Beech Party 2019: From Staggerwings to King Airs

Pleasant weather prevailed at Tullahoma, Tennessee, in late October 2019 when more than 620 people made the journey to enjoy the 46th annual Beech Party.

A colorful array of airplanes lined the fields, ranging from early Staggerwing models to King Airs.

The five-day fly-in schedule was chock full of interesting activities. Bob Parmerter gave informative tours through the extensive Beechcraft Heritage Museum complex, and a variety of Travel Air and Beech presentations were given by featured speakers, including historian Edward Phillips.

Round table discussions about engines and accessories were held, and Mike Stanko of Gemco Aviation conducted technical seminars.

Air Boss Rick Siegfried was in charge of briefings for late-day formation flying, and there was a breakfast fly-out scheduled to nearby Winchester airport.

There were also book club presentations, outings to a local distillery and winery, a Women’s 1928 Air Races movie viewing, and a Beech Party “Photo Reel” dinner presentation by Warren and Katie Oxman.

The American Bonanza Society and Twin Beech 18 Society held their meetings during the event as well.

Once again, the Duck River Model A Era Car Club of Tennessee brought their four-wheeled gems to display, complementing the ambiance of the Staggerwings nearby.

All told, there were 136 aircraft that flew in, according to Jody Curtis, executive vice president of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum. That number included nine Staggerwings, 13 Beech 18s, 21 Barons, 48 Bonanzas, five Sundowners/Musketeers/Sierras, five King Airs, one T-34, and 34 other types.

Attendees arrived from a variety of locations, including California, Texas, Colorado, Montana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, and Alberta, Canada.

Staggerwing

Longtime attendees Larry and Susan Wixom of Newnan, Georgia, were happy to have their beloved Staggerwing at Tullahoma for their 33rd year at the fly-in.

Susan shares, “I enjoy flying; you get there faster, for starters, and it’s just very calming and very soothing to be in the air. The Staggerwing is a little bit more of an airplane for me than I’m ready to handle. I fly our Cessna 182, which is our economical long-distance plane.”

The Wixoms acquired the Staggerwing in 1983 when they owned a restoration shop in Janesville, Wisconsin.

“When we got this, it was a pile of junk and we started restoring it in our shop as a winter project. This was built in 1943 as a Navy GB-2 during World War II. It flew for several years after World War II as a civilian D model. It had an accident in 1958 and they just stored it in a building and I think they forgot about it,” said Larry. “We heard through the grapevine that someone wanted to sell it, so we went down to look at it in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. We bought it and hauled the parts and pieces home. It was my dad’s dream to have a Staggerwing and he was instrumental in purchasing it. Prior to that time, we had gained fabric restoration experience by restoring three Stearman projects.”

Although the Beech museum provided helpful technical information during the project, the Wixoms learned firsthand that a Staggerwing is an oh-so-intricately-detailed airplane. So in 1984, they bought a flyable Staggerwing to use as a guide for restoring NC52931.

“That worked out great, and we finished the restoration in 1986. It won an award at Oshkosh that year, and since then, it has been at Tullahoma every year,” Larry said.

“When we first started coming in 1986, this fly-in was strictly for Staggerwings — it did not include the Twin Beeches or Bonanzas, so there would only be like 10 people here. We all became family, and we still are! That’s what keeps us coming back,” Larry added with a smile.

Twin Beech

Mark and Jennifer Jacob of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, were having fun with their Twin Beech during their first-time visit to Beech Party.

They’ve owned N40189, an RC45-J model, since 2007, and spent four years working on it to get it back into flying condition.

As to what attracted them to the 76-year-old airplane in the first place, Mark laughs and quips, “A lapse of judgment! Seriously, we were looking for an airplane with a round engine and looking at Cessna 195s, and the acquisition cost for this airplane was the same. We had a good solid pre-buy inspection, so we knew what we were getting into. I’m an A&P and I have an IA that works with me, so it was doable.”

Jennifer, who learned to fly in a Cessna 120, said “this airplane was extremely intimidating to me when we first owned it — it’s big! But during the time that it took us to do the hands-on work to get her airworthy and in safe flying condition, I slowly got to learn the airplane and I kind of became friends with her. Her name is Juliette and she is a joy, she really is!”

“My husband, Mark, will tell you the cruising speed depends upon who’s paying for the fuel; if you want to go fast she’ll cruise at 165 knots, but we lean her back and cruise around 140 knots,” she continued. “She has 108 gallons in the mains and aux tanks, and the way we fly her, she has roughly four-hour legs. That’s plenty. We have a 6-year-old son who needs to be on the ground running around by that time anyway!”

The Jacobs shared that N40189 has a long and rather colorful history.

“It was delivered Aug. 28, 1943, to the Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi, Texas, and was a trainer during the buildup to D-Day for the pilots ferrying B-17s and the C-47s,” Mark elaborated. “After D-Day, it was stationed in Brunswick, Maine, where it served in a support role for Task Force 69’s kamikaze defense tactics. That unit moved to Chincoteague, Virginia, and this airplane was then used in support of the Navy’s drone development in the 1940s. Its last duty was at Alameda Naval Air Station in San Francisco, and it left service in late 1959. Then it went to Davis Monthan and was mothballed.”

“Even after all her military service she went to the US Geological Survey and was used for photography surveillance work, and apparently with the University of South Dakota Remote Sensing Institute as well,” Jennifer adds. “She spent some time in the Goshen Museum where she went from paint to polish, and we are lucky enough to be her current caretakers. She’s part of our family now.”

Bonanza

Craig and Lorraine Lawler of central Pennsylvania have owned their 1979 Beech V35B Bonanza (N6032V) for 12 years and are frequent fliers. Craig has been flying for 30 years and first soloed a Cessna 150, while Lorraine is an enthusiastic passenger.

“We like to fly to places and ride our bicycles. We fly a couple hundred hours a year. In fact, most of the time the back seat is out so we can carry our bicycles,” said Craig.

“We’ve done a lot to the airplane since we’ve had it,” he continued. “We just got it painted, put some new radios in it, and a factory re-man engine. The key is to stay healthy enough to fly it for another 10 years!”

It was the Lawler’s first time at Beech Party, noting they found out about it just by happenstance.

“Last March, we were headed to Jackson, Mississippi, and we had a real bad headwind. We had another couple with us, and I saw on Flight Aware that they had cheap fuel at THA, so we made a fuel stop here. There was a Beech 18 sitting by the gas pump, and you just have to go over and look at an airplane like that. So I got to talking with the owner, John Parish, and he asked me what I was flying. I told him a V-tail Bonanza, and he said, ‘oh you have to see our museum.’ I thought maybe they had a couple of airplanes, you know … but John Parish spent a couple of hours with the four of us, showing us around,” said Craig. “The other couple who were with us weren’t aviation people at all, but the woman was really into history so she enjoyed the Louise Thaden office and library exhibit in the log cabin. I was concerned about giving them an overdose of aviation, but they really enjoyed it. The people at the museum convinced us to come back for the Beech Party, so we did! We’ve met a lot of people here, including a couple from England.”

If you’d like to join the fun and meet an interesting bunch of Beechcraft owners and enthusiasts, be sure to mark your calendar — the next Beech Party will be held Oct. 14-17, 2020.

More Photos from Beech Party 2019

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