Beechcraft Aircraft - Handy Encyclopedia

After the Cessna Aircraft and Piper Aircraft planes, already treated in a similar format, Marc Ranjon had to write the encyclopedia of Beechcraft planes, thus completing the trilogy of the three "majors" of the American general aviation, thus world-wide, mainly from the 1950s to the 1980s before general aviation suffered some serious setbacks due to the "oil shocks", then to product insurance (Liability Product) and also to the arrival of new challengers on the light single and twin-engine market such as Diamond, Cirrus or Tecnam...

It's now done with this recently published book, retracing the history of the Wichita-based manufacturer. The first pages quickly evoke the adventure of pilot Walter Beech, who became the boss of an aircraft construction company that grew out of the Travel Air Company, where Walter Beech, Lloyd Stearman and Clyde Cessna were then working together... Before the end of the 1920s, each of them became independent, with Cessna and Beech setting up shop in Wichita, Kansas, which quickly became the capital of American general aviation, Piper Aircraft being located in Lock Haven and then Vero Beach, Florida.
For its first model bearing the Beech Aircraft brand, the company innovated with its Model 17 Staggerwing, an astonishing biplane with offset wings, retractable landing gear, very fast but already offered at an astronomical price compared to the competition - this was often the case later for the manufacturer! The next model, the Beech 18, will also make a name for itself, being the first all-metal light twin-engine. The "bichette", used by various air forces in particular, will have a long operational life, both on the military (training) and civilian (business) sides.

These two aircraft will serve as a "springboard" for the manufacturer to develop other models over the years. One must of course mention the Bonanza, a single-engine aircraft still produced today, albeit in dribs and drabs, and the current model (G36 below) has evolved considerably from the 1945 prototype. Nevertheless, more than 17,000 Bonanza, of different models - from the mythical V-35 with its V-tail to the classic Debonnair with tailplane which will soon be renamed Bonanza, marketing obliges - which makes it one of the biggest successes for the manufacturer but also for the market segment of the single-engine with retractable landing gear.

Source: www.aerovfr.com/2021/01/lencyclopedie-des-avions-beechcraft/