Page 26 - Volume 11 Number 6

The “Baby Beechcraft”
Part Two
Beech Aircraft Corporation’s Model 76 “Duchess” and the Model 77 “Skipper” were welcome additions to the company’s product line, but the economic recession of 1981 clipped their wings
by Edward H. Phillips
During the three-day Beechcraft International Sales Roundup held in November 1975, two proposed aircraft were revealed to more than 800 Masters of Aircraft Salesmanship attending the event. The first to be unveiled was the PD 289, a preliminary design aimed at the four-place, lightweight twin-engine segment of the market, and PD 285, a single-engine, two-place airplane aimed at training fledgling student pilots how to fly.1
Both Beechcrafts were intended to fill gaps in the company’s entry-level product line that had been occupied since 1963 by the successful Model 23 Musketeer/ Sundowner and Model 24 Sierra series airplanes. As with their older brethren, the new airplanes would augment the lineup of Beechcraft products at the company’s popular Beech Aero Centers, but would also compete with the new Piper PA-44 Seminole, Cessna Model 303 and the Grumman American GA-7 Cougar – all aimed at the same lightweight, multi-engine trainer market as the Model 76.
The PD 289 would be powered by two Avco Lycoming, four-cylinder piston engines, each rated at 180 horsepower and fitted with counter-rotating propellers. An early proof-of-concept prototype had begun flight testing in September 1974 that continued into 1975, providing Beech engineers with a wealth of flight-test data about the design’s aerodynamics, performance with one-engine inoperative, airframe and engine systems and overall flight characteristics. A year later at the 1976 sales extravaganza, company officials introduced the former PD 289 as the Model 76 Duchess. The name had been chosen after a contest involving hundreds of Beechcraft franchise employees. Of these, 25 had submitted the name “Duchess” and each person was awarded $250 for their suggestions.2
The Duchess would be built at the company’s facilities in Liberal, Kansas, alongside the Model C23 and C24 single-engine Beechcrafts. The first production Duchess flew on May 24, 1977, with veteran Beech engineering test pilot Vaughn Gregg at the controls. FAA certification was achieved on January 24, 1978, with approval for day and night VFR/IFR flight operations in the Normal Category. Beechcrafters rolled out the first Duchess for delivery in May 1978, and many of the initial production airplanes were flown to Beech Aero Centers to train aspiring multi-engine pilots.
The Model 76’s aluminum alloy, semi-monocoque fuselage and full-cantilever wing used the same bonded honeycomb sandwich technology as the Model 23/24
24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
series. The wing featured the NACA-developed 632A415 airfoil section with dihedral set at slightly more than six degrees, while the angle of incidence varied from three degrees at the wing root to zero degrees at the wingtip. Frise-type ailerons were installed along with single-slot trailing edge flaps that were electrically operated. Wingspan was 38 feet with a total area of 181 square feet, including ailerons, and wing loading was 21.5 pounds per square foot. The empennage featured a tall vertical stabilizer topped by a horizontal stabilizer with conventional elevator/rudder, each surface equipped with a trim tab.3
The main landing gear was a rugged, but practical, trailing beam design that retracted inward into wheel wells, while the nose gear retracted upward and forward into the lower nose section. All three gear were extended/ retracted using an electro-hydraulic system similar to that of the Model C24 Sierra 200. The main gear featured a generous track of 10 feet six inches that, in concert with the steerable nose gear, made the Duchess easy to maneuver on the ground. A separate hydraulic system was installed to supply fluid for disc brakes on the main gear.
Typical empty weight (varied depending on equipment options) was 2,446 pounds, increasing to a maximum takeoff weight of 3,900 pounds. The Duchess could takeoff (sea level/standard day) in 1,017 feet. Maximum ramp weight was 3,916 pounds with a zero fuel weight of 3,500 pounds. Standard fuel capacity was provided by a single tank in each wing for a total of 100 useable gallons. Useful load for a standard-equipped airplane was 1,470 pounds.
The Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess was introduced in 1978 as a multi-engine trainer for Beech Aero Centers and as
a competitor to the similar Piper Seminole and Grumman American Cougar. The Duchess was built from 1978-1982 at the Liberal, Kansas, factory. Maximum speed was 191 mph. (WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES)
JUNE 2017