Warbird Information Exchange

I have a question for Twin Beech fans. We have one at Lone Star that has factory tricycle landing gear. I know that wasn't very common and it seems like I was told a while back that it was an option only offered the last couple of years of Model 18 production.
Can anybody give me the approximate dates of this particular configuration? All I can find about production dates is that the a/c originated in 1937.

Canso42

Canso42,

Actually in the later years, starting around the 1960's, the tri-gear was very common and there were over 300+ of the type that had the Volpar Tri-gear conversion kits installed. They are still a common site at certain cargo airports around the U.S., and occasionally show up at air shows also.

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Roger Cain
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We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

If i see my uncle tomorrow, I will ask to confirm but I think the last H18's from the factory in 1968-69 were tri-gears. My uncle has a factory 69. though, beech opened up the line again in I think 72 to produce 20 H18's for JAL airlines. If I remember right, they started with a serial of BA-750.

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
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When I flew for Express Airways (1972-1993),the company had several Tri-Gear conversions of mostly C-45's with R-985's that they picked up cheap in the late 70's.I think that they came from a small airline that did tours of the Grand Canyon.I never flew any of them,but did fly about 300 hours in a Volpar VTB-18 (Volpar Turbine Beech).This was a kit conversion with Tri-Gear and TPE-331 turbprops that was originally used by Air America.Express Airways bought it from Trans Mountain Airways in Denver.

The point is that Volpar was converting conventional gear Beech 18's long before Beech produced them as an option for new manufacture.According to the following link,Volpar stared their operation in 1960.

http://www.ascendant-online.net/main/in ... icle&sid=3

Canso,

Everytime I've flown in that airplane we've gotten accused of taxiing backwards!

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Trae