinner, Continental, Lycoming and other manufacturers. King Air owners are familiar with the various types of factory service bulletins and other advisory information, but similar documents were rarely issued by Travel Air and then only when deemed appropriate. These publications were aimed chiefly at upgrades and improvements for the airframe that could be accomplished in the field, although others were issued for spare parts availability and changes in pricing.
One interesting factory mandate imposed on dealers and distributors was the requirement to have an airplane always “at the ready” for immediate dispatch of parts to customers in an AOG situation. The Wichita factory always had a ship (usually a Type 6000 monoplane) stocked with a variety of parts ready to fly where needed. Travel Air also would dispatch an airplane to transport technical help to dealers and distributors coast-to-coast.
One example of how far Walter Beech was prepared to go to ensure customer satisfaction occurred in the summer of 1929. One day an urgent meeting was called in Mr. Beech’s office. Every pilot on the flight line was required to attend. Monty Barnes, one of the company’s pilots, remembered that being called into the boss’s office meant something very serious was afoot. Once assembled and with the door closed, Mr. Beech announced that beginning immediately, every Type 2000 biplane powered by a Curtiss OX-5 or OXX-6 engine would be flown for a minimum of two hours before delivery to the customer, dealer or distributor.
The reason, he explained between slow puffs on his ubiquitous pipe, was a sudden rash of engine failures that resulted in forced landings away from the factory. President Beech suspected the cause had something to do with the enormous pressure to deliver airplanes each week at a rapid rate that no one (including Beech) ever anticipated. Pushed by deadlines and impatient customers, supervisors and workers on the production lines were hurried and inspectors were missing mistakes made during installation of the engines. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Beech told every pilot to peruse every ship before flight and be certain sufficient fuel was aboard for more than two hours (this was in addition to the usual factory test flight of 30-60 minutes duration).
Instead of dreading the news, Monty Barnes was thrilled! He would be all alone in a factory fresh Type 2000 to enjoy two hours of free flying time. When his turn came to check an airplane, he told the author that he would take off, climb to an altitude of 6,000-7,000 feet and “punch through the clouds, the white, fluffy summertime cumulus that dotted the Kansas skies.” Although a majority of the OX-5 engines in ships tested by Barnes never “missed a pop,” he did have his share of trouble. He recalled one test flight when the OX-5 sputtered and stopped less than a minute after takeoff. There was no place to land except straight ahead in a small field surrounded by trees and hedgerows. Monty plunked the biplane down on the sod with a heavy thud and rolled to a stop. Not a scratch!
Fellow pilot Truman Wadlow, still in his late teens and with the ink still wet on his pilot’s license, made a forced landing in a Type 2000 after the Curtiss engine quit cold. He managed to glide into a nearby field south of the factory without damaging the ship or injuring himself. Fortunately, another pilot saw his plight and after making a low pass to assess the situation, flew back to the airport and notified company employees. In such cases, a truck was usually dispatched with a mechanic and spare parts to repair the engine.
During the summer of 1929, Walter Beech was becoming increasingly concerned about the sluggish state of the new airplane market. Sales were decreasing and industry naysayers were warning that the aviation boom, ignited in large part by Charles A. Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight in 1927, was finally over. By early autumn as sales continued to slide downward, orders for new ships shrank to a trickle. Beech and his staff had no choice but to begin furloughing employees; there was not enough work to keep them on the payroll any longer.
Discouraged, but yet doggedly optimistic that the marketplace would rebound by year’s end, Walter Beech exhorted his troops in the field to sell, sell, sell! It was up to the salesmen at the dealerships to roll up their sleeves, work hard to close deals and send in production orders to keep the factory busy. More than ever before in the company’s five-year history, President Beech was counting on the extensive network of Travel Air dealers and distributors to save the day. In an attempt to spur business, in the autumn of 1929, the company’s domestic sales network was revised to include five sales zones and managers.
Zone One covered a majority of the New England region and many of the Mid-Atlantic States, and was headed by Owen G. Harned. In addition to being the company’s first factory sales representative, he also was responsible for formulating sales policy and expanding the network of distributors worldwide. Zone Two was the responsibility of Douglas Davis and covered a majority of the southern states. Davis won national recognition for his record-breaking victory in the Free-for-All Race at the National Air Races in September 1929, flying a Travel Air Type R racing monoplane.
Zone Three was placed under the direction of Robertson Aircraft Corporation based in Anglum, Mo., and included many states in the Mid-West region. Zone Four included remaining states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, north Texas and any remaining territory west to the Pacific Ocean. Last and the smallest of all, Zone Five was the domain of E.K. “Rusty” Campbell and covered Nebraska, Iowa and northwestern Illinois. Campbell was among the original agents for Travel Air, establishing his franchise in 1925.
Although the domestic market was key to the company’s survival, by the late 1920s export sales had become an important market for many airframe and engine manufacturers. As the advantages of air transportation spread around the globe, demand for airfields and airplanes accelerated. As early as 1926, Walter Beech recognized the potential of selling aircraft into foreign countries, and by 1929 Travel Air had assembled a cadre of more than 125 dealers and distributors worldwide. Directing and managing these domestic and international sales outlets, as well as working with dealers and distributors, provided Walter Beech with a foundation he would use in the 1930s to sell Beechcraft airplanes.
Among the most important regions for Travel Air sales outside the United States were Mexico, Central and South America and the West Indies. To handle these sales and the government paperwork necessary to export and import airplanes into those nations, Beech created the Aereo Export Company with offices in the Orpheum Building in downtown Wichita. Dealers included K.K. Hoffman and E.L. Buckley, who established a dealership in Tampico, Mexico.
In Asia and the Pacific, the firm of Anderson, Meyer & Company handled sales for 18 provinces in China as well as Manchuria, Chinese Turkestan, Tibet and Hong Kong. Continental Aero Corporation handled sales in Canada, while dealer
W. Raymond Garrett was responsible for Australia and New Zealand. Travel Air ships were sold into South Africa through company agent Calvin Martin based in Cape Town, and Simmons Aircraft Export Division in
Los Angeles, Calif., was responsible for sales in Siberia, India, Siam (Thailand), Netherlands, East Indies, Korea, Japan, Greece, Poland, Romania and Italy. The Hawaiian Islands were the territory of Western Pacific Air Transport in Honolulu, but the company also sold airplanes into the Philippine Islands.
Part Two of this series will examine how the lessons Beech learned at Travel Air, coupled with his well-earned reputation within the aviation industry, combined to pave the way for worldwide sales of Beechcraft airplanes.
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