Ted A. Wells

Theodore Arthur Wells (March 12, 1907 – September 25, 1991) was an American aircraft engineer, co-founder of the Beech Aircraft Corporation, and the lead designer of the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing.

Birth and education Theodore A. Wells was born in Corning, Iowa and was the first aeronautical engineering graduate at Princeton University. Wells specifically wanted a degree in aeronautical engineering and was able to convince the school to allow him to pursue that goal, although he had to tell the school which requirements he needed to satisfy.

First airplane While a sophomore, Wells and a classmate had the opportunity to buy an old World War I Jenny for US$600. Neither he nor his classmate had pilot's licenses, so they came up with a scheme to buy the plane and rent it out for rides and flying lessons. This enabled them to pay for the plane and fund their own flying lessons. Both of their parents had previously refused to pay for flying lessons. They had learned that Princeton had a policy that students whose parents had difficulty raising tuition could postpone payment until the end of the semester. Wells and his friend informed the school that their parents were struggling financially and used the tuition money their parents gave them up front to buy the aircraft.

Wells was hired by Travel Air, a division of Curtiss-Wright as a part-time demonstration pilot in 1928, during the summer of his junior year at Princeton. He then was hired by the company full-time as a design engineer after he graduated in 1929, filling the engineering void left by Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman.

Walter Beech, Olive Ann Beech, Ted Wells, K.K. Shaul and C.G. Yankey become the principle founders of Beech Aircraft in April 1932. Walter Beech was named President and Wells became Vice President of Engineering and Chief Designer. C.G. Yankey was a friend of the Beech's and a prime investor, so he was named Vice President. K.K. Shaul, General Manager at Travel Air and Comptroller before relocating to St. Louis, was named Treasurer. Olive Ann Beech was named Secretary. Wells decided to race sailboats, rather than airplanes, as it was becoming difficult to find the time for racing airplanes. Wells quickly became proficient at racing on Santa Fe Lake. He was instrumental in organizing the club's first invitational regatta and began trailering his Snipe around the country to participate in other regattas. which was widely read in the sailing racing community.

Wells' championship boat "Good News III" (number 6025) was built by Varalyay, a professional boat builder in California. It is on display in the small boat collection at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.

Retirement After Walter Beech's death in 1950, Olive Ann Beech became the president of Beech Aircraft. There were tensions between Wells and Olive Ann Beech. Publicly, Olive Ann Beech said she did not like Wells spending time sailing and thought he needed to spend more time focused on the company. In 1953, she sent an aircraft down to bring Wells back from the Snipe National Championships in Ardmore, Oklahoma for an "emergency meeting" back at Beechcraft headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. Wells left the regatta, attended the meeting during which Olive Ann Beech told him, "I think that you ought to have all the free time you need for your interests. We accept your resignation." Wells signed the resignation letter and immediately returned to the regatta.

After leaving Beech, Wells did some contract work for Cessna Aircraft, then changed careers and bought the controlling stock of the Union National Bank. He continued to race Snipes including his last competition, the 1986 National Master's regatta hosted by the Atlanta Yacht Club, when he was 79 years old.

During retirement, Wells and his wife Marge flew from New York to a Paris vacation on the Concorde at Mach 2.

Death Wells died on September 25, 1991, at the age of 84.