Beechcraft Queen Air

The Beechcraft Queen Air is a twin-engined light aircraft produced by Beechcraft in several versions from 1960 to 1978. Based upon the Twin Bonanza, with which it shared key components such as wings, engines, and tail surfaces, but featuring a larger fuselage, it served as the basis for the highly successful King Air series of turboprop aircraft. It is often used as a private aircraft, a utility, or a small commuter airliner. Production ran for 17 years.

Design and development

The company's Twin Bonanza was reaching the limits of development so Beechcraft decided to develop a design with a larger fuselage and new tail which it designated the Beech 65. Early in development the United States Army which had been a customer of the Twin Bonanza (which it called the L-23 Seminole), ordered 68 aircraft under the designation L-23F. The prototype Beech 65 first flew on August 28, 1958.

The Queen Air is a twin-engined nine-seat low-wing cantilever cabin monoplane with a retractable landing gear with a nose wheel. It was initially powered by two Lycoming IGSO-480 six-cylinder, horizontally opposed piston engine.

The Model 65 received a Federal Aviation Authority type certificate on February 4, 1959 and the first deliveries were made soon after. On February 8, 1960 a Queen Air achieved a new height record of 34,862 feet.

The basic Model 65 was in production until 1967 when the improved Model A65 with a swept rather than vertical tail was introduced. Production continued with further variants introducing pressurisation and turboprop engines.

Variants

65

This is the initial version of the Queen Air, powered by two Lycoming IGSO-480s producing . Fitted with short span () wings and a straight unswept tail. It had a gross weight of . Usually referred to as a "straight 65". 316 built from 1959 to 1967.Pelletier 1995, pp. 114, 120

A65

First produced in 1967 the A65 is very similar to the straight 65. The major change was the addition of a swept tail with a dorsal fin. Available fuel was also increased, with a maximum capacity of when auxiliary tanks are fitted. A dedicated airliner version, the A65-8200 Queen Airliner was available with an increased gross weight of . A total of 96 A65s were built between 1967 and 1970.Pelletier 1996, pp. 115–116

70

Introduced in 1968. This aircraft is similar to the A65 in that it is powered by the Lycoming IGSO-480, however it has the longer wing of the 80 series. This allows the 70 to have a greater lifting ability than the 65 but a lower fuel burn and operating cost than the 80. It is, essentially, an A65 with the B80 wing. Its gross weight is . A total of 35 were built between 1969 and 1971.Pelletier 1996, pp. 116–117, 120

80

First flying on June 22, 1961 and certified on February 20, 1962,Taylor 1971, p. 234. the Queen Air 80 (also known as the Model 65-80) was the first of the Queen Airs to have the swept tail, although it retained the short-span wings of the Model 65. It was powered by a more powerful Lycoming IGSO-540 which produced . Gross weight on the 80 is . 148 built from 1962 to 1963.Pelletier 1996, pp. 115, 120

A80

The Queen Air A80 (also known as the Model 64-A80) was introduced in 1964, and had a new wing, wingspan increasing from to .Pelletier 1996, p. 116 Other major changes to the A80 included a redesign of the aircraft nose, an increase in fuel capacity and a 500-pound increase in takeoff weight to gross weight.Taylor 1965, p. 164 121 built between 1964 and 1966.

B80

Introduced in 1966 the B80 was to be the final production model. The B80 was by far the longest produced Queen Air with production lasting some 12 years. Available with 380 hp Lycoming IGSO-540-A1A or Lycoming IGSO-540-A1D engines. Its major improvement was the increased gross weight to a . A total of 242 aircraft were built from 1966 to 1977.Pelletier 1996, pp. 116, 120

88

Introduced in 1965 the model 88 is a pressurized version of the Queen Air. This aircraft featured round cabin windows that make the 88 look quite similar to a 90 series King Air. It also shares the engines and long wing of the B80. Sales were slack due to its higher sales price and lower useful load as compared to the B80. Only 47 examples were ever produced of which two were converted to King Air standard and the model 88 aircraft was removed from production in 1969. The first two models of the King Air's official designation were BE65-90 and BE65-A90 owing to its Queen Air heritage.

Excalibur

This is a modification performed in the aftermarket by supplemental type certificates (STCs) to the BE65. It resolves the biggest issue of the Queen Air design, the engines. This is accomplished by replacing the rather cantankerous (if operated incorrectly) six-cylinder Lycoming IGSO-480s and Lycoming IGSO-540s, with the far more robust eight-cylinder Lycoming IO-720. This presents the major advantage of not having a gearbox or superchargers to cause maintenance and reliability problems. However the loss of the supercharger does limit the cruising altitude to below fifteen thousand feet. The other advantages gained are the overall increase in power to per engine as well as a gross weight increase in most models. The gross weights are increased to in all the short-wing aircraft (65, A65, 80), in the 70, and 8800 in the other long-wing aircraft (A80, B80, 88). The US Army National Guard installed this modification on some of their aircraft. The Excalibur Queen Air can be recognized by the noticeably smaller engine cowlings and lower-set engines. This STC was originally designed and produced by Ed Swearingen who was well known for his work on the Twin Bonanza, Queen Air, and later Swearingen aircraft (Merlin and Metro). The ownership of this STC has changed hands many times over the years. The current owner is Bemidji Aviation which operates a fleet of Excalibur Queen Airs as well as other aircraft in the charter and freight role in the upper mid-west of the United States.

Production number details

This list provides a detailed account of production by Beechcraft of individual variants. Production numbers per year from the Hawker Beechcraft serialization list.General Aviation Manufactures Association

*65 and A65 - 339 built
*70 - 37 built
*80, A80, B80 - 509 built
*88 - 45 built
*Total - 930 built

Military operators

;
: Algerian Air Force - 3 B80s in service as of 1986.Hatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 32.
;
: Argentine Army Aviation
: Argentine Naval Aviation - 5 B80s as of 1986.Hatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 34.
: Argentine National Gendarmerie - At least one aircraft confiscated from drug smugglers operated in late 1990s
; : Eight aircraft received,Pelletier 1996, p. 119
; : One Queen Air operated.
;
: Colombian Air ForceHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 46.
;
: Air Force of the Dominican RepublicHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 49.
;
: Ecuadorian ArmyHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 50.
;
: Border Security Force
;
: Israeli Air Force - Seven B80s received.
;
:Haiti Air Corps
;
: Japan Air Self-Defense Force
:: Central Air Command Support Squadron
: Japan Maritime Self Defense ForceTaylor 1971, p. 233.
; - One Model 80
;
;
*Peruvian Air Force acquired 18 Queen Airs in 1965–1966.
*Peruvian ArmyHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 78.
;
: Philippine Army
;
: South African Air Force 1975-1992
;
: Royal Thai Air ForceHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 92.
;
: United States ArmyHarding 1990, pp. 14–15.
;
: Uruguayan Air ForceHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 102.
;
: Venezuelan Air Force - Two Model 65s and seven A80s.
: Venezuelan ArmyHatch ''Air Pictorial'' April 1984, p. 127.
: Venezuelan National GuardHatch ''Flight International'' 29 November 1986, p. 103.

Specifications (Queen Air B80)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

*"Andean Air Power...The Peruvian Air Force". ''Air International'', May 1988. Vol. 34, No. 5. pp. 224–235, 240.
* Harding, Stephen. ''U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 1990. .
* Hatch, Paul F. "Air Forces of the World: Venezuelan Army Air Arm (Aviación del Ejercito Venezolana)". ''Air Pictorial'', April 1994, Vol. 46 No. 4. p. 127.
* Hatch, Paul F
"World's Air Forces 1986"
''Flight International'', 29 November 1986, Vol. 130, No. 4039. pp. 30–104. .
* Pelletier, A. J. ''Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. .
* Rivas, Santiago. "Cracking the Drug cartels". ''Air International'', April 2021. Vol. 100, No. 4, pp. 46–49
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1965–66''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., 1965.
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., 1971. .
* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976-77''. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. .

{{Thai civil aircraft designations

1950s United States civil utility aircraft
Queen Air
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1958
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft