Page 26 - March 2015 Volume 9, Number 3

Walter Beech advertised in a number of prominent aviation publications including Aviation and Aero Digest. This particular advertisement centered on a Beechcraft that caught the interest of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1936. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
Beechcraft SE17B registered PK-SAM performed humanitarian work in Borneo with a missionary organization during 1939- 1940. In the early weeks of World War II, the airplane was destroyed by the retreating Dutch authorities to prevent its capture by invading Japanese military forces. At least one other Beechcraft biplane served with distinction during the defense of Corregidor in the Philippine Islands, but eventually was shot down by Japanese floatplane fighters. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
across the North Atlantic Ocean was considered too risky, the B17R was shipped to the East Coast, disassembled and stored aboard the famous (and soon to be infamous) German Zeppelin “Hindenburg” that carried the registration LZ-129. Haizlip and his family were aboard the airship on its second return transatlantic flight from Lakehurst, N.J., on May 21.
Soon after arrival in Europe the airplane was reassembled, rigged and test-flown by Haizlip. He flew the speedy Beechcraft on a number of demonstration flights that gave Walter Beech’s biplane excellent exposure to the public and potential buyers. In addition, the factory sold two C17E Beechcrafts to the government-sponsored Japan Air Transport Company in Tokyo. Plans called for flying a fleet of C17E biplanes on proposed passenger and air mail routes within Japan.
During 1936, the Beechcraft factory built 61 airplanes and the future looked bright for 1937. In January of that year, the company purchased the former 160-acre Travel Air manufacturing complex from the Curtiss-Wright Aeronauti- cal Corporation, including about 150,000 square feet of floor space and a 2,200-square foot office build- ing that also housed the engineer- ing department. Two years later, in 1939, the factory produced 75 biplanes compared to 53 in 1938, but only 31 were built in 1940 and a mere six left the factory in 1941 as America answered President
MARCH 2015