The barnstormer, the lady and the granddaughter who updated their Beechcraft story

“The Barnstormer and the Lady” was a popular read when Mary Lynn Oliver published the 2010 book of her parents founding Beech Aircraft Co. in 1932, but it’s been out of print for some time.

“People had been requesting it over and over,” said Jennifer Pitt, Oliver’s daughter.

She decided to update the book with new information and photos, and it’s now back on store shelves.

“I’m passionate to keep my grandparents’ legacy alive.”

Pitt never knew her grandfather, Walter Beech, who died of a heart attack in 1950.

However, she knew her grandmother, Olive Ann Beech, quite well. Pitt was in her mid-20s when her grandmother died in 1993.

“I have a lot of fond memories with her,” Pitt said.

Though she learned important things from her grandmother — manners, persistence and determination — Pitt didn’t learn much about business or aviation from Beech.

“She was pretty private and didn’t talk a lot about business at home,” Pitt said. “Now I’m wishing I would have had her tell me more. When you’re young, you don’t realize the impact. She was just my grandmother.”

Now, she’s especially proud of her grandmother.

“You didn’t want to mess with her,” Pitt said.

As the book explains, some men at Beechcraft tried to oust Beech after her husband died. She ended up firing 14 of them.

“She wasn’t going to let them take over her company that she and my grandfather built.”

With everyone, Pitt said, “She expected excellence.”

Though she could be tough, Pitt said her grandmother was caring, too.

“It was almost like a family when she ran the company as opposed to corporate.”

The book has a lot of fun stories, including ones that have become part of the Beechcraft lore, like when Walter Beech took Olive Ann Mellor for a plane ride for the first time, rolled the aircraft and glanced back at her, only to find an empty seat.

His future bride, who’d warned him not to try any tricks, hid in part of the plane where he couldn’t see her. After Beech flew low and searched the ground looking for signs of her with no luck, he reluctantly went to inform her parents that he’d lost her — but then she opened the door.

Pitt added 30 pages to the almost 300-page book, including some new photos.

She included new accolades the Beeches have received since 2010, including being inducted into the Paul E. Garber Shrine in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

There’s also now a hotel named for Olive Ann Beech in North Dakota, and there is an opera that pays homage to her and her husband as well.

The book also includes information about the Travel Air Co., which celebrated 100 years this summer. Walter Beech started it with Lloyd Stearman and Clyde Cessna, who used to ask Beech about their secretary, Mellor, who was known for her great mind with numbers and some great legs to boot.

“For God’s sake, why don’t you marry that girl?” Cessna would ask.

The updated version of the book also has a QR code that takes readers to a documentary about the Beeches.

Pitt will be signing books from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Mark Arts during Holiday Tables.

She’ll also have a signing from 1 to 3 p.m. on Nov. 16 at Watermark Books & Cafe.

“It just was a labor of love,” Pitt said of updating the book.

“I just really feel strongly about keeping their legacy alive and preserving all that history,” she said. “I feel like the history’s getting lost.”

Pitt said most everyone flies but most people don’t stop to think about the people, like her grandparents, who built the planes or how they did it.

“They were such a big part of it.”

Along with preserving history, Pitt has another goal for the book.

“I printed a lot, but I’m hoping I can sell out and print more.”