Page 25 - March 2015 Volume 9, Number 3

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
MARCH 2015
Truman Wadlow had yet to reach his 25th birthday when he was hired by Walter H. Beech to establish a new Beechcraft sales agency in California. The state was known as a hotbed of aviation activity throughout the 1930s, and eventually proved to be an excellent market for new Beechcraft airplanes. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
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
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