Beechcraft Queen Air

what is it?

The Beechcraft Queen Air is a twin-engined light aircraft produced by Beechcraft in numerous versions from 1960 to 1978. Based upon the Twin Bonanza, with which it shared key components such as wings, engines, and tail surfaces, it had a larger fuselage, and served as the basis for the highly successful King Air series of turboprop aircraft. Its primary uses have been as a private aircraft, utility, and small commuter airliner.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · retractable tricycle gear · 15.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 398 km/htop speed
• range 2,439 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 9passengers
• size 3,992 kgmax take-off weight
• built 930made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 68 years ago, in 1958.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15.3 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,439 km: 14× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1958-08-28

introduced

1960

status

still flying

number built

930

role

utility aircraft, airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Beechcraft

engines

2× Lycoming IGSO-540 A1D

crew

1

passengers

9

length

10.8 m

wingspan

15.3 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

3,992 kg

top speed

398 km/h

cruise speed

294 km/h

range

2,439 km

ceiling

8,169 m

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.