and presented them to the Curtiss-Wright management to persuade them to build it. Curtis-Wright directors declined to pursue the program due to financial reasons. Desiring to continue Wells' Model 17 design, Walter Beech, Olive Ann Beech, K.K. Shaul and Ted Wells resigned from Curtis-Wright's Aircraft division to start up a new company, Beech Aircraft to produce the Model 17. 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. In his position as engineering vice president, Well's engineering team designed the Model 18, Model 33, T-34 Mentor, Model 34 Twin-Quad, and Model 50 among others. Sailing Wells joined the Wichita Sailing Club in 1938 and started racing Snipe sailboats. He bought his first boat for $100. It had bed sheets for sails. 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. Wells won many regattas including the 1947, 1949 and 1952 United States Snipe National Championships, as well as the 1947 and 1949 Snipe World Championships. Wells also authored the book "Scientific Sailboat Racing" 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