Beechcraft 76 Duchess
Beechcraft 76 Duchess | |
---|---|
![]() |
|
Type: | twin-engine light aircraft |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
September 1974 |
Commissioning: |
1978 |
Production time: |
1977-1982 |
Number of pieces: |
437 |
The Beechcraft 76 Duchess is a four-seat, two- piston-engine powered aircraft from the US manufacturer Beechcraft , which made its maiden flight in 1974.
history
The first flight of the prototype, initially known internally as the PD 289 , took place in September 1974. In contrast to the series machine, the prototype was equipped with less powerful engines of 160 hp each.
The development was based on a requirement of the Beech Aero Center , the manufacturer's training network, to offer particularly good maneuverability in the event of an engine failure as well as good-natured slow flight characteristics.
After lengthy testing, the first production machine finally flew on May 24, 1977, now with engines of 180 hp each. The Beechcraft 76 Duchess received type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on January 24, 1978, followed by its first delivery in May 1978.
construction
The Duchess was designed as a cantilever all-metal low-wing aircraft, with the construction of which the glued sandwich construction was used to a considerable extent for the fuselage and wings . The wings were given a V-position of 6.5 degrees; the swept tail fin is combined with a T-tail . The nose wheel landing gear is hydraulically retractable; the landing flaps are operated electrically.
The cabin, which is designed for four people, has individual seats with adjustable backrests at the front and a bench at the rear. The cabin is equipped with a door on both sides; A luggage compartment for a maximum of 90 kg is accessible via a separate flap on the left.
Two counter-rotating, air-cooled four-cylinder piston engines Lycoming O-360 -A1G6D (or LO-360), each with 180 hp (134 kW) drive Hartzell - pitch propeller on. In each wing half there is a fuel tank with filler neck. The total capacity is 378 liters (flyable).
Versions
Flight tests began on January 31, 1979 with a turbocharged version of the engines, the Lycoming TO-360, also each with 180 hp. After 43 flights, however, this program was discontinued and production remained with the unchanged basic version.
use
In Germany, a total of 11 Beech Duchess had been approved by the end of 2015.
Sales figures / deliveries
In 1978, the first year of series production, 72 units were delivered. Although the number soared to 213 in 1979, it fell again to 86 in 1980 and to 55 in 1981. Deliveries finally went down to 11 last year (1982).
Incidents
So far, only one total loss of a Duchess is known from the German-speaking area: On July 28, 1982, when the Duchess with the aircraft registration D-GINY crashed in a forest near Neusäß in the Augsburg district (Bavaria), both occupants were killed.
Technical specifications
The data was taken from the sources listed below.
Parameter | Data |
---|---|
crew | 1 |
Passengers | 3 |
length | 8.84 m |
span | 11.58 m |
height | 2.89 m |
Wing area | 16.81 m² |
Wing extension | 7.973 |
payload | 381 kg |
Empty mass | 1116 kg |
Max. Takeoff mass | 1769 kg |
Cruising speed | 293 km / h or 158 kts |
Top speed | 317 km / h or 171 kts |
Service ceiling | 6000 m or 19,650 ft |
Range | 1317 km or 711 NM NM |
Engines | 2 counter-rotating, air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engines Lycoming O-360 -A1G6D (or LO-306), each 180 PS (134 kW) |
Comparable types
See also
literature
- AJ Pelletier: Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors. Putnam, London 1995, ISBN 0-85177-863-1 .
- Peter Alles-Fernandez: Aircraft from A to Z, Volume 1 . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5904-2 .
- William Green: Planes of the World, 1979/80 . Werner Classen Verlag, Zurich 1979, ISBN 3 7172 0283 9 .
- John WR Taylor: Jane's All The World's Aircraft, 1980-81 . Jane's Publishing, London 1980, ISBN 0 7106-0705-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jane's 1980, p. 268.
- ↑ Rod Simpson: The General Aviation Handbook , Midland Publishing 2005, ISBN 1-85780-222-5 , p. 50.
- ↑ Alles-Fernandez, p. 187.
- ↑ a b Green, p. 40.
- ↑ a b Alles-Fernandez, p. 188.
- ↑ a b Pelletier, p. 162.
- ↑ coptercrazy: Beech 76 Duchess (English) , accessed on January 27, 2016.
- ↑ accident report D-GINY, Aviation Safety Network / Wikibase (English) , accessed on 27 January 2016th
- ↑ Green, p. 41.
- ↑ Jane's 1980, pp. 268-269.
- ^ William Green: Observers Book of Aircraft . Frederick Warne Publishing, 1980, ISBN 0-7232-1604-5 ( English ), p. 48.