So, These Flew Overhead Last Night

aircooled wrote: I believe Twin Beaches are pretty rare these days because of a spar rot issue. Most of that style you see are actually Lockheed Electras:

It's more likely the one I saw was an Electra because it had the extended and more rounded nose. Either way, a rare sight for BF, Pa.

Years ago, friends and I would go plane-spotting at various local airports south of Atlanta. We found one next to Atlanta Motor Speedway that had a couple of Lockheed Hudsons parked waaay out back. We never saw them fly but we were there when one was poised at the end of the runway performing an engine check; lots of noise and smoke. If the hope to take off there were a lot of disappointed people on site that day.

One of best memories was when I was about sixteen and living in NE Ct. Out exploring the woods, a friend and I heard the magical sound of what turned out to be a P51D that was doing touch and goes at the local airport. It was probably a mile away (as the crow flies) but there was no direct path for us to follow; we made one and quickly, too. We got there is time to see a few passes before it landed and disappeared into the bowels of the vo-tech that was situated next to the runway.

The Lockheed is very rare, 149 total built and I can only find 4 registered with the FAA. The Twin Beech has 21 pages of them registered. The spar issue has been fixed with a spar cap.

In reply to pilotbraden:

I was going to say, Electras were not common even when they were new, and they built about 10,000 Twin Beeches, so even with loss of airframes, you're far more likely to have seen a Beech.

Appleseed wrote: In reply to mfennell: What's your buddy's dad's name? I might have heard of him.

William Dodds.

Duke wrote: In reply to pilotbraden: I was going to say, Electras were not common even when they were new, and they built about 10,000 Twin Beeches, so even with loss of airframes, you're far more likely to have seen a Beech.

I have seen Beech 18s for sale for very cheap. The spar issues and runout engines make them almost worthless. I've seen several placed on poles as decorations at businesses.

In reply to spitfirebill:

Pffft, a fresh overhaul on the Pratt R985 engines is ONLY about 30 grand. Each...

mfennell wrote:

Appleseed wrote: In reply to mfennell: What's your buddy's dad's name? I might have heard of him.

William Dodds.

I think I know a T-6 Texan he restored. The side panels are always off it at Oshkosh so you can veiw the internal structure, controls, and accessories. It is meticulous.