The Beechcraft L-23 Seminole (later designated U-8) was the
United States Armed Forces designation for the
Beechcraft Twin Bonanza and
Queen Air aircraft in its inventory.
Design and development
In 1951 the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
evaluated a Twin Bonanza at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within C ...
and subsequently ordered four 'off-the-shelf' Model 50s as YL-23s, these being delivered in early 1952.
Further examples of the Model 50 were ordered under the designation L-23A and Model B50s were also ordered under the designation L-23B.
These accounted for the majority of Twin Bonanza production during 1952 and 1953, the first L-23A being delivered in February 1953 and the last L-23B being delivered in April the following year.,
shortly before cessation of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
In 1955 the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
ordered a single Model C50 Twin Bonanza under the designation XL-23C for evaluation; this was the only L-23 variant not delivered to the US Army as no further orders were placed by the Air Force.
In 1956 deliveries of L-23s to the Army recommenced when Beechcraft delivered six Model D50s under the designation L-23E. In January 1957 the first example of the L-23D was delivered, based on the Model E50 Twin Bonanza.
During 1958 the remaining L-23A and L-23B aircraft in service (a few had crashed) were returned to the Beechcraft factory, where they were remanufactured to a similar standard as new-build L-23Ds and then re-designated as such with new constructor's numbers and military serial numbers.
[Baugher, Joe]
"USAF/US Army 1957 Serials list."
''USAF Aircraft.''Retrieved: 11 June 2011.[Baugher, Joe]
''USAF Aircraft''. Retrieved: 11 June 2011 In 1958 the Army also ordered 11 RL-23Ds with further examples being converted from L-23Ds. These aircraft featured belly-mounted
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
, either AN/APS-85 in a large pod or AN/APQ-86 in a long narrow pod mounted on brackets with a modified nose as well.
[Phillips, Edward H. ''Beechcraft - Pursuit of Perfection, A History of Beechcraft Airplanes''. Flying Books, Eagan, Minnesota 1992. .]
Also in 1958 Beechcraft began to develop a variant with a larger cabin at the request of the US Army. The L-23F that emerged had the same wings and tail but up to ten people could now fit in the longer, wider and higher cabin compared to only five in earlier L-23s.
Beechcraft gave the type the in-house designation of Model 65 and developed it as a civilian aircraft as well, christening it the "Queen Air". The first two Model 65s built were retained by Beechcraft as prototypes and the third was delivered to the Army in 1960, with a further 23 being delivered that year and in 1961.
Operational history
![Pakistani Beechcraft](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Pakistani_Beechcraft.jpg)
The first L-23As entered service in 1953 and the type served the US Army for almost forty years, the last U-8Fs being retired in 1992. When US military aircraft designations
were revised in 1962, the remaining L-23D, RL-23D, L-23E and L-23F aircraft became U-8Ds, RU-8Ds, U-8Es and U-8Fs.
A further 47 Model 65s were ordered in 1962 and 1963 as U-8Fs; one of these was delivered to the
Pakistan Army, formally the only L-23 or U-8 delivery to a foreign user
(although other nations bought Queen Airs
off-the-shelf
Off-the-shelf may refer to:
* Commercial off-the-shelf, a phrase in computing and industrial supply terminology
* Government off-the-shelf
* Ready-to-wear
* Shelf corporation, a type of company
* Off the Shelf Festival, a festival of writing and r ...
as military aircraft). These were the final new-build aircraft in the series, however the unique Beechcraft Model 87
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
proof-of-concept aircraft used in developing the
King Air
The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...
was delivered to the Army as the NU-8F in 1964 (this was later re-designated the YU-21) and a few used Queen Airs were also taken by the Army. Many U-8Fs were modified during their service lives to a similar standard as civilian Excalibur Queen Airs. The most obvious modifications are more powerful
Lycoming IO-720
The Lycoming IO-720 engine is a large displacement, horizontally opposed, eight-cylinder aircraft engine featuring four cylinders per side, manufactured by Lycoming Engines.
There is no carburated version of the engine, which would have been d ...
eight-cylinder engines in place of the factory-fitted six-cylinder engines; and bulged main landing gear doors that fully enclose the wheels when the gear is retracted instead of the wheels partially protruding through the doors. Many L-23Ds/U-8Ds and U-8Fs have been registered as civilian aircraft since retirement from military service.
Variants
;YL-23
:Four Model 50 Twin Bonanzas evaluated by the US Army subsequently converted to L-23A standard.
[Harding 1990, p. 12.]
;L-23A
:55 delivered to the US Army, many subsequently converted to L-23D standard.
;L-23B
:Based on B50. 40 delivered to the US Army from 1954, with many subsequently converted to L-23D standard.
[Harding 1990, p. 13.][Pelletier 1995, pp. 105–106.]
;XL-23C
:One aircraft based C50 for evaluation by the US Air Force.
[Swanborough and Bowers 1963, pp. 42–43][Pelletier 1995, p. 106.]
;L-23D
:100 delivered new to the US Army plus 93 L-23As and Bs rebuilt to L-23D standard.
[Baugher, Joe]
"USAF/US Army 1956 Serials list."
''USAF Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 11 June 2011.
;RL-23D
:variant with belly-mounted radar. Eleven new-build aircraft delivered to the US Army, plus 29 converted from L-23Ds.
[Baugher, Joe]
''USAF Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 11 June 2011.
;L-23E
:Six delivered to the United States Army.
;L-23F
:24 aircraft based on the Beechcraft Queen Air delivered to the US Army.
[Baugher, Joe]
''USAF Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 11 June 2011.[Baugher, Joe]
"USAF/US Army 1961 Serials list."
''USAF Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 11 June 2011.
;U-8D
:L-23D redesignated in 1962.
;RU-8D
:RL-23D redesignated in 1962, plus 15 U-8Ds converted after 1962.
;U-8E
:L-23E redesignated in 1962.
![Beechcraft U-8F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Beechcraft_U-8F.jpg)
;U-8F
:L-23F redesignated in 1962 and 46 new-build aircraft delivered to the US Army, plus single Beechcraft Model 87 delivered used as NU-8F in 1964
and one Queen Air purchased second-hand in 1966. In addition, one U-8F was delivered to the
Pakistan Army instead of the US Army
and two Queen Airs
confiscated from drug runners were added to the US Army inventory in 1981 as U-8Fs.
;NU-8F
:US military designation assigned to a modified commercial
Queen Air converted as the prototype
Model 65-90 King Air, and fitted with two 500 shp
Pratt & Whitney PT6A
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously up ...
-6 turboprop engines. The aircraft was evaluated by the US Army in 1964.
;U-8G
:XL-23C, seven U-8Ds and four U-8Es modified with more powerful engines and enlarged cabin for six passengers.
[Baugher, Joe]
"USAF/US Army 1955 Serials list."
''USAF Aircraft.'' Retrieved: 11 June 2011.
Military operators
;
*
Pakistan Army
;
*
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
Aircraft on display
* 56-3701 – U-8D on static display at the
Pima Air & Space Museum
The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres (320,000 m²) on a campus oc ...
in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
.
* 58-1358 – RU-8D on static display at the
Combat Air Museum
The Combat Air Museum is a non-profit aviation museum at Topeka Regional Airport (Forbes Field) in Shawnee County, near Topeka, Kansas. The museum is dedicated to the creation of facilities and resources for the education of the local and regional ...
in
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...
.
* 58-3051 – U-8D on static display at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at
Joint Base Langley–Eustis
Joint Base Langley–Eustis is a United States military facility located adjacent to Hampton and Newport News, Virginia. The base is an amalgamation of the United States Air Force's Langley Air Force Base and the United States Army's Fort Eus ...
near
Newport News, Virginia.
* 59-4991 – RU-8D on static display at the
National Vigilance Park at
Fort Meade, Maryland. This airframe was previously on display at the
U.S. Army Transportation Museum.
* 62-3838 – U-8F on static display at the
Kansas Aviation Museum in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...
.
Specifications (L-23D)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Harding, Stephen. ''U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947: An Illustrated Directory''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1990. .
* Harding, Stephen. ''U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947: An Illustrated Reference.'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1997. .
* Pelletier, A. J. ''Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. .
* Swanborough, F. G. and Bowers, Peter M. ''United States Military Aircraft since 1909''. London: Putnam, 1963.
External links
"'Lonely Ringer' on display at Combat Air Museum"
{{US utility aircraft
L-023 Seminole
1950s United States military utility aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft