Page 29 - April 2022

compete with similar aircraft produced by Cessna and Piper. The Model 23 was eventually upgraded to the A23, B/C23 and the A24R version with retractable landing gear. In the 1970s, general aviation aircraft manufacturers produced a group of lightweight, twin-engine designs for multi-engine flight training. For example, Grumman American introduced the “Cougar,” Piper Aircraft Corporation built the “Seminole,” and Beech Aircraft flew its Model 76 “Duchess” in May 1977. Only 437 were built before production ended in 1982. The Model 76’s single-engine sibling was the Model 77 “Skipper” that took to the skies in September 1978. Both the Model 76 and Model 77 aimed to supply Beechcraft Aero Centers with entry-level airplanes for student pilots. Only 312 Skippers were built before production was terminated in 1981.
Beech Aircraft took a bold step in design when it introduced the rakish Model 60 “Duke” in 1966 using technologies borrowed from the earlier A56TC Turbo Baron series. During 1968-1970, 122 were built before the improved A60/B60 replaced the Model 60 in 1970. Beechcraft built another 471 A60 and B60 Dukes before production ended in 1982.
In 1958 the U.S. Army began seeking a larger version of the Beechcraft Model 50 that possessed a more extensive, reconfigurable cabin adaptable to multi-mission tasks, a new interior and more windows. Beech engineers responded with the L-23F that could accommodate up
to seven combat-ready troops and equipment. That year a commercial version of the L-23 known as the Model 65 “Queen Air” was revealed, making its first flight in August. The airplane quickly established itself as a fast, comfortable, twin-engine airplane with a useful load approaching 3,000 pounds. More importantly, however, the Model 65 represented the future direction Beech Aircraft Corporation would take in developing new cabin-class airplanes.
The Queen Air soon birthed several successful versions, including the A65, 70, 65-80/A80 and the 65- B80/B80A. Development of the airframe eventually led to the Model 88 Queen Air that first flew 18 months after the flight of the landmark, turboprop-powered Beechcraft 65-90 “King Air.” The bold decision by Olive Ann Beech ordering company engineers to mate a modified Queen Air airframe with Pratt & Whitney Canada’s new PT6A-series turboprops led to the first turbine-powered Beechcraft – the Model 87 (U.S. Army NU-8F) that first flew in May 1963.
A commercial version designated as the Model 65-90 “King Air” was formally announced in 1963, and a prototype flew in January 1964. Featuring PT6A-6 engines rated at 550 SHP (takeoff only) and a pressurized cabin, sales soon accelerated and 112 airplanes were delivered from 1964-1966. The improved A90 and B90 soon followed, and the
APRIL 2022
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 27