Beatty was the son of Isaac Beatty, Jr and Hughie Duffee Beatty.
He began his flying career as a teenager by soloing a small
plane he constructed himself with a motorcycle engine at his
grandfather's farm in Tarrant on June 16, 1916. The flight ended
with a crash landing. Not long afterward he designed and
constructed a hand-powered submarine which he sank in Edgewood
Lake. After a year at Marion Military Institute, Beatty got
permission from his father to enlist in the Navy at age 17. He
was sent to the Navy Radio School set up at Harvard University.
In 1919 the United Fruit Company hired him to construct and
install wireless (radio) telegraphy equipment along its steamer
routes in Asia. He reportedly constructed the first voice radio
station in China during that engagement.  Alabama radio and
aviation After returning to Alabama, Beatty joined James
Meissner and a few fellow aviators including Jerry Thomas, John
Donaldson and Sumpter Smith to form the Birmingham Flying Club
in 1919 at Roberts Field. The unit