Walter Beech
Walter Herschel Beech | |
---|---|
| |
Born |
Pulaski, Tennessee | January 30, 1891
Died | November 29, 1950 59) | (aged
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Aviator and co-founder of Beech Aircraft Company |
Walter Herschel Beech (January 30, 1891 – November 29, 1950) was an American pioneer aviator who co-founded Beech Aircraft Company.[1]
Biography
He was born in Pulaski, Tennessee on January 30, 1891. Beech started flying in 1905, at age 14, when he built a glider of his own design. Then, after flying for the United States Army during World War I, he joined the Swallow Airplane Company as a test pilot. He later became general manager of the company. In 1924, he, Lloyd Stearman, and Clyde Cessna formed Travel Air Manufacturing Company. When the company merged with Curtiss-Wright, Beech became vice-president.[2]
In 1932, he and his wife, Olive Ann Beech, along with Ted Wells, K.K. Shaul, and investor C.G. Yankey, co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas.[3] Their early Beechcraft planes won the Bendix Trophy. During World War II, Beech Aircraft produced more than 7,400 military aircraft. The twin Beech AT-7/C-45 trained more than 90 percent of the U.S. Army Air Forces navigator/bombardiers and 50 percent of its multi-engine pilots.
Beech died from a heart attack on November 29, 1950.[4] He and his wife are buried at Old Mission Mausoleum in Wichita.
In 1982, Beech was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[5]
References
- ↑ Dick, Ron; Dan Patterson (2003). "Great Names". Aviation Century: The Early Years. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills. p. 206. ISBN 1-55046-407-8.
- ↑ "Walter Herschel Beech". Hill Air Force Base. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
Walter Beech began a long and distinguished career in aviation at the early age of 14, when he built a glider of his own design. Then, after flying for the U.S. Army during World War I, he joined the Swallow Airplane Company as a test pilot. He later became General Manager of the company. In 1924, Beech joined Clyde Cessna in co-founding Travel Air Manufacturing Company, which was to become the world's largest producer of both monoplane and biplane commercial aircraft. ...
- ↑ Phillips, Edward H. (1996). The staggerwing story : a history of the Beechcraft model 17. Eagan, Minn.: Flying Books International. ISBN 9780911139273.
- ↑ "Walter Beech, 59, Leader In Aviation". New York Times. December 1, 1950. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
Walter Beech, founder and president of the Beech Aircraft Corporation died ...
- ↑ Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.