Had the First Lady of Aviation herself, Olive Ann Beech, been at Beech Party 2025, she no doubt would have been waving her “Oh Happy Day” flag with a sunny smile.
At least eight Staggerwings and a record-setting number of Beech 18s — 15 — were among more than 150 aircraft in attendance at Beech Party 2025, held Oct. 9 to 11 at Tullahoma Regional Airport (KTHA) in Tennessee.
“We had another epic Beech Party, with more than 1,000 guests attending,” said Jody Curtis, Beechcraft Heritage Museum Executive Vice President. “One of the highlights was the ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new American Aviation History exhibit.”
The exhibit was initiated by Jody and volunteer Kathy Hull, and came to fruition thanks to combined efforts of the founders, founders’ families, and the museum’s staff and volunteers.
“I wanted it to be modern and situated with the log cabin walls as a backdrop, to show the past as our foundation for the present and future,” explained Jody. “Our two-room log cabin was the very first building we had in 1973, and our first exhibit was about aviatrix Louise Thaden. We have grown to 78,000 square feet, and have 38 aircraft in our museum, as well as many other exhibits.”
The new lighted display panels educate visitors about Beechcraft history from its genesis with Walter Beech’s birth in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1891, to current Beechcraft production under Textron Aviation in Wichita.
One of the special guests participating in the ribbon cutting was Jennifer Pitt, Walter and Olive Ann Beech’s granddaughter. Jennifer’s friend, Hugo Castillo, added a melodic touch to the ceremony with his beautiful rendition of “Come Fly Away.”
Jennifer was also on hand to sign the newly-published 15th anniversary edition of “The Barnstormer and the Lady — Aviation Legends Walter and Olive Ann Beech” by Dennis Farney, which she personally updated with 30 additional pages and numerous photographs.
Top 50
Officials proudly shared the news that the Tennessee Vacation Guide 2025 placed the Beechcraft Heritage Museum as number 23 on its list of 50 Reasons why Tennessee Sounds Perfect.
BHM President Charles Parish credited Curtis for that notable recognition.
“Jody has done a fabulous job making sure we work with the tourism department in the state of Tennessee to put the BHM on the map,” he said. “It was kind of sleepy about 10 years ago — not any more!
It’s the People
Robert Parish, son of founder John Parish Sr., said his favorite aspect of Beech Party is the people.
“We grew up in this community with people who’ve been coming here for years, and in some cases, we’ve known several generations of their families,” he shared. “In the early days, we wiped down every single airplane that came in, and they weren’t as pristine as they are today.”
Robert first soloed at 17, in his mother Charlotte’s Cessna 150. Four years later, he started transitioning to tailwheel airplanes.
“We had a rule in our family that we weren’t flying any of the fun stuff until we got our instrument rating. That was motivation for us to continue on with our ratings,” shared Robert. “I started flying tailwheel in my mother’s J-3 Cub, then came the Stearman, the Staggerwing (N44G), and the Twin Beech (N4477). I’ve got close to 800 hours in the Twin Beech since it was restored in 2007 by Butch Card, a longtime Beech guy.”
Beech Aero Club
Canadian Jeff Knight, Beech Aero Club (BAC) president, has his own legacy of flying Beechcraft. He earned his commercial certificate in a 150-hp Beechcraft Sport, which he ended up buying from the flying club.
“I flew that for 14 years, to all three coasts in Canada, and various places in the United States. Then I took my multiengine instrument ticket in a Beechcraft Duchess at Edmonton Flying Club in Edmonton, Alberta,” said Jeff. ”During the pandemic, I purchased a Sierra and I’ve flown it all over the United States and quite a few places in Canada as well.”
The BAC became a divisional member of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in 2021.
“That gave us a home here in Tullahoma,” said Jeff. “Our club was formed in 2005 just as an email club, and we used to do what we called Musketeer Mail. Then we decided to formalize ourselves. We started with about 150 members, and last year we were up to 1,018 members.”
Musketeer
Bob Prange of Virginia, past vice president of BAC, owns a Musketeer, powered by a 165-hp Continental IO-346. He learned to fly in it while he was a college student and soloed in it. He also earned his instrument and CFII in it as well.
N6928Q has been in his family more than 53 years, and three generations have flown it, including his father Eugene, who bought it in 1972, his brother Mark, and sons, Andrew and David.
If you wonder how they’ve kept it flying, Bob said the answer lies partially with the Beech Aero Club, “which is a great way to find parts and knowledge for maintaining these older Beech airplanes. Every member that joins says they’ve got their $50 worth of annual dues immediately, because they get hundreds of dollars worth of information from everybody.”
First Timers
First timers Bo and Kory Kalabus flew their Staggerwing nonstop from Mesquite, Texas, to Tullahoma, arriving in just under four hours.
“It’s great here and the people are really friendly,” said Bo. “It’s just a beautiful and amazing place, with all the history.”
It was Kory’s first time in Tullahoma, and she shared, “I love it so far, and I know a lot of the people because I’ve seen them at other fly-ins. So it’s kind of like a reunion to see them again, and then meet some new people. I think the museum is gorgeous and so is this part of Tennessee. I don’t fly, but I’m a great passenger — I bring the snacks, keep check of the fuel, and take notes.”
They’ve owned N50A since 2022.
“What’s unique about it is that it’s an F model that has been modified to have a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney. They normally came stock with a 330-hp Jacobs. I’ve flown both, and they fly pretty similar, but I believe this one is a touch faster and I feel like it jumps in the air a little bit quicker,” said Bo. “My indicated airspeed is about 155 and it trues out to about 170-175 mph, burning around 21 to 22 gph. We’ve flown to Round Engine Round Up in Idaho Falls, Oshkosh, and Seeley Lake, Montana. My parents live in Arizona, so we’ve taken regular trips there. It’s a traveling airplane, and just last year we put 100 hours on it.”
A Good Time
“Are you having a good time?” That’s the question visitors are likely to hear when greeted by Charles Parish during Beech Party.
He also encourages regular attendees to do the same: “Make sure you go out on the flight line and talk to somebody who hasn’t been here before — invite them to come back. Ask them if they’re having a good time, and if there’s something we could do different to make it better. That’s how we make this thing work!”
A good time was had indeed — and all are welcome to join the party next year.
For more information: BeechcraftHM.org
More Photos From The Party
Sparky gives a great overview of what’s in store for you when you visit the Beechcraft Heritage Museum during Beech Party. If you’ve never visited the museum or attended Beech Party, I would encourage you to make it a must do adventure. Great article Sparky!
Seeing the pictures and reading about the people in Sparky’s articles on aviation events gives me the feeling that I was there too ! Thanks for the great articles and pictures, Sparky !