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Beech Aircraft / Beechcraft Corporation
Beech Aircraft Company (1932-1994) was an American manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft, founded by Walter Beech and his wife Olive Ann Beech in 1932 in Wichita, Kansas.
Aircraft were developed under the name Beechcraft, starting with the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, which first flew in November 1932.
On 8 February 1980 the company was purchased by the Raytheon Company and in 1994 it was merged with the Hawker product line of Raytheon, forming the Raytheon Aircraft Company. This was sold in 2006 by Raytheon to Goldman Sachs, creating the Hawker Beechcraft Corporation early 2007. After bankruptcy on 3 May 2012, a new company with the name Beechcraft Corporation emerged on 19 February 2013, which was purchased by Textron in 2014.
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing
The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing is an American biplane with an atypical negative wing stagger (the lower wing is farther forward than the upper wing). It first flew in 1932.
At the height of the Great Depression, aircraft executive Walter H. Beech and airplane designer Ted A. Wells joined forces to collaborate on a project to produce a large, powerful, and fast cabin biplane built specifically for the business executive. The Beechcraft Model 17, popularly known as the "Staggerwing", was first flown on November 4, 1932. During its heyday, it was used as an executive aircraft, much as the private jet is now, and its primary competition were the Waco Custom Cabin and Waco Standard Cabin series of biplanes.
The Model 17's unusual negative stagger wing configuration (the upper wing staggered behind the lower) and unique shape maximized pilot visibility and was intended to reduce interference drag between the wings (although it was later found to have negligible effect). The fabric-covered fuselage was faired with wood formers and stringers over a welded, steel tube frame. Construction was complex and took many man-hours to complete. The Staggerwing's retractable conventional landing gear, uncommon at that time, combined with careful streamlining, light weight, and a powerful radial engine, helped it perform well.
Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing YC-43A (D17S), registration N295BS, built 1939, serial number 295
Ede, Netherlands, 24 August 2019
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechcraft Model 18
The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Company of Wichita, Kansas. It was produced continuously from 1937 to November 1969 (over 32 years, a world record at the time), over 9,000 were built, making it one of the world's most widely used light aircraft. Sold worldwide as a civilian executive, utility, cargo aircraft and passenger airliner on tailwheels, nosewheels, skis or floats. It was also used as a military aircraft.
During and after World War II, over 4,500 Beech 18s saw military service — as light transport, light bomber (for China), aircrew trainer (for bombing, navigation and gunnery), photo-reconnaissance, and "mother ship" for target drones — including United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan; and United States Navy (USN) UC-45J Navigator, SNB-1 Kansan, and others. In World War II, over 90% of USAAF bombardiers and navigators trained in these aircraft.
In the early postwar era, the Beech 18 was the pre-eminent "business aircraft" and "feeder airliner." Besides carrying passengers, its civilian uses have included aerial spraying, sterile insect release, fish seeding, dry-ice cloud seeding, aerial firefighting, air mail delivery, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, weapon- and drug-smuggling, engine testbed, skywriting, banner towing, and stunt aircraft. Many are now privately owned, around the world, with 240 in the U.S. still on the FAA Aircraft Registry in August 2017.
Beechcraft D18S-3NM, registration PH-KHV, built 1952, serial number A-904
Den Helder Airport (Maritiem Vliegkamp De Kooy) (DHR/EHKD), Den Helder, Netherlands, 16 September 2017
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechcraft Bonanza
The Beechcraft Bonanza is a general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still being produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history. More than 17,000 Bonanzas of all variants have been built, produced in both distinctive V-tail and conventional tail configurations.
Beechcraft Bonanza A36, registration N25FP, built 1992, serial number E-2720
Lelystad Airport (LEY/EHLE), Netherlands, 24 April 2019
Beechcraft Bonanza F33A, registration PH-MOP, built 1987, serial number CE-1169
Terschelling, Netherlands, 22 September 2018
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechcraft Baron
The Beechcraft Baron is a light, twin-engined piston aircraft developed by Beech Aircraft and introduced in 1961.
Raytheon Aircraft Company was formed in 1994 by the Raytheon Company (a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics) by merging Beech Aircraft Corporation (owned since 8 February 1980) and the Hawker product line of Raytheon (Business Jets Division from British Aerospace, acquired in 1993). A variant of the Beechcraft Travel Air, it remains in production in 2017. Barons come in three basic types: the Baron 55 (short body), Baron 56 (short body) and Baron 58 (long body), with several sub-variants each.
The Baron 95-B55 was produced 1964-1982.
Beechcraft Baron 95-B55, registration HB-GIA, built 1974, serial number TC-1825
Cointrin (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland, 10 July 2016
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechcraft Super King Air
The Super King Air Model 200 was originally conceived by Beech Aircraft as the Model 101 in 1969. The 200 series proved so popular that Beech Aircraft began work on a successor, with the designation Model 300 and marketed as the "Super King Air 300". The first flight of the prototype Model 300 took place on September 3, 1983 and deliveries commenced the following year.
Beechcraft Super King Air B200, registration HB-GIL, built 1976, serial number BB-194
Cointrin (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June 2017
Beechcraft B200GT Super King Air, registration 9H-RBA, built 2007, serial number BY-3-194
Schiphol (AMS/EHAM), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 30 September 2022
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
Beechjet 400
The aircraft was originally designed as the Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond, an all-new, all-jet development to complement and slot above the Mitsubishi MU-2 and provide Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with their top-of-the-line corporate aircraft model (hence the name "Diamond"). The aircraft first flew on August 29, 1978.
Beech Aircraft bought the production rights and began manufacturing it as their own model, initially re-designated as the Beechjet 400. The Beechjet 400 was certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration in May 1986. Raytheon/Beech Aircraft steadily developed their own improvements to the model, leading to the 400A in 1990.
In 1993 Raytheon purchased the Hawker business jet product line from British Aerospace. The Beechjet 400 was eventually renamed the Hawker 400 to map it into the Hawker product line of Raytheon.
An upgraded version of the aircraft by Nextant, the Nextant 400XTi, was introduced in 2014. The Nextant 400XTi competes with an official, factory-engineered and supported upgrade called Hawker 400XPR, produced from 2017 by Textron Aviation.
Beechjet 400A, registration N709EL, built 1992, serial number RK-52
Cointrin (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland, 19 July 2017
Model 17 | Model 18 |
Bonanza | Baron |
Super King Air |
Beechjet 400
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