Page 26 - Volume 11 Number 5

In 1970 Beech engineers modified the Model 23 airframe into the Model A24R “Super R” featuring a fully-retractable landing gear operated by an electrohydraulic powerpack system. Cruising speed at an altitude of 7,500 feet was 162 mph. Carrying 60 gallons of fuel, the A24R could fly 711 statute miles. Price was $24,950. (WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES)
A second version was the four-place Model A23A “Custom III” that sold for $14,500 and was powered by a 165-horsepower, fuel-injected Lycoming IO-346A-A powerplant. First flight occurred on October 15, 1965. The third option was designated the Model A23-24 “Musketeer Super III” that first flew on November 19, 1965. Featuring seating for four occupants, the A23-24 had a maximum speed of 158 mph and gross weight (normal category) of 2,550 pounds. To further increase sales appeal, in 1966 the company offered yet another variation of the A23A – the six-seat A23A-24 “Musketeer Custom III” powered by a Lycoming O-360-A2G engine rated at 180 horsepower. The two far aft seats, however, were small and the cramped space made them suitable only for children, not adults.
Although the initial Model 23 series was built at the Wichita factory, in July 1964 the company shifted all activities production to a recently-converted facility located near Liberal, Kansas – 200 miles southwest of Wichita. The 121,000-square foot campus was specifically intended to manufacture and support the Musketeer. The Model A23, A23A and A23-24 began rolling off the Liberal assembly lines in late summer 1964.
24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
One of the first challenges facing the workforce at Liberal was conducting a major upgrade program to the original Model 23 Musketeer aircraft that had been built at Wichita. William H. McDaniel, historian for the Beech Aircraft Corporation, stated the situation this way: “Those first Musketeers, in the opinion of Beech, fell a little short in some details of being fully worthy of their name. In striving to produce a low-cost plane that would still be worthy of the Beech nameplate, some small items had slipped through that seemed not quite Beech-like. All Musketeer owners were notified that they could bring their planes in to the Beech factory, at their convenience, for modifications to be made entirely at factory expense.” In addition, the factory offered to ship modification kits to owners who could not (such as those in Europe, Asia and the Pacific regions), or chose not, to bring their airplanes to Liberal. All of the upgrades were minor and were not driven by the Model 23’s airworthiness. Hundreds of Musketeers built for the 1963 model year received the modifications.
To provide flight schools with an airplane capable of teaching pilots basic aerobatic maneuvers such as loops and spins, in 1968 Beech Aircraft launched a version of the Musketeer designated the Model 19A “Musketeer Sport III” that featured shoulder harnesses,
a g-meter and quick-release door on the right side of the cabin. The engine remained a 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320 turning a fixed-pitch propeller. The following year, however, the O-320 engine was replaced with
a 180-horsepower Lycoming powerplant to improve
MAY 2017