Beechcraft Musketeer

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Beechcraft A23 Musketeer

Beechcraft B19 Musketeer

Beechcraft B24 Sierra

Beechcraft B24 Sierra main landing gear showing the characteristic trailing idler link landing gear

Beechcraft CT 134A Musketeers - the Canadian military version of the Model 23. These ones were assigned to 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School at CFB Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, 1982

The Beechcraft Musketeer line is a family of single-engine, low-wing, light aircraft that includes the Model 19 Musketeer Sport, the Model 23 Musketeer, Custom and Sundowner, the Model 23-24 Musketeer Super III and the retractable gear Model 24-R Sierra.

The Musketeer line was in production from model years 1963 to 1983, during which time a total of 4366 were produced.

Model 23 Musketeer and Custom

The first of the line was the Model 23. It was introduced under the "Musketeer" name as a 1963 model at an initial price of $13,300 and was powered by a Lycoming O-320-D2B engine of 160 bhp. The next year this engine was replaced by the Continental IO-346-A engine of 165 bhp. This engine was not a success and was in turn replaced by the Lycoming O-360-A4J engine of 180 bhp starting with the B23 Musketeer Custom of 1968. In 1970 the C23 version was introduced also under the name "Musketeer Custom". In 1972 the C23 was renamed the "Sundowner".

A total of 2331 Beechcraft 23s of all variants were manufactured by the time production was completed 20 years later in 1983.

Model 19 Musketeer Sport

The Beech 19 was introduced as a 1966 model year. Despite having a lower model number, it was a later variant and was a lower-powered trainer version of the Model 23. It lacked the 23’s third side window and had a Lycoming O-320-E2C powerplant of 150 bhp. The Sport was introduced in 1966 with a standard price of $11,500.

The Model 19 was named the "Musketeer Sport" and a total of 922 were built over the 15 years of production which ended with the 1979 model year.

Model 23-24 Musketeer Super III

Along with the introduction of the lower-powered Model 19 in 1966, Beechcraft also introduced a higher-powered version of the Model 23 Musketeer and named it the Beechcraft 23-24 Musketeer Super III. This upgraded model had a Lycoming IO-360 fuel injected powerplant which produced 200 bhp, 35 hp more than the standard Model 23 Musketeer of that year. This model initially sold for a price of $16,350 in 1966.

In 1966 a single demonstration Model 23-24 was equipped with a constant speed propeller. In succeeding years approximately one third of production aircraft were delivered with the constant speed propeller.

The Super Musketeer typically has a useful load of 1050 to 1080 pounds - giving it one of the highest payloads of four-cylinder, fixed gear, simple single engined aircraft available. Most Model 23-24s were produced in a four-seat configuration. A very small number were produced with a 4+2 configuration with the baggage area convertable to seat two children. This configuration option was more common on the Sierra models that followed the Model 23-24.

One of the few weaknesses of the Model 23-24 is that it had a simple heat distribution system that provided warm air via the firewall to the area under the instrument panel only. This meant heat to the rear seat passengers was less than optimal. Later aircraft featured increasingly better ducting designs that provided heat to all four seating positions.

The fixed-gear Model 23-24 was produced only between 1966 and 1969. A total of 369 Musketeer Super IIIs were completed before it was superseded by the Model 24 Sierra. These were serial numbered MA-1 to MA-369 and were the only models to have a "MA" serial number, making them easier to distinguish than other members of the Musketeer line. In the last few airframes of the series a new instrument panel with the same "vertical tape" gauges that were used in the early Sierras was introduced. These models were known as the A24 and are not to be confused with the first Sierras, which were designated A24R models. Other than the instrument panel these aircraft were mechanically identical to the earlier A23-24 model.

Model 24 Sierra

The Model 23-24 Musketeer Super III proved the utility of the 200 hp engine in the Musketeer airframe, but the fixed gear configuration prevented using full advantage of the extra power of the injected Lycoming. The obvious solution was retracting the landing gear and this resulted in the Model 24.

Christened the "Sierra", the first model year for the new retractable version was 1970. The initial A24-R Sierra was powered by a Lycoming IO-360-A1B of 200 bhp and sold for a standard price of $24,950. The Model 24 completed the Beech line between the fixed gear Musketeers and the much larger, faster, more complex and expensive Beechcraft Bonanza.

1973 saw the introduction of the improved B24-R Sierra powered by the Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 engine variant. The improved C24-R was powered by the same engine and replaced the "B" model in 1977.

Sierra production ended at the same time as the Model 23 Musketeer assembly line was closed, during the aviation economic downturn of 1983. A total of 744 Sierras were delivered.

The Musketeer design was further developed into a twin-engine aircraft, the Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess.

Present Day

During their production years the Musketeer family of aircraft were popular trainers and were used by many flying schools. Most Musketeers are now privately owned and are prized for their large, roomy cabins, airframe strength and stability, if not their high cruise speeds. Model 24 Sierras especially find a strong following today and are sought after in the used airplane market.

Landing Gear

The main difference between the Musketeer line and other similar light aircraft is the Musketeer’s undercarriage. While the competitive Cessna 172s use sprung steel main gear, the Piper PA-28 Cherokees use oleos and the Grumman American AA-5s use fibreglass sprung main gear, the Musketeer family use a trailing idler link gear system with a compressed rubber puck suspension system. This gives the aircraft quite different landing characteristics compared to the competition; light touchdowns are often accompanied by the idler links skipping and producing a less-graceful than anticipated landing. With practice smooth landings are easy to accomplish. As a result of this type of landing gear design, the fixed gear models cannot be fitted with wheel fairings and consequently these are never seen on Musketeers.

Canadian Military Service

In the early 1960s the Royal Canadian Air Force’s standard elementary training aircraft was the Dehavilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Flight instruction was completed by student pilots on the DHC-1 before they progressed to the then-brand-new Canadair CT 114 Tutor jet trainer. A decision was made by RCAF HQ to remove the DHC-1s from service and not replace them, as it was felt that the CT 114 was easy enough to fly that initial training was not needed. The CT 114 quickly developed a wash-out rate of near 95% amongst student jet pilots and it was clear that an elementary trainer was needed. Due to the RCAF’s previous relationship with Beechcraft while operating the Beech 18 Expeditor, a hasty purchase of twenty-four 1971 model B23 Musketeers was made.

The new trainers were designated "CT 134 Musketeer" in the then Canadian Forces. The aircraft purchased were standard Model B23s equipped with the O-360-A4G engine of 180 bhp, modified by the addition of a cowling strake, horizontal stabilizer strake and ventral fin to improve spin recovery performance. They were initailly serial numbered as 13401-13424, but were re-numbered 134001-134024 to avoid confusion with other CF aircraft serial numbers.

The initial batch of CT 134s was replaced in late 1981 with a purchase of twenty-four more aircraft. These were 1982 model Beechcraft C23 Sundowners and were designated by the CF as "CT 134A Musketeer II". These were numbered 134025-134048.

Both batches of Musketeers served with 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School and the Canadian Forces Flying Instructor School at CFB Portage la Prairie Manitoba and the Canadian Forces Central Flying School in Winnipeg until they were replaced by Slingsby Fireflys operated under contract by Bombardier Aerospace in 1992. During their 21 years of service the CT 134 and CT 134A fleet at 3 CFFTS trained about 5000 Canadian military pilot graduates.

Upon retirement the CT 134s and CT134As were not sold for flying use due to the structural problems they all suffered from years of aerobatics. Instead they were donated to museums or used for air force and civil maintenance training

Epithets

Often maligned as a trainer due to its lacklustre cruise performance and difficult-to-master landing characteristics, the Musketeer was given non-complimentary nicknames by student pilots who did not appreciate its stronger points. Some Musketeer owners and pilots consider these nicknames to be complimentary and affectionate. These epithets included:

• Mouseketeer
• Mouse
• Muskrat

Type Club

The Musketeer family of aircraft are supported by an active aircraft type club, the Beech Aero Club.

Specifications (A23A Musketeer Custom III)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Length: 25 ft 8 in (7.85 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 9 in (10.00 m)
• Height: 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
• Wing area: 146 ft² (13.6 m²)
• Empty: 1,375 lb (624 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 2,400 lb (1,089 kg)
• Powerplant: 1x Continental IO-346-A, 165 hp (125 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 146 mph (235 km/h)
• Range: 650 miles (1,046 km)
• Service ceiling: 13,000 ft
• Rate of climb: 880 ft/min (268 m/min)
• Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
• Power/Mass: hp/lb ( kW/kg)

Specifications (CT 134 Musketeer)

General characteristics

• Crew: Student and instructor
• Capacity: 2 passengers
• Length: 25 ft 8.5 in (7.85 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 9 in (10.00 m)
• Height: 8 ft 2.4 in (2.50 m)
• Wing area: 146 ft² (13.6 m²)
• Empty: 1,560 lb (707 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 2,450 lb (1,110 kg) normal category 2150 lb (974 kg) aerobatic category
• Powerplant: 1x Lycoming O-360-A4G, 180 hp (136 kW)

Performance

• Maximum cruise speed: 124 knots (231 km/h)
• Range: 675 miles (1,257 km)
• Service ceiling: 13,000 ft
• Rate of climb: 880 ft/min (268 m/min)
• Wing loading: 16.8 lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
• Power Loading: 14.1 lb/hp (8.2 kg/kW)

Military Operators

• Algeria, Canada (CT 134 and CT 134A), Hong Kong, Mexico, Morocco.

External links

• [Beech Aero Club] Aircraft type club
• [Airliners.net] Musketeer page
• [Canadian Forces Official CT 134 History Page]

Related content

Comparable aircraft:

• Cessna 172
• Cessna 177
• Piper Cherokee
• Grumman American AA-5

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