Walter H. Beech’s success as an airframe manufacturer during the 1930s can be traced to three things: the Beechcraft Model 17 series, a hefty bank account and a network of dealers dedicated to selling the airplanes that bore his name.
I’m just a country boy. Go get a picture of me when I first came to Wichita. I’ve made good and I’m not afraid to say so,” Walter H. Beech told local newspaper reporters in August 1929. Walter was not one to openly boast of his success, but neither did he apologize for it. The merger late that summer that brought Travel Air Company under the corporate umbrella of Curtiss-Wright Corporation had made Mr. Beech wealthy to the tune of about $1 million (much of that wealth, however, was tied up in company stock).
At the time of the merger, one share of Travel Air stock that had been worth $100 in 1925 now sold for about $4,000 and the company was valued at a staggering $3.5 million. In addition, the one-time farm boy from Pulaski, Tenn., was appointed president of the Curtiss-Wright Sales Corporation responsible for sales of commercial Curtiss-Wright airplanes. He would oversee that operation from offices in St. Louis, Mo. and New York City.
When Walter and Olive Ann Beech struck out on their own to start the Beech Aircraft Company in April 1932, they took with them valuable lessons they had learned during their six years at Travel Air and three years at Curtiss-Wright. Those lessons, coupled with Walter’s bank account, contacts and reputation within the aviation industry would be put to use selling the infant company’s first and only product – the Beechraft Model 17R1 cabin biplane.
with a missionary organization during 1939-1940. In the early weeks of World War II, the airplane was destroyed by the retreating Dutch authorities to prevent its capture by invading Japanese military forces. At least one other Beechcraft biplane served with distinction during the defense of Corregidor in the Philippine Islands, but eventually was shot down by Japanese floatplane fighters. (Edward H. Phillips Collection)
Mr. Beech quickly realized, however, that none of those lessons would help him sell an $18,000 airplane in a market ravaged by the Great Depression. After 18 months of operation, the Beech Aircraft Company had sold only one airplane, had an order on hand for one more, and the first Beechcraft sat unsold in the factory. It had become painfully obvious to Walter Beech that the Model 17R, despite being fast, luxurious and far ahead of any commercial single-engine airplane then available, was too expensive for the existing business aircraft market.
To remedy that situation, he had engineer Ted Wells busy designing a smaller, more affordable Beechcraft – the Model B17. Priced at $8,000, the B17L earned its Approved Type Certificate in December 1934 and proved to be the right airplane at the right time. Between 1934 and 1936 the company sold 46 examples of the B17L. It was during those years that Walter Beech relocated production from rented facilities at the Cessna Aircraft Company on Franklin Road to his aeronautical alma mater, the former Travel Air factory. In November 1934, Walter was proud to announce to the local press that in the first week of that month the company had sold a record seven airplanes (all B17L) worth $60,000. Newspapers were quick to point out that the sale constituted “the most encouraging spurt in commercial aviation business reported at Wichita in several months.”
Of those seven Beechcrafts, one was destined for the American machinery and Foundry Company in New York City, and another for the Danish consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa. The sale had been arranged by the Danish consulate through the Roger Jenkins Company, and the airplane was disassembled, crated and shipped by sea to Capetown aboard the S.S. West Cauthorn. According to Mr. Beech, it was the most distant delivery yet made by the company. Those seven sales were soon followed by those of other new Beechcraft owners including the Olson Drilling Company in Tulsa, Okla. (B17B), air racing pilot Frank Monroe Hawks (B17L) and a brilliant inventor and pilot named William P. Lear (B17L). His Beechcraft was specially equipped with a new automatic direction finder dubbed the “Lear-O-Scope,” designed by Lear.
Late in 1934, Walter Beech announced that in the wake of orders for the popular B17 series biplane, the factory was “sold out of production and would be worked at full capacity for at least a month.” He was optimistic about the future, particularly since the company had sold 17 airplanes during the past 12 months with net sales of $173,798. That compared with only $17,551 the previous year when only one airplane had been sold. Early in 1935 he told reporters that a “slow but substantial upturn in prospects for commercial aviation” was occurring that served to reinforce his belief that “introduction of airplanes into business channels offers the only substantial basis” for success.
To help maintain that success, it was essential that the Beech Aircraft Company establish dealerships in key states such as New York, Texas and California, to name only a few. Late in December 1934, he had dispatched a young and inexperienced pilot named Truman Wadlow to the West Coast to sell Beechcrafts. Armed with a factory-fresh B17L, Wadlow set up the first Beechcraft dealership and distributorship in California. In addition to the United States, Europe was an important and growing market for business airplanes. In 1935, a B17L was ordered by Maurice Salle, an affluent Parisian and sales agent for Beechcraft airplanes. Another B17L was sold to famed British aviatrix Amy Mollison, who had signed an agreement to become a Beechcraft sales agent in Great Britain.
The success of the B17 series airplanes was reflected by a significant increase in net sales volume for 1935 that was more than twice that of 1934 – $424,278. In December 1935, Walter hired William A. Ong as company sales manager. He was a nationally-known pilot and air racing competitor and was a skilled salesman. Another important addition to the sales team in the field was O.J. Whitney, Inc., that operated under the name “Beech-Air Sales Company, Inc.”
Based at North Beach Airport, Jackson Heights, N.Y., the agency was active in selling the B17 series as well as previously owned aircraft. O.J. Whitney always maintained a good selection of used ships, particularly factory demonstrators that had been replaced by newer models. For example, in December 1935 the agency offered a B17L that had accumulated only 310 hours total time, powered by a 225-hp Jacobs static, air-cooled radial engine turning a steel propeller. The ship was painted blue with white trim, featured a 70-gallon fuel tank and basic gyroscopic flight instruments, flares and dual landing lights, all for only $5,800.
Another well-known airman, James G. Haizlip, bought a B17R and took delivery in April 1936. Acting as a sales agent for the Beech Aircraft Company, Haizlip planned to demonstrate the biplane throughout Europe while attempting to set a series of city-to-city speed records. Because flying the Beechcraft across the North Atlantic Ocean was considered too risky, the B17R was shipped to the East Coast, disassembled and stored aboard the famous (and soon to be infamous) German Zeppelin “Hindenburg” that carried the registration LZ-129. Haizlip and his family were aboard the airship on its second return transatlantic flight from Lakehurst, N.J., on May 21.
Soon after arrival in Europe the airplane was reassembled, rigged and test-flown by Haizlip. He flew the speedy Beechcraft on a number of demonstration flights that gave Walter Beech’s biplane excellent exposure to the public and potential buyers. In addition, the factory sold two C17E Beechcrafts to the government-sponsored Japan Air Transport Company in Tokyo. Plans called for flying a fleet of C17E biplanes on proposed passenger and air mail routes within Japan.
During 1936, the Beechcraft factory built 61 airplanes and the future looked bright for 1937. In January of that year, the company purchased the former 160-acre Travel Air manufacturing complex from the Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical Corporation, including about 150,000 square feet of floor space and a 2,200-square foot office building that also housed the engineering department. Two years later, in 1939, the factory produced 75 biplanes compared to 53 in 1938, but only 31 were built in 1940 and a mere six left the factory in 1941 as America answered President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call to become the “Arsenal of Democracy.” The final four commercial Model 17 biplanes were delivered in January 1942 as wartime production shifted into high gear.
During 1937, net sales volume had increased to more than $787,000 compared with $621,000 in 1936, but in 1938 sales exceeded the $1 million mark for the first time in the company’s history. That landmark achievement, however, was surpassed in 1939 when sales hit more than $1.3 million. The rosy financial picture soon changed as war clouds over Europe began to spread toward isolationist America.
During 1940 in particular, and continuing in the months leading up to the nation’s entry into the Second World War in December 1941, commercial sales of Beechcraft airplanes were becoming increasingly difficult as both airframe and engine manufacturers struggled to meet the president’s call for 50,000 combat aircraft. The Beech Aircraft Corporation was hard pressed to fill incoming orders for new airplanes. The situation was breeding a growing unrest in the field. In an attempt to address the growing frustrations of dealers and distributors, in March 1940 company Vice President John P. Gaty sent a carefully-worded letter to all Beechcraft sales agencies: “The unprecedented expansion of aircraft production in the United States has caused a great deal of difficulty in procurement of items necessary for the production of airplanes. Because of a shortage in skilled labor and plant facilities, the cost of labor and component parts have risen very considerably. These cost increases probably will continue as long
as conditions of abnormal aircraft demand continue.” In the wake of that “unprecedented expansion” Beechcraft prices did escalate almost weekly. In addition, the company was forced to meet rising wage scales within the aircraft industry or risk losing its skilled workforce to other companies.
By May 1941, the situation had become almost untenable. Carl B. Wooten, company sales manager, warned dealers that the “situation in regards to delivery on new Model 17 Beechcrafts is rather unpredictable.” Occasionally enough parts could be scraped together to build one commercial Model 17 and complete an order. In another letter Wooten wrote: “We have two, new [Pratt & Whitney] “Wasp” engines available that could be installed in D17S fuselages already built up,” but he added the caveat that delivery could not be made before “60-70 days after receipt of a firm order.” Every commercial sale, however, depended entirely on whether the United States Defense Commission, whose chief focus was the production of warplanes, approved construction and released critical materials.
Walter Beech sympathized with impatient salesmen who had signed orders in hand for new airplanes that he realized probably would never be built. In an effort to ease the tension, the factory did offer to install used radial engines with only 30-40 hours total time since new, thereby reducing delivery time to about 40 days. That initiative did little to resolve the problem. Faced with the reality that new Beechcrafts had become almost impossible to obtain, early in 1941 the company instituted a “Used Plane Exchange” program that brought salesmen and customers together through a listing of used Beechcraft airplanes available for sale. The program was intended not only to support sales but also to “keep an open channel toward further business in the future,” according to Mr. Beech.
During the four years following the Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise attack on American naval forces at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, Beech Aircraft Corporation manufactured more than 7,000 airplanes for Allied military forces. A majority of these were variants of the Model 18 “Twin Beech,” but a few hundred Model 17 biplanes also served with distinction throughout the conflict. From January 1934 until December 31, 1941, the company sold 84 airplanes to customers in foreign countries, thanks to an effective network of sales agents and dealerships. These agencies helped Walter Beech gain a firm marketing foothold around the world, particularly in Latin and South America that as of 2014 still boast some of the most loyal Beechcraft customers. Other regions include Asia, China, Western Europe and the Pacific Rim.
The recent acquisition of Beechcraft Corporation by Cessna Aircraft Company parent Textron will greatly expand the potential for sales of the King Air series for private, business and special mission applications.
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