Walter H. Beech

A Kansas Portrait

From that eventful day in 1903 when the Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk we have been reaching for the stars by great leaps. One of the leaders in providing safe and dependable means of making these leaps was Walter H. Beech.

Beech was familiar with every aspect of the aircraft industry from the drawing board--to the test field--to the boardroom. He began his work in the years prior to the American involvement in World War I. At the time of our entry into the war he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After three years as a test pilot, instructor, and engineer he returned to civilian life and began his career in the aeronautics industry.

Beech spent three years barnstorming over the central states before settling in Wichita and accepting a job with the Swallow Airplane Corporation. His duties over the two-and-a-half years he was with Swallow included being a test pilot, salesman, designer, and general manager of the corporation. In 1925 he resigned and co-founded Travel Air Manufacturing Company, also in Wichita. As president and general manager, Beech was instrumental in making Travel Air into a growing concern until the Depression destroyed the market for commercial aircraft.

In 1931 Curtiss-Wright Airplane Company absorbed Travel Air and Beech became vice president of the reorganized company. By the end of 1931 he was president of Curtiss-Wright and was spending most of his time in New York, away from the production plant in St. Louis. Because he desired more input into the design of his aircraft, he resigned from Curtiss-Wright and founded his own company.

In April 1932, at the height of the Depression, Walter and Olive Ann Mellor, who married in 1930, opened Beech Aircraft Company. He was president; she was secretary-treasurer. The company's first objective was to build a five-seat biplane having the interior luxury of a fine sedan, a top speed of 200 m.p.h., a landing speed no higher than 60 m.p.h., a non-stop range of 1, 000 miles, easy controllability, and sound aerodynamic characteristics. The "experts" saw all of these specifications as unattainable. On November 14, 1932, Model 17R made its initial test flight and the impossible standards set by Beech had been met.

The Model 17R evolved into production model B17L. Almost every part for this model had been redesigned before it was put on the production line in 1934. The major innovation of the B17L was a negative staggered wing design, which improved controllability at all speeds, provided high visibility for pilots, and quick ground servicing. The other innovation of the B17L was its retractable landing gear, which reduced wind resistance and made emergency belly landings an added safety feature. A testimony to the high standards of the aircraft that Beech created is that many well-kept B17L biplanes are still flying in the clear blue sky.

Walter Herschel Beech died November 29, 1950. He left a legacy not measured in dollars, but in the commitment of his former employees to build an aircraft that would meet his high standards for reliability, durability, and marketability. After his death, Olive Ann Beech became president and Beech Aircraft Corporation continued to grow to more than one million square feet of production space, consisting of 17 subsidiaries and 10 production plants that produced aircraft for personal, business, and military use. During her nearly 20 years at the helm, sales tripled. Beech supplied products for NASA's Gemini, Apollo, and space shuttle programs. Olive retired in 1968 and served on the board of directors. She died July 6, 1993.