Page 28 - June 2015 Volume 9, Number 6

In 1963, it was Olive Ann Beech (above with her nephew Frank Hedrick) who urged company engineers to install PT6 engines in a Queen Air airframe. More than 50 years later, King Airs continue to dominate the corporate turboprop market worldwide. (EDWARD H. PHILLIPS COLLECTION)
7,300 King Airs of all types, including commercial and military versions, have been built, and total fleet flying time has surpassed 60 million flight hours.5 Fifty-two years after PWC shipped the first PT6 engine to Beech Aircraft Corporation, more than 54,000 versions of the powerplant are operating around the globe and have exceeded 400 million flight hours. KA
NOTES:
1. McDaniel, William H.; “Beechcraft – Fifty Years of
Excellence;” McCormick-Armstrong Co., Inc., Publishing Division, Wichita, Kansas; Copyright, Beech Aircraft Corporation, 1982.
2. Parmerter, Robert K.: “Beech 18 – A Civil and Military History.” Published by the Staggerwing Museum Foundation, for the Twin Beech Society, 2004. J.C. Charleson was a long-time friend of Walter and Olive Ann Beech, and was familiar with the ongoing discussions between Beech Aircraft Corporation and PWC that resulted in the NU-8F and later the Model 65-90 program.
Beech Aircraft delivered the NU-8F to the Army Aviation Test Board, Fort Rucker, Alabama, on March 12, 1964, where it underwent six months of testing. After being retired from flying the NU-8F served as a maintenance training aid for mechanics at Fort Eustis, Virginia, until it
was placed on static display at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker.
3. Sullivan, Kenneth H. and Milberry, Larry: “Power: The Pratt & Whitney Canada Story,” Volume 1; Pratt & Whitney Corporation, 1989, 2013.
4. The pressurized fuselage had been developed in 1962 for the Model 85 Queen Air that became the Model 85D in 1963 and, in 1965, to introduction of the Model 88. Only four were built in 1965 followed by another 36 in 1966. Beech officials soon realized that there was no business case for continuing production of the Model 88 because of increasing demand for the King Air. Plans for an upgraded version, the Model A88, were cancelled and the last Model 88 was built in 1969.
5. Textron Aviation
About the Author: Ed Phillips, now retired and living in the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kan. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JUNE 2015