Page 27 - March 2015 Volume 9, Number 3

Bullish, powerful and fast, the Beechcraft Model A17FS was the last of four airplanes built that were too expensive to acquire and operate in the severely depressed commercial airplane market of 1934. Built to compete in the MacRobertson International Trophy Race from England to Australia, the A17FS was withdrawn due to lack of funding and sat for months in the factory gathering dust. Walter Beech finally sold the ship to the federal government’s Department of Commerce, but it later disappeared after being returned to the factory. Its fate remains a mystery. (STAGGERWING MUSEUM FOUNDATION)
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call to become the “Arsenal of Democracy.” The final four commercial Model 17 biplanes were delivered in January 1942 as wartime production shifted into high gear.
During 1937, net sales volume had increased to more than $787,000 compared with
$621,000 in 1936, but in 1938 sales
exceeded the $1 million mark for the
first time in the company’s history. That landmark achievement, however, was surpassed in 1939 when sales hit more than $1.3 million. The rosy financial picture soon changed as war clouds over Europe began to spread toward isolationist America.
During 1940 in particular, and continuing in the months leading up to the nation’s entry into the Second World War in December 1941, commercial sales of Beechcraft airplanes were becoming increasingly difficult as both airframe and engine manufacturers struggled to meet the president’s call for 50,000 combat aircraft. The Beech Aircraft Corporation was hard pressed to fill incoming orders for new airplanes. The situation was breeding a growing unrest in the field. In an attempt to address the growing frustrations of dealers and distributors, in March 1940 company Vice President John P. Gaty sent a carefully-worded letter
MARCH 2015
to all Beechcraft sales agencies: “The unprecedented expansion of aircraft production in the United States has caused a great deal of difficulty in procurement of items necessary for the production of airplanes. Because of a shortage in skilled labor and plant facilities, the cost of
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