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#Beechcraft skipper for sale mods#
After 1973, Sports that rolled out of the factory came with the mods already installed. A Beech kit raised max gross back up to 2150 pounds, but the airplane was no load hauler. In response, AD 73-25-04 was issued, limiting the B19’s gross weight to 2000 pounds, a heavy performance hit. Indeed, by 1973, the FAA determined that when flying at its certificated maximum-gross weight of 2250 pounds, the B19 couldn’t meet the certification climb-performance minimums.
#Beechcraft skipper for sale series#
The Beech 19/23 series was never a hot performer. If you’ve owned a Mooney, you’ll understand.) Beech 19/23 Performance By 1970, the two models had become the B19 Sport and the C23 Sundowner. Meanwhile, Beech wheeled out the 150-HP Sport as a trainer in 1966. But Beech soon re-engined the airframe with Continental’s IO-346-A, an oddball engine that was essentially an IO-520 with two cylinders hacked off.īy 1968, Beech switched horses again, this time back to Lycoming, with a 180-HP O-360-A series, the motor that carried the line through the rest of its production life. The original 1963 Model 23 had a 160-HP Lycoming, following the lead established by the Piper Cherokee two years before. The Beech Musketeer evolved over the years. Except for the engines, the two aircraft are essentially identical.īeech also developed the same aircraft sporting retractable gear and a 200-HP engine the Model 24 Sierra, an airplane that’s the subject of its own UAG report. With 150 horses, it’s really a two-seater with a backseat for more stuff. The original Beech Model 19 debuted in 1966. It had a 160-HP Lycoming O-320 and could carry four people in comfort, as long as they weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere. The Beech Sport and Sundowner first appeared in the early 1960s, specifically the Model 23. But when you try to sell it, will it even be worth the opening intro notes? We’re not sure this matters, as long as buyers going into the deal know the score. You can buy one for a song-a discount song at that. These aircraft represent a buying paradox for used aircraft buyers. Owners are stoic about that it just allows a little more flying time. Weight and balance issues may be one and so is speed, or lack of it. The Beech Sundowner and Musketeer do have some quirks. Beech owners love them for their big airplane feel and handling and spacious cabins in a market segment dominated by tuna-can construction. The Beech 19 and 23 series are far better fliers than their downmarket brethren and more than 30 years after the last one was made, they remain supportable at affordable cost. But to Beech’s credit, what it did, it did right, at least in terms of comfort and handling, if not performance. There just aren’t that many of them out there and they are far outnumbered by Skyhawks and Cherokees. That’s why when some pilots walk the ramp, they clap eyes on a Musketeer or a Sundowner and can’t quite place what it really is.
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