The Beeches' legacy lives on
"When Mrs. Beech was here, things were a lot more formal." Randy Groom, president, Global Customer Service and Support for Raytheon Aircraft, laughs at the memory. As a young employee of Beech Aircraft Corp. back in 1980, Groom had to walk past Olive Ann Beech's office to get to the water fountain. "I had to put on my jacket" before passing her door, he recalls.
Suit and tie were the order of the day — and Mrs. Beech may have frowned upon the trousers worn by women at the company today. But it was a different time when she was at the helm of this aircraft manufacturer, whose longevity may be ascribed to a healthy balance of risk and conservatism.
Although the level of formality has lessened at the company, the focus on quality is back at spot number one, just as the late Olive Beech had instilled amongst her "family." Many of today's employees work as second-, third-, and even fourth-generation members of the Beech team. Once you're part of the family, you're in for good. In fact, the company produced pizza pans, among other oddities, during hard times in order to keep its workers in jobs — and itself out of the red.
The Beechcraft brand is a product of Raytheon Aircraft Co. (RAC); Beech Aircraft Corp. was founded in 1932 by Walter and Olive Ann Beech. After Walter's death in 1950, Olive assumed leadership of the company. Beech Aircraft Corp. was acquired by Raytheon on February 8, 1980, and Olive continued as chairman until 1982; she remained chairman emeritus until her death in 1993. The company's official name changed in 1994 as it joined Raytheon's newly purchased Raytheon Corporate Jets (including the Hawker business jet line) division to become RAC.
In March 2006, Brad Hatt ascended to the position of president, commercial aircraft, at RAC. Although the company produced 99 Bonanzas and Barons in 2005, Hatt expects to manufacture 126 piston aircraft in 2006.
Returning the Beechcraft brand to a pre-eminent position in the marketplace is a critical company strategy for RAC. The effort has two prongs: a focus on improved customer service and relationships and the introduction of leaner, smarter manufacturing processes. After some challenging years, RAC posted a profit in 2004, while parent company Raytheon Co. doubled its profits in 2005. The company attributes this turnaround to bonus depreciation and overall positive business climate for personal and business aircraft.
But an important part of RAC's resurgence starts on the Beechcraft production line, which is primarily housed in Plant 2 in RAC's Wichita division. The wings for the company's piston aircraft (the single-engine G36 Bonanza and twin-engine G58 Baron) are fabricated and assembled at a plant in Salina, Kansas, 80 miles to the north. Those parts for the G36 and G58 that aren't produced by outside contractors or made on-site at Plant 2 are fabricated at Plant 1 in Wichita. Overall, RAC employs more than 8,500 people, with major facilities in eight states and covering 6 million square feet; more than 6,500 employees work in Wichita alone, making RAC a primary employer in the area.
The Raytheon Six Sigma program also has brought the factory in line with current manufacturing movements to improve processes and reduce defects. Employees achieve varying levels of certification through a project process. RAC spokesman Mike Turner asserts that this program has been instrumental in RAC's return to health.
Entering the complex
"This is our square mile," says Simon Caldecott, vice president, Beechcraft and Hawker Assembly, Integration and Test Operations. He's referring to the land on which RAC sits, the installation of buildings and asphalt that surrounds the runway and taxiways at Beech Factory Airport in Wichita. There's more than a square mile of territory here, but the affectionate phrase is appropriate.
Although many aircraft manufacturers are located on public airports, RAC owns and operates the airport, which has been the site of Beechcraft production since the former company, Beech Aircraft Corp., purchased the Travel Air Factory and its facilities here in 1937. These buildings became corporate offices for Beech and a manufacturing facility that continues as the current-day Plant 1. The airport boasts a control tower during normal working hours (and from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekends) and is open to the public, though its primary purpose is to facilitate aircraft production and testing, and serve RAC customers.
The Bonanza entered production in 1947; the Baron line began in 1964. Those lines have never ceased cranking out airplanes. Whether the product of meticulous research and preparation, or the kiss of luck, what Beechcraft started keeps going, the models evolving to fit the times but never changing the underlying success that got them flying in the first place.
With the Bonanza in production for nearly 60 years, and the Baron for more than 40, there is the continuing opportunity — and challenge — of building on a legacy. Of the Bonanza, former Vice President of Product Engineering David Reimer once noted, "You can't reduce the drag any more on that airplane." (Reimer has since left the company and has been replaced in that role by Charlie Lee.) Product engineering initiatives include a focus on ergonomics, the pilot-airplane interface. The current challenge to engineers is to display data that are useful and enhance a pilot's skills — not make that information a burden. Specifically, this concerns the integration of the Garmin G1000 integrated flight deck and GFC 700 autopilot, but the challenge had been on the minds of RAC engineers before the decision to go to glass was made.
The glass decision
In fact, that decision is a good example of the forethought to the entire process that is a company hallmark. Engineers at RAC spoke of a gated process, what the company calls its "integrated product development system." Early gates include researching the market, developing engineering and certification requirements, and writing the specifications for suppliers like Garmin. A lot of time is spent on customer needs to get these requirements.
Once the test panels are complete, the project undergoes a formal design review, after which detailed drawings are made. Then the project goes to the line.
Before this could happen, however, one big choice needed resolution: whether to continue the manufacture of Bonanzas and Barons with traditional instruments. In the end, the order book spoke for itself — all piston aircraft on the production line are G1000 equipped.
Besides, with more than 18,000 Bonanzas and more than 8,000 Barons built with those traditional panels, there should be no shortage of options for any Beechcraft customer.
E-mail the author at [email protected].
Links to additional information about Beechcraft and Raytheon Corp. may be found on AOPA Online.
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