Dewline Squadron

The following is some of the early history with that airplane.  My Dad’s company, Plains Airways, Inc., was the first Beech dealer west of the Mississippi.  The photo I sent of my Dad, “Pic” Walker, with N-80197 was a Beech publicity photo when he bought the airplane new in 1946.  Prior to that my Dad ran 3 CPT schools for the Army  Air Corps during WWII.  They trained more than 5000 pilots and an equal number of mechanics during that time.

I was nearly born in a D-18 when my Mom went into labor with me between Denver and Cheyenne.   I was actually born in the hospital in Cheyenne and thought that to be boring VS nearly being born in the aircraftJ  My mother was happy the way things worked out…  Anyway, I grew up with C-17, D-17, D-18, and model 35 Beech aircraft.

Initially, N-80197, along with N-80201, was used for charters; then the interior was taken out and grasshopper bait equipment was installed.  University of Wyoming football players, wearing their leather helmets, loaded the hopper as my Dad flew across the tops of the Wyoming sagebrush to satisfy a contract with the government to attack an onerous grasshopper infestation. 

Following the completion of this contract,  the interior was re-installed, after removing the bait hopper, and the airplane was used as family transportation for a while before it was sold.  I am sure you are aware that it is easy to obtain a history of the airplane thru www.faa.gov.  …even a certified CD with all the registration history along with the 337’s, etc.