Engineering:Beecraft Queen Bee

Beecraft Queen Bee
The Queen Bee in flight
Role	Four-seat cabin monoplane
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Bee Aviation Associates
Designer	William S. Chana, Ken S. Coward
First flight	1960
Number built	1

The Beecraft Queen Bee was an American V-tailed four-seat cabin monoplane, designed and built by Bee Aviation Associates (Beecraft).

Development

The Queen Bee was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a Lycoming O-320-A1A flat-four piston engine. It had a V-tail and an electrically retractable tricycle landing gear. The canopy shared a similar shape as the Ryan Navion. The wings were outfitted with fiberglass tip tanks. A 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A-1-A was planned as an optional engine.

Only a prototype was built and the aircraft did not enter production. The Queen Bee prototype was destroyed when the original San Diego Aerospace Museum burned down in 1978.

Specifications

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Length: 21 ft 10 in (6.65 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
• Height: 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)
• Wing area: 130 sq ft (12 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,190 lb (540 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,150 lb (975 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-320-A1A flat-four piston engine, 180 hp (130 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed Hartzell Model HC-82XG-1B

Performance

• Cruise speed: 155 mph (249 km/h, 135 kn)
• Stall speed: 55 mph (89 km/h, 48 kn)
• Never exceed speed: 193 mph (311 km/h, 168 kn)
• Range: 650 mi (1,050 km, 560 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
• Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)

References

Bibliography

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 
• Taylor, John W. R. (1961). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company.