Page 23 - June 2015 Volume 9, Number 6

turbine-powered business airplane. In December 1961, Frank E. Hedrick, executive vice president of Beech Aircraft Corporation, unveiled a wind tunnel model of a turboprop-powered, 300-mph executive transport that was currently under engineering study. If it was placed into production, the new Beechcraft fit into the product line above the Model 18, but would sell for a price well below that of a Gulfstream I.
One year later, Beechcraft salesmen viewed a full-scale mockup of the proposed transport, now designated as the Model 120. Marketing officials listened and carefully recorded every word the dealers and distributors spoke, realizing that there was no one better qualified to render judgment on the mockup than the men who would sell and support the airplane in the field. The airplane would be powered by Turbomeca Astazou engines, although PWC was still pleading its case for Beech to at least consider the Canadian engine. 1
“The first lady of aviation had a great deal to do with the success of the PT6,” said J.C. “Jack” Charleston, a former PWC employee, during a speech before the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. According to Charleson, “Mrs. Beech was behind it all, this very sensible marriage of a Canadian engine to an American airframe.” What Charleson meant by “behind it all” centered on her comments during a meeting in 1961 between Beech Aircraft engineers and PWC president
A Model 65 Queen Air airframe was modified to accept PT6A-6 engines in a bid to attract an order from the United States Army for a turbine-powered version of the piston-powered L-23F already in service.
(BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION/TEXTRON AVIATION)
Thor Stephenson, who was in Wichita to once again pitch the PT6 as a potential engine for a new Beechcraft executive transport. The engineers, however, objected to the PT6 claiming its high cost ($15,000) would make the airplane’s price prohibitive.
JUNE 2015
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 21