Page 30 - February 2015 Volume 9, Number 2

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
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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. KA
Truman Wadlow, along with his identical twin Newman, were treated like local celebrities by Wichitans who could rarely tell them apart. Both worked for Travel Air and in 1930 Walter Beech helped them establish their own charter service at the East Central flying field. Truman flew a Travel Air cabin monoplane in the 1930 Ford Tour and later became one of the first Beechcraft dealers, based in St. Louis, Mo. (TEXTRON AVIATION)
About the Author: Ed Phillips, now retired and living in the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kan. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
FEBRUARY 2015