Page 24 - Volume 12 Number 1

More improvements were made to the Travel Air for the 1963 model year, including a larger third cabin window shared with the twin-engine A55/B55 “Baron,” and a redesigned nose section. Price for a standard-equipped D95A was $49,500. (WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES)
the welded steel tubing surrounding the cabin structure was retained, the entire fuselage was covered in sheet metal. On July 29 of that year, the PA-23 production prototype made its first flight and seven months later, on January 29, 1954, the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) certified the Apache. In keeping with Piper’s reputation as the general aviation industry’s price and value leader, the PA-23 sold for $32,500 – significantly lower than the projected price of Cessna’s Model 310 ($49,000), and far below the Beechcraft Model 50 that sold for a stout $70,000.
In the PA-23, Piper Aircraft Corporation had succeeded in designing a comfortable four-place, high-performance twin-engine airplane that provided a cruise speed of 170 mph and a maximum range of 700 statute miles. Pilots liked the Apache. It was easy to fly thanks in part to its low wing loading, and the two four-cylinder Lycoming engines were economical to operate and boasted an 800-hour time between overhaul (TBO).
Meanwhile, in Wichita on January 3, 1953, Cessna Aircraft engineering test pilot Hank Waring took the prototype Model 310 aloft for 30 minutes on its maiden flight. The sleek, all-metal twin-engine Cessna represented a new beginning for the company that had begun as early as 1950 when officials realized that a growing number of pilots wanted a fast, modern, twin- engine airplane capable of flying cross-country at night and under instrument flight rules. The Model 310 was Cessna Aircraft’s first lightweight twin since the prewar Model T-50 Bobcat, which was built in large numbers for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces and Navy as the Crane I/Crane 1a and the AT-8/AT-17/JRC-1, respectively.4
After engineers and marketing personnel completed a design study during May-July 1951, an airframe mockup
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
was built followed by the engineering prototype. When the airplane flew that day in January 1953, there was nothing else like it in the skies. Flight testing progressed rapidly, and a second prototype soon joined the first in an accelerated flight test program that led to CAA certification in March 1954 – three months after CAA approval of Piper’s Apache. The first production run of Cessna’s Model 310 began rolling down the assembly line in April followed by initial deliveries in May.
The 310 was powered by six-cylinder Continental O-470-B opposed piston engines, each rated at 240 horsepower and equipped with constant-speed, full- feathering propellers. Two wing tip fuel tanks held 100 gallons of avgas, and the electrically-operated tricycle landing gear featured a steerable nosewheel. Maximum speed was more than 220 mph with a service ceiling of 20,000 feet. As with the Apache, the Model 310 was the right airplane at the right time and the marketplace embraced it with gusto. Production ceased with the 1981 Model 310R after Cessna had built more than 5,400 commercial and military versions of its popular light twin.
Finally, in 1956, management at Beech Aircraft Corporation decided the company needed a light twin of its own. Sales of the Apache and Model 310 were strong and Bonanza owners wanting to step up to higher performance had no choice but to consider a Cessna or Piper product. In addition, Beech Aircraft’s product line lacked an airplane to fill the gap between the Model G35 Bonanza and the Model 50 Twin Bonanza.
JANUARY 2018