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In addition, north of downtown Wichita the Stearman Aircraft Company was overwhelmed with orders for the handsome C3B and the new M-2 Speedmail open-cockpit biplanes. Nationwide, more manufacturers were entering the marketplace and the growing economy served to fuel the country’s appetite for flying and everything aviation.
The driving force behind the nation’s robust economy was the stock market. A growing number of people had money to spend and they spent it investing on Wall Street. Buying and selling stocks was no longer for the rich and
the privileged few. Beginning as far back as 1925 it had become “all the rage” to dabble in stocks and bonds through a process known as “buying on margin.” The process was not only tempting but simple: A person went to a broker, purchased a certain amount of stock, made a down payment and bought the remainder on credit by making monthly payments. One advantage of the procedure lay in the fact that as the value of the stock increased, the higher value would help pay off what a person still owed.
During service testing various radial engines were installed on the YPT-9, including one Kinner (YPT-9C) and two Lycoming powerplants (YPT-9B). In 1931 the Army Air Corps rejected the YPT-9 in favor of the Consolidated YPT-11. (Walter House Collection)
OCTOBER 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 31