Page 25 - January 23

Ms. Mellor was stunned, not only by the sudden presence of an esteemed Hollywood star in her humble office, but even more so by the roll of thousand dollar bills resting on her desk. “There’s the balance I owe for my airplane, 10 thousand bucks, paid in full,” bellowed Beery as he looked down upon Ms. Mellor with a smile. “I’m Wallace Beery, glad to meet you.” Quickly recovering her composure, Olive Ann returned the compliment, hastily made out a receipt and handed it to Beery. He smiled again, bid Ms. Mellor good day and disappeared through the doorway into the factory. Seizing what she knew was a once in a lifetime moment, she picked up the wad of bills and allowed the other three young ladies in the office to hold $10,000 in their hands, to see it, feel it and smell it if only for a brief moment. Olive Ann knew none of them were ever likely to enjoy that experience again.1
Wallace Beery was in Wichita, Kansas, to take delivery of his special Type A6000A cabin monoplane. Completed only a few days before his arrival, company test pilot Clarence Clark had put his personal stamp of approval on its performance and declared it ready for delivery. Beery had been a successful actor in Hollywood since 1913 and starred in many silent films such as “Robin Hood” and “The Sea Hawk.” During the late 1920s he made the transition from silent movies to “talkies” and
in 1931 was awarded an Oscar for his performance in “The Champ.”
By the time Beery ordered his custom-built Travel Air in 1928, he had been flying for about four years and had owned an early production Travel Air type BW biplane. His financial success at the box office allowed him to freely indulge his aeronautical desires and he eventually chose the bullish Type A6000A as his next aerial mount. Although the Travel Air Company did
JANUARY 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23