Walter Herschel Beech
Born(1891-01-30)January 30, 1891
Pulaski, Tennessee
DiedNovember 29, 1950(1950-11-29) (aged 59)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Test pilot, entrepreneur, United States Army Air Forces aviator
Known forCo-founder of the Beech Aircraft Corporation
SpouseOlive Ann Beech

Walter Herschel Beech (January 30, 1891 – November 29, 1950) was an American aviator and early aviation entrepreneur who co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company (now called Beechcraft) in 1932 with his wife, Olive Ann Beech, and a team of three others.[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. The company went on to become one of the "big three" in American general aviation aircraft manufacturing during the 20th century (along with Cessna and Piper).

Beech died from a heart attack on November 29, 1950.[4] He and his wife are buried at Old Mission Mausoleum in Wichita.

In 1977, Beech was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.[5] at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and 1982, he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[6]

In 2023, Beech was inducted, along with his wife Olive, into the Paul E Garber First Flight Shrine in Kill Devil Hills, NC.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Dick, Ron; Dan Patterson (2003). "Great Names". Aviation Century: The Early Years. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills. p. 206. ISBN 1-55046-407-8.
  2. ↑ "Walter Herschel Beech". Hill Air Force Base. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. 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. ...
  3. ↑ Edward H. Phillips (1996). The Staggerwing Story: A History of the Beechcraft Model 17. Eagan, Minn.: Flying Books International. ISBN 978-0-911139-27-3.
  4. ↑ "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 ...
  5. ↑ "Enshrinee Walter Beech". nationalaviation.org. National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  6. ↑ Linda Sprekelmeyer, ed. (2006). These We Honor: the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
  7. ↑ "Paul E. Garber Shrine - First Flight Society - Aviation organization on the Outer Banks in Kill Devil Hills, NC". First Flight Society. Retrieved 2024-01-15.


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