1932 founders walter beech olive ann beech headquarters wichita kansas united states owner textron aviation website www.beechcraft.com 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 1 since 2014 it has also been a division of raytheon and later a brand of hawker beechcraft . 2 contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 civilian aircraft 2.2 military aircraft 2.3 other products 3 facilities 4 references 5 external links history edit 1978 beech bonanza f33c 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 beechcraft 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 . citation needed 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 mostly the model 4 . citation needed advertisement for model 17 staggerwing 1937 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 . 3 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 . 4 the bonanza has had the longest production run of any airplane past or present in the world . 5 other important beech aircraft are the king air super king air line of twin engined turboprops in production since 1964 4 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 . citation needed 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 . 2 6 by october 2013 the company now financially turned around was up for sale . 7 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 . 8 9 10 11 textron s initial plan is to keep both beechcraft and cessna as separate brands . 12 products edit civilian aircraft edit 1943 beech d. 17s staggerwing beechcraft model 2000 starship beechcraft 1900d . 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 93 kw . 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 see t 34 below citation needed 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 super 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 entry level jet 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 edit a usaf t 6a texan ii out of randolph air force base beechcraft uc 43 traveler earliest and impressed examples were stock others had minor alterations to meet military specifications . beechcraft at 7 navigator c 45 uc 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 or later 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 edit 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 edit beech factory airport house beechcraft s head office manufacturing facility and runway for test flights . references edit textron completes acquisition of beechcraft . textron . 14 march 2014 . a b niles russ 19 february 2013 . beechcraft corporation emerges from bankruptcy . avweb . retrieved 19 february 2013 . peck merton j. & scherer frederic m. the weapons acquisition process an economic analysis 1962 harvard business school p. 619 a b hawker beechcraft production lists 1945 present retrieved 29 november 2008 . hawker beechcraft corporation celebrates beechcraft 75th anniversary american management technology . july 8 2008 . pew glenn may 3 2012 . bankruptcy for hawker beechcraft . avweb . retrieved 19 february 2013 . niles russ october 17 2013 . beechcraft for sale . avweb . retrieved 18 october 2013 . avweb staff 26 december 2013 . textron confirms beech acquisition . avweb . retrieved 27 december 2013 . niles russ 30 december 2013 . textron fleshes out beech deal . avweb . retrieved 30 december 2013 . textron buys beechcraft in 1.4 billion deal textron to buy beechcraft parent for 1.4 bn textron looks to keep beechcraft as separate brand external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to beechcraft . beechcraft web site beechcraft heritage museum aerofiles beechcraft model information aircraft info.net beechcraft rtp tv aerospace show 1942 beech c 45 aerobatic video v t e beechcraft raytheon aircraft and hawker beechcraft aircraft models beechcraft designation 16 17 18 19 23 24 25 26 28 33 34 35 36 38 40 45 46 50 55 56 58 60 65 70 73 76 77 80 85 87 88 90 95 99 100 101 120 200 300 350 390 400 1074 1079 1300 1900 2000 military xa 38 at 7 at 10 at 11 c 43 c 45 c 6 c 12 f 2 l 23 t 1 t 6 t 34 xt 36 t 42 t 44 u 8 u 21 gb jb 1 jrb snb ct 128 ct 134 ct 145 ct 156 drone qu 22 aqm 37 mqm 61a mqm 107 hawker business jet line hawker 200 hawker 400xp hawker 750 800 800 xp 850xp 900xp series hawker 1000 hawker 4000 v t e textron