geeoh480 wrote:
We have a Howard 500 page on facebook, just do the search and "voila" and I'm quite active with the type. I used to crew a Howard 500 based at Pontiac, MI in 1975 it was N80BD and belonged to Boutell Driveaway, later it was sold to a Ranch in Florida and crashed in Yosemite full of pot, this was a beautiful pristine airplane and she had to end up this way..
I was a line technician for Michigan Aviation, and the pilots insisted that I personally had all access to the airplane at anytime, fueling, towing and what not. I rode in it to Florida and back and we did every bit of 370 KTAS @ 31,000 feet, although limited to 25,000 feet with passengers I was not considered a passenger, I was part of the crew...
Dee Howard invented luxurious business travel in large airplanes, he was an innovator!!
Stephen
I was at Hill Aviation (Legendary Frank Hill) in Ft. Lauderdale in '77 or '78 (sorry, senior moment) waiting for maintenance on my own MkII Learstar. Howard 500 N80BD was also briefly in residence over one night, whether for service or simply staging, I don't know. Met the young pilot briefly who allegedly owned it, confided his specialty was night running over Mex. border at ground level through Ariz. and diving into the LA Basin traffic. Had the opportunity to enter the plane that night and see the beautiful lighted cockpit array - something I shall always remember in my mind's eye, as the Learstars were neat too, but hugely spartan in comparison to this air-Maserati. The kid locked up, went to eat, I guess, and the plane was gone by morning. Scuttlebutt later around Hills was that the pilot crashed into a desert Saguaro at night, but, of course, never any reliable confirmation. That's as close as I ever got to one of these magnificent 500's, and regret the pristine plane's ultimate loss, but feel fortunate to have at least stepped into one once in my lifetime.
fd1962
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, About 17 years ago I was loaned an American magazine with a story on the Howard 500. On the cover was a beautiful picture of the 500. to add to the features listed in an above post it apparently had a system whereby if one engine failed the other immediately automatically went to METO power.