Page 31 - Volume 14 Number 4

By mid-1919 it was becoming painfully obvious to Jake that the public had little or no faith in aviation and investors refused to sink their money into what they believed was a high-risk venture with no future. Moellendick, however, refused to capitulate. He was unhappy with the company’s day-to-day management and decided to offer the job to his old friend and aviator, William “Billy” Burke. A native of Oklahoma, Billy accepted the challenge and relocated to Wichita, but he quickly realized that the decrepit Canucks had to be replaced.
Burke shared Jake’s firm belief that aviation was the way of the future and realized that with Moellendick’s money combined with his flying and sales experience, a unique opportunity existed to build and sell airplanes on the Plains of Kansas. Both men seized upon the prospect, but they needed an airplane with good performance, low operating costs and room for two people in the front cockpit.
Burke informed Jake that he knew a young, self-taught designer and aviator in Chicago, Illinois, named Emil Matthew Laird. He knew that if Jake would bankroll Laird’s latest design for a three-place biplane, it could prove to be the right aircraft at the right time. Late in 1919 Burke traveled by rail to meet with Laird and offered him a proposition that would redirect Wichita’s destiny. It was a tempting offer, and “Matty,” as he was known by friends, agreed to meet with Moellendick and Burke in Wichita. After many long discussions, Laird realized he was being offered a chance to manufacture airplanes of his own design that dwarfed his previous efforts up to that time. The final agreement included an investment by Jake and Billy of $15,000 each. Laird’s contribution was his design for a new biplane, plus tools and woodworking equipment.
Matty was generally impressed with the manufacturing facilities that were made available to him in the city’s central business district, but instead of only one facility
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APRIL 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 29