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The Beechcraft Model 77 Skipper is a two-seat, fixed
The Skipper had the misfortune of being introduced at the beginning of a severe downturn in general aviation aircraft production in the United States. During its first year 1979, 47 were built, 140 in 1980, and 125 in 1981. Production stopped in 1983. A total of 312 aircraft were built.
Most of the production run was initially delivered to Beechcraft's flight school network, the Beech Aero Centers, where they were used as primary trainers. A handful of Skippers are still in use as trainers. Others are in the hands of private owners who use them as touring aircraft.
Rev 8.pdf Type certificate data sheet no. A30CE, Revision 8
(November 27, 2017)
Beechcraft website
{{Beechcraft Skipper 1970s United States civil trainer aircraft 1970s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft T-tail aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1978
tricycle gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spe ...
, originally designed for flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills.
Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
but also used for touring and personal flying.Montgomery, M.R. and Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplanes, Second Edition'', page 26. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. Green, William: ''Observers Aircraft'', pages 40-41. Frederick Warne Publishing, 1981.
Design and development
The Skipper was conceived with the design goals of creating a low costprimary trainer
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characterist ...
with an emphasis on ease of maintenance and low operating costs.
Design work on the Skipper began in 1974 as the PD 285, Phillips, Edward H., ''Beechcraft - Staggerwing to Starship''. Flying Books, 1987. . which made its maiden flight on February 6, 1975. The Skipper was Beechcraft
Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...
's attempt to enter the two-place trainer market with an aircraft capable of competing with the popular Cessna 150
The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...
line of trainer aircraft. Though the aircraft first flew with a standard tail configuration, by the time it entered production, a T-tail
A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...
configuration had been adopted, giving it an appearance very similar to its close competitor, the Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
The Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk is a two-seat, fixed tricycle gear general aviation airplane, originally designed for flight training, touring and personal use.
Design and development
The Tomahawk is a single-engined low-wing cantilever monoplane ...
introduced in 1978.
Like the Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
and Piper
Piper may refer to:
People
* Piper (given name)
* Piper (surname)
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics
* Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe
* Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe
Television
* Piper Chapman, lea ...
trainers which were its primary competition, the Skipper utilizes the Lycoming O-235
The Lycoming O-235 is a family of four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines that produce , derived from the earlier O-233 engine.Textron Lycoming: ''Operator's Manual, Textron Lycoming Aircraft Engines, Series O-23 ...
engine and features side-by-side configuration
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
seating. Production was handled at the Liberal (Kansas) Division, where the Beechcraft Duchess
The Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess is an American twin-engined monoplane built by Beechcraft intended partly as a low cost introduction to twin-engine aircraft.
Development
Developed as Model PD289 (Preliminary Design 289), the prototype was u ...
and Musketeer
A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...
were produced.
The Skipper wing utilizes a GA(W)-1 airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
, specifically developed for low-speed aviation applications, based on 1970s NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
research. The aircraft was certified for intentional spins. While it is an all-metal design, the Skipper incorporated a number of innovative construction techniques, including tubular spars and aluminum honeycomb construction with metal-to-metal bonding, a technique inherited from the Musketeer family. The flaps and aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s are actuated by torque tubes, rather than cables. The landing gear is mounted to the fuselage/wing junction, but has a wide wheelbase, giving it a "spraddle-legged" appearance on the ground.
Operational history
The Skipper had the misfortune of being introduced at the beginning of a severe downturn in general aviation aircraft production in the United States. During its first year 1979, 47 were built, 140 in 1980, and 125 in 1981. Production stopped in 1983. A total of 312 aircraft were built.
Most of the production run was initially delivered to Beechcraft's flight school network, the Beech Aero Centers, where they were used as primary trainers. A handful of Skippers are still in use as trainers. Others are in the hands of private owners who use them as touring aircraft.
Specifications
See also
References
;Notes ;Bibliography * "Airdata File: Beechcraft PD 285". ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'', December 1975, Vol 9 No 6. p. 312.
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1980–81''. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1980. .
* Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
Rev 8.pdf Type certificate data sheet no. A30CE, Revision 8
(November 27, 2017)
External links
Beechcraft website
{{Beechcraft Skipper 1970s United States civil trainer aircraft 1970s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft T-tail aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1978