Beechcraft Corporation is an American manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft,
ranging from light single-engined aircraft to twin-engined turboprop transports, and
military trainers. A brand of Textron Aviation since 2014, it has also been a division of
Raytheon and later a brand of Hawker Beechcraft.
History
Beech Aircraft Company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1932 by Walter Beech and his wife
Olive Ann Beech. The company began operations in an idle Cessna factory. With designer Ted
Wells, they developed the first aircraft under the Beechcraft name, the classic Model 17
Staggerwing, which first flew in November 1932. Over 750 Staggerwings were built, with
270 manufactured for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Beechcraft was not Beech's first company, as he had previously formed Travel Air in
1924 and the design numbers used at Beechcraft followed the sequence started at Travel Air,
and were then continued at Curtiss-Wright, after Travel Air had been absorbed into the
much larger company in 1929. Beech became President of the Curtiss-Wright's airplane
division and VP of sales, but became dissatisfied with being so far removed from aircraft production
and quit to form Beechcraft, using the original Travel Air facilities and employing many of
the same people. Model numbers prior to 11/11000 were built under the Travel Air name, while
Curtiss-Wright built the CW-12, 14, 15 and 16 as well as previous successful Travel Air
models.
In 1942 Beech won its first Army-Navy "E" Award production award and became one of the
elite five percent of war contracting firms in the country to win five straight awards
for production efficiency, mostly for the production of the Beechcraft Model 18 which
remains in widespread use worldwide. Beechcraft ranked 69th among United States corporations
in the value of World War II military production contracts.
After the war, the Staggerwing was replaced by the revolutionary Beechcraft Bonanza with
a distinctive V-tail. Perhaps the best known Beech aircraft, the single-engined Bonanza
has been manufactured in various models since 1947. The Bonanza has had the longest production
run of any airplane, past or present, in the world. Other important Beech aircraft are
the King Air/Super King Air line of twin-engined turboprops, in production since 1964, the
Baron, a twin-engined variant of the Bonanza, and the Beechcraft Model 18, originally a
business transport and commuter airliner from the late 1930s through the 1960s, which remains
in active service as a cargo transport. In 1950, Olive Ann Beech was installed as
president and CEO of the company, after the sudden death of her husband from a heart attack
on 29 November of that year. She continued as CEO until Beech was purchased by Raytheon
Company on 8 February 1980. Ted Wells had been replaced as Chief Engineer by Herbert
Rawdon, who remained at the post until his retirement in the early 1960s.
In 1994, Raytheon merged Beechcraft with the Hawker product line it had acquired in 1993
from British Aerospace, forming Raytheon Aircraft Company. In 2002, the Beechcraft brand was
revived to again designate the Wichita-produced aircraft. In 2006, Raytheon sold Raytheon
Aircraft to Goldman Sachs creating Hawker Beechcraft. Since its inception Beechcraft
has resided in Wichita, Kansas, also the home of chief competitor Cessna, the birthplace
of Learjet and of Stearman, whose trainers were used in large numbers during WW2.
The entry into bankruptcy of Hawker Beechcraft on May 3, 2012 ended with its emergence on
February 16, 2013 as a new entity, Beechcraft Corporation, with the Hawker Beechcraft name
being retired. The new and much smaller company will produce the King Air line of aircraft
as well as the T-6 and AT-6 military trainer/attack aircraft, the piston-powered single-engined
Bonanza and twin-engined Baron aircraft. The jet line was discontinued, but the new company
would continue to support the aircraft already produced with parts, plus engineering and
airworthiness documentation. By October 2013, the company, now financially
turned around, was up for sale. On December 26, 2013, Textron agreed to purchase
Beechcraft, including the discontinued Hawker jet line, for $1.4 billion. The sale was expected
to be concluded in the first half of 2014, pending government approval. Textron CEO Scott
Donnelly indicated that Beechcraft and Cessna would be combined to form a new light aircraft
manufacturing concern that will result in US$65M-$85M in annual savings over keeping
the companies separate. Textron's initial plan is to keep both Beechcraft and Cessna
as separate brands. Products
Civilian aircraft
Beechcraft Model 16 Single-engined, all-metal training aircraft. Designed and flight tested
in Liberal, KS in 1970. The wings and tail section were two feet shorter than the Model
19. It had a Lycoming O-235 engine rated at 125 hp. Only one was ever built because Mrs.
Beech did not like the aircraft. Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing Single-radial-engined
fabric-covered biplane utility aircraft, tailwheel landing gear
Beechcraft Model 18 Twin Beech Twin-radial-engined all-metal utility aircraft, tailwheel landing
gear Beechcraft Model 19 Sport Single-engined,
all-metal training aircraft, tricycle landing gear
Beechcraft Model 23 Musketeer and Sundowner Single-engined all-metal training aircraft,
nosewheel landing gear Beechcraft Model 24 Sierra Development of
the Musketeer Beechcraft Model 34 Twin-Quad Prototype small
airliner; the largest aircraft ever built by Beechcraft
Model 33 Debonair Development of the Bonanza, with conventional empennage
Model 35 Bonanza Single-engined utility aircraft, nosewheel landing gear, V-tail
Model 36 Bonanza Single-engined utility aircraft, nosewheel landing gear, conventional tail
Model 39P Lightning Experimental turboprop utility aircraft.
Beechcraft Model 40 A Twin-engined Bonanza, only one produced unique "over-under" arrangement
of engines Model 45 Bonanza - civilian nomenclature for
the military Mentor, Model 50 Twin Bonanza Twin-engined utility
aircraft; despite its name was not a development of the Bonanza
Models 55, 56 and 58 Baron Twin-engined high-performance utility aircraft; derived from the Model 95
Travel Air, Model 58 with fuselage derived from the Model 36 Bonanza
Model 60 Duke Twin-engined high-performance utility aircraft
Models 65, 70, 80 and 88 Queen Air Twin-engined transport aircraft; derived from the Model
50 Twin Bonanza Model 76 Duchess Twin-engined development
of the Musketeer Model 77 Skipper Single-engined two-seat primary
trainer with fixed nosewheel landing gear Models 90 and 100 King Air Twin-turboprop-engined
transport aircraft, developed from the Queen Air
Models 200 and 300 King Air Development of the King Air
Model 95 Travel Air Twin-engine development of the Model 33 Bonanza
Model 99 Airliner Twin-turboprop-engined small airliner; derived from the Queen Air
Model 390 Premier Twin-turbofan-engined utility aircraft
Model 400 Beechjet Twin-turbofan-engined utility aircraft, originally designed and manufactured
by Mitsubishi Model 1900 Airliner Twin-turboprop-engined
airliner development of Model 200 Super King Air
Model 2000 Starship Twin-turboprop-engined utility aircraft with canard configuration
and pusher propellers. Military aircraft
Beechcraft UC-43 Traveler Earliest and impressed examples were stock, others had minor alterations
to meet Military specifications. Beechcraft AT-7 NavigatorUC-45/CT-128 Expeditor
Model 18s built for the Military with minor modifications.
Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan Military derivative of the Model 18 fitted for training bombardiers
and gunners Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeer Canadian military
derivatives of the Musketeer/Sundowner series. Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita Twin-engined trainer
built primarily of wood. Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly Prototype 1944 twin-engined
attack aircraft. Beechcraft T-34 Mentor & T-34C Turbine Mentor
Single-engined two-seat trainer loosely derived from straight tail Bonanza.
Beechcraft XT-36 Cancelled trainer and transport aircraft.
Beechcraft L-23, U-8A through U-8E Seminole Off-the-shelf Twin Bonanza.
Beechcraft T-42 Cochise Off the shelf Baron. Beechcraft Model 73 Jet Mentor Prototype for
two-seat tandem jet trainer. C-6 Ute/U-21 Ute Off the shelf King Air.
Beechcraft U-8F Seminole Military version of Queen Air.
Beechcraft C-12 Huron/RC-12 Guardrail/CT-145 Super King Air Super King Air for US and Canadian
militaries. Beechcraft T-1A Jayhawk Military version of
Model 400 used as a trainer for pilots of large aircraft in the US military.
Beechcraft T-6 Texan II/CT-156 Harvard II redesigned Pilatus PC-9 turboprop two-seat
trainer for JPATS competition. Other products
Beechcraft Plainsman - Post-World War II automobile that reached the prototype stage before being
cancelled Beechcraft AQM-37 Jayhawk - Air-launched target
drone aircraft with a single rocket engine Beechcraft MQM-61A Cardinal - Drone aircraft
with a single horizontally-opposed two-stroke piston engine and propeller
Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker - Unmanned target drone aircraft
Facilities Beech Factory Airport house Beechcraft's head
office, manufacturing facility and runway for test flights.
References
External links Beechcraft web site
Beechcraft Heritage Museum Aerofiles – Beechcraft model information
Aircraft-Info.net – Beechcraft RTP-TV AeroSpace Show: 1942 Beech C-45 Aerobatic
Video