Warbird Information Exchange

Yesterday at Fort Lauderdale (KFLL), I saw an odd Twin Beech parked on one of the ramp areas on the north side of the field. It had the ridiculously long, pointed "Pinocchio" nose and turbine engines, but it was a regular tail-dragger. Now I've seen longnose Beeches (always on tri-gear) and I've seen turbine Beeches (always on tri-gear), but I've never seen one like this. I wasn't able to get a photo as we were on our takeoff roll. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be odd to you, but it was odd to me.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

I have seen shots of that Beech. I figured it was the Pfizer or Viagra company aircraft!

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Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'

That's probably a HAMILTON-WESTWIND conversion using GARRETT TPE 331'S (METROLINER dog whistles). A local literally 'fly by night' outfit that was based @ KPAE before getting evicted, moved to KMVW in Mt. Vernon, then disappeared called METHOW VALLEY. They operated a few (and several 985 powered ones)hauling mail to/from the San Juan Islands and flying copies of the WSJ overnight to Idaho and Western Montana (including one that found a mountain one dark night).
The pilots thought it was a hoot to over prime the engines and get a 15 foot stackfire out of the TPE's @ 0230.
There's one ex METHOW bird shoved tail first into a TEE hanger @ Snohomish airport (Harvey Field) and been sitting there for at least 10 years attracting spiders and mice.
Someone posted a couple shots of at least one METHOW hulk they'd found amid a bunch of other model 18 hulks in the Mid West here on WIX a couple of years ago.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Back in the 70's, night mail haulers flew the NY-N.E. routes with 18s and the Westwinds came in and out of ALB at 10 PM each day. One cowboy made the base to final turn in near knife-edge with the wing landing lights one above the other.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/v ... oBVGgrCgQr

COOL! Haven't seen a Rice Rocket in years and I always thought being P.I.C. on a WESTWIND corporate jet would lead to a cool business card your name here, Yom Kippur Clipper Skipper

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Its a Westwind Conversion to the BE-18 airframe, not the IA-24:



I worked on one in Texas, belonged to the local telephone company. It has PT6A-20's (550hp) each side. Its the airplane that I learned to taxi a taildragger on. With the power lag and reversing props, it was different.

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If God had wanted man to fly behind a flat motor, Pratt Whitney would've built one.

Interesting to see that aerial application light bar out on the nose. Wonder what that's one's used for - bug spray, crop dusting, mapping, or firefighting?

METHOW had two Westwinds, an H-18 with PT-6A-27's and an E-18 with -6's. They were well maintained as well as all of their recip 18's. Except for the usual little things, and an unusual thing once on take off at Burbank, it was the best 18 outfit I ever flew for.
Chris...

Aerial application for Med Fly control according to the website the picture is from.