In April 1932, at the height of the depression, Walter and Olive Ann Beech foundered the Beech Aircraft Company. The company's main objective was
to build a six-place biplane, with luxurious interiors, high speed of - 200 miles per hour and with a non-stop range of 1,000 miles, easy controllability
and sound aerodynamic characteristics.
All of these specifications were seen as unattainable by the experts of the time. On November 4, 1932, the Model 17R, made its first flight and the impossible standards set by Beech were met. From the staggering biplane to the Skylab, the Beech's, turned their company from a ten employee company to ten thousand.
After the death of Walter in 1950, Olive Ann became the President of the Company. At the beginning of her first twenty years in charge, Beech triplicate sales as well as supplied products to the NASA for the space programs. Olive retired in 1968 and died in 1993.
Together, Walter and Olive, left a legacy that can not be measured in dollars, but in the commitment passed on to their employees to built high standard aircrafts. |