Baxter Quadrants traces its roots to Eastern Washington State and the farming community of the Yakima Valley. Al Baxter, an entrepreneur and young pilot, started Central Airways in 1939. It was primarily a crop dusting business and grew into a company that, at its peak, operated fifty Stearman and twelve Waco-10 aircraft. The small fleet also included a retrofitted B17 bomber from World War II. Mira Slovak, the famous "Flying Czech", worked for Central Airways as a pilot and flew the B17. It was one of his first jobs after arriving in the United States from Europe.
Al and his wife, Ann, had a son, Richard, in 1924. Dick followed in his father’s footsteps, inheriting the love of aviation. By the age of 10 he had immersed himself in everything involving aircraft, spending his spare time at the airfield, cleaning the hangers, tracking the daily weather, and learning everything he could. At the age of 14 he had received his glider license and at 16, before he had a license to drive an automobile, he acquired his pilot license.
In 1965, after serving in the US Navy, Dick moved west from Eastern Washington to Seattle. He started a lengthy career at Spencer Aircraft while still involving himself with the aviation community. Like he had done as a young man at Central Airways, Dick was always on the hunt for spare aircraft parts that he could sell or recondition. One thing that was needed by flyers was throttle quadrants. As older and military parts became more scarce, he started building his own and in the late 1960s a small, home-based business was born. Dick started out building quadrants in the garage of his north Seattle home and eventually built a shop to accommodate his growing clientele. Starting with just one size and few options, requests for different sizes and features brought the company to a point today where we offer over 128 different configurations. This number continues to grow as we design and fabricate new ideas and custom orders.
Dick, now retired and living back in Eastern Washington, is still a part of Baxter Quadrants. Our handcrafted units are now made in Renton, Washington, with the same skill and dedication that Dick built them with for over 40 years. We are proud to carry on the tradition.
(Dick Baxter is a large part of Pacific Northwest small-aircraft history. He was instrumental in the origination of the Arlington Air Show in Washington and has volunteered his expertise and time over the years to such organizations as the Museum of Flight in Seattle. He had many acquaintances and made countless friends over the years.If anyone has comments or more information about either Al or Dick, please feel free to contact us.)
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| Al and Dick Baxter |
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