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Beechcraft Model 34

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140:, originally designed for 14 (three abreast seating with six additional seats mounted on the side) and eventually converted to take 20 passengers. The side "couch seats" were also able to be folded away so that cargo could be carried internally in the cabin. Individual storage space was provided for each passenger seat on the fuselage side above the seat. In order to accommodate a larger cargo load, a cargo hatch was located near the pilot's compartment. 29: 196:
a few miles northwest of the Beech plant shortly after taking off, the sole Beech 34 was damaged beyond repair. An inadvertent cutting off of an emergency master switch when battling an electrical fire had resulted in the shut down of all the powerplants, leading to the crash. The co-pilot was killed
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and a large number of designs left the drawing board only to ultimately fail. The Model 34 was one of these failures, partly because of its unusual design, and partly because of the thousands of ex-military transport aircraft that were available at the time for a fraction of the price of a new
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Another, but more conventional, design aspect was that the belly was made strong enough to sustain minimal damage in the event of a "wheels-up" landing, with built-in integral landing keels or "skids." The wing measured 70 ft (21 m) from tip to tip and the fuselage was 53 ft
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was delaying the licensing of the anticipated "feeder airlines" for which the design was intended. The Beech 34 ultimately could not compete in major and regional airline operations with the thousands of less complex and cheaper war surplus transports, such as the larger
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After the accident, Beech re-evaluated plans to go into series production with the Model 34. At the time, two new prototypes were being manufactured, one for static test and the other to continue the flight test program. One of the main considerations was that the U.S.
176:(16 m) long. With the top of the V-tail almost 18 ft (5.5 m) above the ground and a design maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 20,000 lbs, the Model 34 is to date the largest and heaviest Beechcraft civil design, with only the smaller 188:
The Model 34 took to the air for the first time on October 1, 1947, with Beech Chief Pilot Vern L. Carstens at the controls. The first flight was uneventful and the initial report from the test pilot was, "We have another outstanding Beechcraft!"
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The unusual aspects of the design were the butterfly or V-tail and engine layout that led to its popular nickname, "Twin Quad." The four engines were buried in the wings, with each pair of engines connected to a single propeller via
168:. The tail was unusual because unlike the vertical and two horizontal surfaces found on most aircraft, the Twin-Quad's was a two-surface V-tail similar to the tail fitted to Beechcraft's other new product at the time, the 1494: 160:(GSO denoting "Geared Supercharged and Opposed", with each engine featuring a built-in reduction gear box in addition to the common propeller gear box). The engines were rated at 400 192:
The prototype Model 34 had accumulated more than 200 hours of test flying when the reinforced belly was validated in a wheels-up landing. On January 17, 1949, in a severe
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Despite its promise, since the "Twin Quad" had attracted no orders, Beech terminated the project, closing down the production line in January 1949.
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has a longer fuselage but shorter wingspan, with a significantly lower MTOW, and the
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Beechcraft - Pursuit of Perfection, A History of Beechcraft Airplanes
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is smaller in all dimensions and also has a significantly lower MTOW.
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and the pilot and two flight observers were injured in the crash.
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article on the coupled engine installation on the Model 34
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Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States
540:(Part Work 1982–1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. 437:"List of Beechcraft Models with basic specifications." 1439: 1408: 1260: 1029: 644: 469:"Wings Over Kansas List of Aviation Anniversaries." 320:
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
115:. At this time many aircraft manufacturers in the 283:flat-eight piston engine , 375 hp (280 kW) each 1459:Hawker 750 / 800 / 800XP / 850XP / 900XP series 504: 502: 617: 409:. Bonnier Corporation. March 1945. p. 24 304:1,450 mi (2,335 km, 1,260 nmi) 8: 572:. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1991, 390: 388: 386: 384: 543:Neal, Ronald D. "Pioneer Without a Cause." 624: 610: 602: 89:1 (two prototypes in production scrapped) 298:230 mph (370 km/h, 200 kn) 557:. Eagan, Minnesota: Flying Books, 1992. 353: 132:The design was a four-engine high-wing 18: 16:Prototype American Passenger Aircraft 7: 537:Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft 519:Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft 365: 363: 361: 359: 357: 261:70 ft 0 in (21.34 m) 255:53 ft 0 in (16.15 m) 267:17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) 180:military aircraft outweighing it. 14: 27: 97:Beechcraft Model 34 "Twin-Quad" 442:. Retrieved: November 9, 2007. 273:19,500 lb (8,845 kg) 1: 1510:Four-engined tractor aircraft 1500:1940s United States airliners 592:"Beech Twin-Quad Power Plant" 310:23,000 ft (7,010 m) 218:and Beechcraft's own smaller 1525:Four-engined piston aircraft 1520:Aircraft first flown in 1947 547:, Vol. 6, no. 4, April 1970. 478:Retrieved: November 9, 2007. 1541: 570:Airlife's General Aviation 156:eight-cylinder air-cooled 229:Specifications (Model 34) 79:prototype only, scrapped 26: 21: 240:General characteristics 203:Civil Aeronautics Board 338:List of civil aircraft 214:, the similarly sized 138:tricycle undercarriage 128:Design and development 119:anticipated a boom in 107:in the period between 103:designed and built by 427:Neal 1970, pp. 16–17. 378:Neal 1970, pp. 14–15. 22:Model 34 "Twin-Quad" 487:Simpson 1991, p. 42. 154:horizontally opposed 1490:Beechcraft aircraft 1147:Musketeer (2 - CAF) 551:Phillips, Edward H. 457:Beechcraft Starship 220:Beechcraft Model 18 184:Operational history 152:. 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Index


airliner
Beechcraft
airliner
Beechcraft
World War II
Korean War
United States
civil aviation
monoplane
tricycle undercarriage
clutches
gear box
horizontally opposed
Lycoming GSO-580s
horsepower
rpm
Model 35 Bonanza
XA-38 Grizzly
forced landing
Civil Aeronautics Board
Douglas DC-3
C-47 Skytrain
C-60 Lodestar
Beechcraft Model 18
Lycoming GSO-580
de Havilland Heron
List of civil aircraft

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