Page 24 - June 2015 Volume 9, Number 6

The modified Queen Air (serial number LG-1) was designated NU-8F and first flew in May 1963 before delivery to the Army in March 1964. It was a benchmark airplane that paved the way for senior management at Beech Aircraft to approve a commercial version designed for the corporate market. The NU-8F was truly the “grand daddy” of the King Air product line. (BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION/TEXTRON AVIATION)
Suddenly, Olive Ann rose from her seat and is reported to have proclaimed, “Listen, I don’t normally interfere with engineering or management decisions, but I still control this outfit. I’m telling you to take those engines, which are costing us nothing, and put them in the airframe. Just try it.” The airframe she referred to was the Model 67 “Queen Air,” then the company’s flagship product. When the boss spoke, people listened.2
Fortunately for Olive Ann Beech and the company she commanded, the timing of her directive could not have been better. The U.S. Army had recently placed a follow-on order for more Lycoming-powered Beechcraft Model 65 Queen Airs, designated L-23F. Engineering vice president James Lew and PWC president Thor Stephenson worked together and promoted the turbine- powered L-23F to Army brass, explaining that the two company’s would retrofit a commercial Queen Air with PT6 engines at no cost to the service. In addition, a 100- hour flight test program would be part of the proposed package. The Army agreed to the plan.
A company photographer caught the first King Air prototype, serial number LJ-1, registered N5690K, as it lifted off the runway on its first flight, January 24, 1964. The PT6A-6 engines delivered 550 shaft horsepower (shp) for takeoff and 500 shp for continuous operation. Cabin pressurization was accomplished using a Roots-type supercharger installed in the left wing nacelle. Maximum differential was 3.4 psid. The Model 65-90 featured a maximum speed of 280 mph – more than 50 mph faster than the piston-powered, military L-23F. (BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION/TEXTRON AVIATION)
A Model 87 Queen Air, serial number LG-1, was selected and the conversion process began. The six- cylinder, 340-horspower Lycoming IGSO-480 engines were removed and structural changes were made to accommodate the PT6A-6 engines. The cabin remained unpressurized, the empennage was redesigned and fuel capacity was increased. In May 1963, the modified Beechcraft had been designated the NU-8F and was undergoing ground tests at the Wichita factory. After completing its first flight, the NU-8F entered a test program that lasted 10 months.
In the wake of success with the NU-8F program, PWC had finally convinced Beech Aircraft officials to use the PT6 on its next business airplane. By 1963, it was time for a decision – build the Model 120 along with another proposed design, the piston-powered but pressurized Model 85D Queen Air; postpone a decision or maintain the status quo. As William H. McDaniel writes in his history of the company, Beechcraft – 50 Years of Excellence, “a top-level decision of great importance
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JUNE 2015