Beech B-60 Duke...

[RockyMnt1]

Beech B-60 Duke

1) As far as being ugly, to each his own. That is too subjective to get into here.

2) The Duke that I fly is pressurized.

3) It is equipped with turbo superchargers. I have not seen any with turboprops on them, although with this fleet wide engine problem (100 engines at last count) that might not be a bad idea. By the way, does everyone notice that Lycoming is NOT stepping up to the plate to stand behind their engines with any sort of design fix or solution? Our best guess is it is a maneuver to sidestep liability. Once the STC fix is approved by the FAA, it is anticipated that Lycoming will issue a service bulletin recommneding the fix. Since the FAA approved the fix, the risk to Lycoming is mitagated. Yes, Lycoming recognizes that there is a problem. No, they will not get involved with a solution at this point. Let someone else take the heat. Great marketing ploy.

 

[everyonedoa360]

They are ALL pressurized!

 

[sabreliner]

Never flown a Duke before, but I've worked on one a little bit. I'd think long and hard about your needs before getting into and airplane like that.

The motors (which someone put on upside down!) are very sensitive. It is probably best that the a/c only be flown by one pilot who is well trained. Even so, it will spend a lot of time in the shop, and be expensive to maintain. Also, I seem to remember that everytime it took off on our 4500ft rwy, it went right to the end before rotating. So, you might want to look carefully at runway performance.

This would seem to me to be an airplane that requires a well trained pilot and deep pockets. It isn't a hop in and go machine.

I wonder if you compared the costs, would a C-90 be any more expensive to operate?

 

[maverick_fp00]

I still think they are ugly...