Beech, Olive Ann, 1903-1993

Olive Ann Beech (September 25, 1903 – July 6, 1993) was an American aerospace businesswoman who was the co-founder, president, and chairwoman of the Beech Aircraft Corporation. She founded the company in 1932 with her husband, Walter Beech, and a team of three others. She earned more awards, honorary appointments, and special citations than any other woman in aviation history and was often referred to as the “First Lady of Aviation”.[3] Beech was born as Olive Ann Mellor on September 25, 1903, in Waverly, Kansas, In 1925, at the age of 21, she was hired by Clyde Cessna and took a job as an office secretary and bookkeeper for the newly formed Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita. After learning the business, she handled correspondence, kept the records, and conducted transactions. She was soon promoted to office manager and secretary to Walter Beech, one of the founders of Travel Air.[2][3] Travel Air merged with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in August 1929.[7] Walter Beech assumed the presidency of Curtiss-Wright and moved to New York City. On February 24, 1930, they were married at Wichita and she moved to New York.[2][8]
Walter Beech quit Curtiss-Wright and started Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, naming himself as president, Olive Ann as secretary, Ted A. Wells as vice president of engineering, K. K. Shaul as treasurer, and investor C. G. Yankey as vice president.[10][1][2][3] Olive Ann worked with the financial side of the business and played an important role in major company decisions.[2] The first airplane the company designed and built was a biplane with negatively staggered wings which became known as the Model 17 Staggerwing. Olive Ann suggested that to help increase sales of the aircraft that the company should sponsor a woman pilot flying the Staggerwing in the 1936 transcontinental Bendix Trophy Race. Beech-sponsored pilot Louise Thaden, along with Blanche Noyes as co-pilot, won the race against some of the nation's best male pilots.[3]

In 1937, Beech Aircraft introduced the Twin Beech which was adopted for use by the U.S. Army Air Corps and was also sold all over the world.[3]

In 1940, Walter became ill with encephalitis and Olive Ann took over the leadership of the company at a time when retooling was required for military production of both the Staggerwing and the Twin Beech. She arranged for US$83,000,000 in loans for the expansion of production of both. Beech Aircraft produced more than 7,400 aircraft during World War II which were used to train navigators and bombardiers. Beech Aircraft also was awarded five Army-Navy "E" Awards during the war.[1][2][3]

Olive Ann was kept busy with military production during the war but she also planned for the eventual end of the war. In 1946, the first aircraft to be certified for civilian production by the war production authorities was the Twin Beech. Production was also started on the Beechcraft Bonanza for the civilian market. Other airplanes introduced after the war included a military primary trainer called T-34 Mentor which was a variant of the Bonanza and an executive type aircraft, the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza which served both civilian and military markets.[3]

After Walter's death in November 1950, Olive Ann assumed leadership of the company by being named president and chair of the board and was the first woman to head a major aircraft company. Production of aircraft for the military during the Korean War continued and facilities were expanded. Production was diversified with the introduction of missile targets for the military.[2][3]

Under Beech's leadership, the Beechcraft Travel Air was introduced in 1956 along with a way for new owners to finance their purchase through the newly formed Beechcraft Acceptance Corporation. Beech Aircraft took steps to support the United States' space exploration efforts during the late 1950s with development of cryogenic systems for NASA. The 1960s saw the introduction of the Beechcraft Queen Air series as well as the Beechcraft Debonair, Beechcraft Baron, and Beechcraft King Air as well as the successful use of Beech Aircraft built cabin pressurization equipment used in the Gemini series of spacecraft.[3] In response to the introduction of crosstown Wichita rival Bill Lear's successful Learjet in 1964, Olive Ann decided that Beechcraft should produce a turboprop version of the Queen Air instead of a jet. Asked by a reporter for Forbes magazine when Beechcraft would be producing a jet, Beech replied "We will, when it is compatible with our other activities."[11] This was another example of her "Slowly We Go" policy that she had adopted after government contracts were cancelled after World War II and the Korean War.[12][13] Although piston aircraft sales for Beechcraft were at record highs during the 1960s, her policy would affect the company's late entry into the jet market.[11]