Back in 1928, John Schuette , a prominent Manitowoc businessman, befriended a colorful and charismatic barnstormer and aircraft designer named Irl ”Cactus” Beach, to help design and develop a cutting edge era aircraft that was both versatile enough in the harsh Midwest winters and luxurious enough to impress the prominent members of society of the 1920’s era who vacationed there year around.
The Origins of the Invincible D-D
Irl came up with the Invincible D-D Center Wing Monoplane. A unique blend of both an aluminum fuselage and wood wing, employing unique features of Spruce and Mahogany and era type cutting edge metal and wood building practices and techniques, making the Invincible ultra durable, yet light weight and maneuverable.
John spared no expense to ensure the luxury and comfort of his proud aircraft bearing is company name. And in the fall of 1929, the Model 200 took it’s first test flight at Manitowoc Airfield.
Later, the Model 300 prototype and then Model 400 production type took shape and the Model 400, piloted by another colorful and equally flamboyant character William “Bill” Williams took of in the late fall of 1929
The Luxury and Comfort of the Model 400 required a higher performance engine from the original LeBlond 110 in the Model 200 and 300, so the Model 400 was later retrofitted with the higher powered Curtis Challenger R-600.
Then , The Winter of 1929…………..
……..Big Dreams Collapse As The Great Depression Takes Hold.
With the Great Stock Market Crash of Oct 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression taking foot into the heart land of the US, John Schuette was approached by his board , lead by is close friend and Treasure board member Florian Stradal , and was asked to dissolve the Invincible Aircraft Corp. division and focus efforts on sustaining the Invincible Furniture Company. John, a smart businessman but now infected with the aviation bug and with hope of one day rebuilding the Invincible D-D, agreed. But never let go of his passion for aircraft.
In the rapid decline of the economy and intense focus on preserving what was left of his parent company, most of the Invincible D-D materials were disassembled and scraped , making room for new contracts with the US government.
