Beechcraft Lightning

Infobox Aircraft
name= Lightning
type= Civil utility aircraft
manufacturer= Beechcraft


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designer=
first flight= 14 June 1982
introduced= 1982
retired= 1984
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produced=
number built= 1
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developed from = Beechcraft Baron
variants with their own articles= The Beechcraft Model 38P Lightning was an experimental turboprop aircraft built and tested by Beechcraft (now a division of Hawker Beechcraft) in the 1980s.

History

The Model 38P (Pressurized) was created by installing a Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-9 engine in the nose of a Beechcraft Baron 58P fuselage, which was mated to a Beechcraft A36TC Bonanza wing in place of the Baron's wing with two engines. This resulted in a low-wing aircraft with six seats including the pilot's. The aircraft flew for the first time on 14 June 1982. After 133 flights over almost 18 months the aircraft was temporarily grounded so that the TPE331 could be removed and a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-40 engine fitted in its place. The aircraft flew in this configuration for the first time on 9 March 1984 and the last flight was on 8 August the same year. Beechcraft originally planned to put the Lightning into production but the economic downturn among general aviation manufacturers in the United States in the 1980s led to the project being shelved [ [http://www.wingsoverkansas.com/history/article.asp?id=645 "The Beeches that got away", Wings Over Kansas website] retrieved 2007-12-20.] shortly after the first flight with PT6A power.Phillips, Edward H. "Beechcraft - Pursuit of Perfection, A History of Beechcraft Airplanes". Flying Books, Eagan, Minnesota 1992. ISBN 0-911139-11-7]

References

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=
* Piper Malibu Meridian
* Socata TBM

sequence=
*Beechcraft:
** 28 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 38 - 45 - 50 - 55 - 56 - 58

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