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Early in 1932, Curtiss-Wright engineer Theodore “Ted” Wells was completing the design of a cabin biplane featuring a powerful static, air-cooled radial engine and a negative-stagger wing configuration. Wells had initiated his design work in 1931 as a staff engineer at the Travel Air Company’s factory in Wichita, Kansas. When Ted showed Walter H. Beech drawings of the airplane, Beech tried in vain to interest his current employer, the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, to build a prototype. Company officials, however, refused. They reasoned that there would be little demand for an expensive, five-place biplane. In addition, officials explained that the company was increasingly focused on expanding the development of transport aircraft for America’s burgeoning airline industry.
Nevertheless Walter Beech remained undeterred and became increasingly enthusiastic about Ted’s novel design. Beech believed it had great potential and embodied every characteristic he desired for a cabin business aircraft – a maximum speed of 200 mph, good visibility for the pilot, passenger comfort on par with any Packard or Cadillac, and a comparatively slow landing speed of 60 mph. The die had been cast, and with little prospect for advancement at Curtiss-Wright, Walter preferred to risk failure building Wells’ biplane than fade into oblivion behind a corporate desk.
In concert with his wife, the former Olive Ann Mellor, whom he had married in 1930, the duo decided to strike out on their own and the Beech Aircraft Company was open for business in Wichita, Kansas, April 19, 1932. The first Beechcraft, designated as the Model 17R, flew in November 1932, but sales were nonexistent. By mid-1933, the struggling company was approaching insolvency despite having been capitalized initially at $25,000. Fortunately, in June 1933, the second Beechcraft built was the first to be sold, and the sale saved Walter and Olive Ann’s company from financial disaster.
Beech and Wells realized that what the company needed was a more affordable
version of the Model 17R. In 1934 Walter introduced the Model B17L that sold for $8,000 – more than $10,000 less the Model 17R. Sales soon accelerated, and 48 were built by the end of 1936. In the years that followed, Beech unveiled the C17-, D17-, E17- and F17-series that continued to sell as the Great Depression eased its grip on the economy.
Steady sales of the Model 17 series allowed the development of the twin- engine Model 18 that first flew in January 1937. The design of the “Twin Beech” (as it was unofficially known) was gradually upgraded to the Model C18S that formed the foundation for military versions that were widely employed during World War II by the United States and Allied air forces.
These included the C/UC-45, SNB-2, AT-7 and AT-11. Beech Aircraft Corporation built 1,400 C/UC-45, 800 SNB-series, 900 AT-7 (including airplanes equipped with floats and skis), but the most prolific version was the AT-11 with more than 1,500 built chiefly to train bombardiers how to use the top-secret Norden bombsight. In addition, hundreds of Model D17S designated UC-43 and GB-1/2 biplanes were delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy and Allied nations during the war.
Walter H. Beech and his dog Tony posed with the first Beech- craft, a Model 17R, in November 1932. It was a fast and comfortable business aircraft but was priced too high for the depressed aviation market. (Courtesy Mary Lynn Oliver)
APRIL 2022
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23