Beech Musketeers

Maybe the proper analogy is comparing the Musketeer buyer with an A36 buyer . . . it would be like the 3 series BMW buyers compared to the 7 series buyers. . . . its quality at a certain price point.
 
OrangeOkie said:
Maybe the proper analogy is comparing the Musketeer buyer with an A36 buyer . . . it would be like the 3 series BMW buyers compared to the 7 series buyers. . . . its quality at a certain price point.
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not really a good comparison. For the prices asked of some of these baby beech's, you can have the real thing
 
Yeah, I can't haul dead elk carcasses in my Bo like the 210. I can get four adults and some bags, but no dead meat. :)

If ya need that much load, go with the lesser plane.
 
I've had a Sundowner for about a year now. I'm a big guy. I like the room. This is my first plane so I really can't compare maintenance costs. Yeah, it is slow. However, for my mission, it doesn't add much time. It will haul about 60 gallons of fuel so you have no need to be fast!
 
GMascelli said:
Thanks Michael, but no, we are keeping 08Romeo.....I dont want the added expense of retract or starting over on maintenance. Comfort is way more important than speed for for Mary and I. Besides we already have a complete set of glasses with 08Romeo's tail number, what would we do then? ;)
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Slick, our Sundowner is a 08Romeo also.


And for the OP, mine is for sale!
 
JHW said:
NTSB Identification: BS012345
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, April 1, 2006 in Columbia, MO
Aircraft: Beech C24R (Sierra) Registration: N222SL
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Sadly, it's April 1st and registration too-too-too-SLow, report identifier "BS" 12345.
 
fishhog said:
I've had a Sundowner for about a year now. I'm a big guy. I like the room. This is my first plane so I really can't compare maintenance costs. Yeah, it is slow. However, for my mission, it doesn't add much time. It will haul about 60 gallons of fuel so you have no need to be fast!
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What do you plan for speed when flt planning?
 
I really like the Sierra and looked pretty hard at one before buying the Arrow. I did lots of research and really liked the idea of more cabin area, and the pilots side door. I looked at one in northern Ohio but the owner wasn't in a real hurry to sell if at all. Couldn't fly it because the oil pressure gauge had just been sent out for repair. The avionics were better than the Arrow I bought and the autopilot was better, as was the price.

I heard horror stories on acquisition and price of parts, but never had a real change to verify any of this. Also heard stories of the swivel nose gear being maintenance item, again not verified.

I still like the overall layout of the Sierra as in the metal panel (hate the plastic overlays in the Piper) and the overall fit for me is excellent. Would love to fly one to see if it flys as well as it looks like it would.

I love my Arrow and got much more than I dreamed I would when I started looking, still I wonder.

Commander also fall into that area of wonderment, sexy looking airplane.
 
I've enjoyed the BE-19s, BE-23s and BE-24s I've flown. They aren't fast but they're extremely comftorable. They're also built like tanks. I've seen students bounce them off the runway pretty hard and the airplane just shruges it off.

They can porpoise if you land flat. I've seen a few bounced down the runway before a go-around was initiated.
 
GMascelli said:
Thanks Michael, but no, we are keeping 08Romeo.....I dont want the added expense of retract or starting over on maintenance. Comfort is way more important than speed for for Mary and I. Besides we already have a complete set of glasses with 08Romeo's tail number, what would we do then? ;)
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I'd just have to buy you new glasses,... in exchange for a flight or two :D
 
Rob Schaffer said:
I'd just have to buy you new glasses,... in exchange for a flight or two :D
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Yeah, glasses are cheap. I have to admit, I am pretty heavily biased, being of ever more diminutive proportions. I don't mind small interiors to house my tiny exterior. However, I can see why the baby Beeches would appeal to more normal sized individuals, given their increased room.

Of course, at rate Gary's bride is going she'll easily be able to fit in a little Cessna 150 with room to spare for the bags.
 
My buddy has a Super 23-24 and I enjoy going for rides in it. Almost as roomy as my Cardinal. The visibility is great because the wing is far enough back to where you can almost see straight down. A good flying stable airplane, and with 3/4 full tanks, him at 200 pounds and me at 175, we see 1200 fpm climbs at 90 mph on a regular basis. A good climber, but as others have stated, not a speed demon.

Downsides... He (an A&P IA) claims parts for the angle valve IO-360 are a bit more expensive than the run of the mill O-360 (as found in a Sundowner), and the Super only has one door. I don't think the 180 HP Sundowner would be that much slower than the Super, and the initial purchase price would probably be fairly close. If you want a Baby Beech, and I personally think they are one of the better values out there, the Sundowner might be worth looking at.
 
CBeaulieu said:
I've enjoyed the BE-19s, BE-23s and BE-24s I've flown. They aren't fast but they're extremely comftorable. They're also built like tanks. I've seen students bounce them off the runway pretty hard and the airplane just shruges it off.

They can porpoise if you land flat. I've seen a few bounced down the runway before a go-around was initiated.
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They PIO from trying to land them to fast. The Mouse is a stickler for speed control.

Go around at the first bounce, nose wheels tend to snap at about the third PIO bounce and then you get a nose slide.
 
Rubber donuts and on the third bounce something bad happens.......sounds like a Mooney. Except on a Mooney the third bounce is a prop strike.
 
I may be buying into a partnership with a Musketeer. Can anyone give me an average cost of the annuals? Are there any ADs that can bite you?

Thanks - new to this forum.
 
I flew a beech sundowner some in the 80s. Very stable, roomy, easy to land, no problems. Is a musketeer an earlier version of this? Not a speedy plane but comfortable and easy to fly. Never bounced on landings in this nor in a mooney which I flew a lot. Speed control and flare is the key to any of them.
 
The place to get good info on Mice of all varieties is the Beech Aeroclub website.

I think it's $50 to join, but it is WELL worth it.

Richman
 
I flew the Slowdowner a lot when I was in the Beech Flying Club and the Musketeer is simply a pre-'72 Slowdowner.

Super comfy but nothing happens in a hurry.

Very sensitive to speed on approach/landing, can be quite a floater and 'forced' landings can and do end up in PIO resulting in busted nose-gears/bent props - it will wheel-barrow before it gets totally out of shape so technique and practice are more important than anything from Cessna or Piper by comparison.

Great instrument training platform if properly equipped.

The gear are trailing link design and as such are very forgiving of landing technique or poor runway/taxiway condition - unless you totally hose it up, every landing feels like a greaser.

All told I reckon I have about 50-60 hours in the Slowdowner and did enjoy it, doors on boths sides is a big plus for some.

'Gimp
 
Getting into troubles like striking a prop, lots of bouncing , etc. is totally due to technique or lack there of. Mooney, sundowner, tiger, piper 180, on and on all land basically the same and if you understand speed management it's not very difficult. It takes a few hundred hours to sort it all out. If you've never flown a taildragger for some hours, your at a decided disadvantage.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
It takes a few hundred hours to sort it all out.
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Seriously? I call 5 hours and 30-40 landings with varying winds, and you'll wear it like a glove. Not 500 hours. Not even 50.

BTW, I fly a taildragger and I do not see just what it has with the speed management in the air. The only thing it taught me is to live without flaps and slip the heck out of it. In Cherokee and 172 I always could go harder on flaps, but in Carlson I can't. Taildraggers are seriously overrated. I say fly a glider!
 
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docmirror said:
Not a lot of worry on corrosion but it's always a candidate for checking.
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I'll be stronger than that. Make sure you check for corrosion on the wing spar. I know of a pilot who bought an inexpensive Musketeer and had to replace the corroded wing spar. This spar was extremely difficult to find!

-Skip
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Getting into troubles like striking a prop, lots of bouncing , etc. is totally due to technique or lack there of. Mooney, sundowner, tiger, piper 180, on and on all land basically the same and if you understand speed management it's not very difficult. It takes a few hundred hours to sort it all out. If you've never flown a taildragger for some hours, your at a decided disadvantage.
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Holy crap. If it takes a few hundred hours to learn to land any aircraft well, you probably have a legitimate and tragic learning disability.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
flyrye36 said:
I may be buying into a partnership with a Musketeer. Can anyone give me an average cost of the annuals? Are there any ADs that can bite you?

Thanks - new to this forum.
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I own a '73 Beech Sundowner.
Owner assisted annuals for the last three years average about $600.
Last year was $560.
Why so inexpensive?
Very little goes wrong with this plane.

We did a thorough annual. (3 people: A&P, IA for inspection, & me)
The hangar door opened at 9 am and we were done that afternoon.
The shop owner is an A&P/IA/ATP/CFII/DPE and a fellow Sundowner owner.
He is capable, responsible, and knows the airplane well.

In the last few years I've replaced door gaskets, tires, carpet, and two side windows. Approved parts were all easy to get and priced the same as brand C or P. (Don't buy from Beech) The Beech Aero Club site provided step-by-step instructions with pictures for these repairs.

New part prices from Beech are high, but most parts are available from salvage, Spruce, or the network of owners at the Beech Aero Club. The Lycoming O-360 is the same basic engine used on the 172.

I bought the Sundowner 13 years ago while finishing my PPL. An instructor/charter pilot and I flew to Indiana to see the plane and fly it.
The instructor asked to fly a couple patterns. When he landed and shut down he wouldn't move. He just sat in the left seat with a big grin and said, "Ahhhhhhh, THAT'S a Beechcraft."

Other drawbacks of the Sundowner (besides speed and climb)? I learned to fly in a C172. I could slam that poor plane down near the numbers and always turn off the first taxiway. The Sundowner won't let you do that. You have to flare and wait until she's ready to land, nose up, stall horn singing. If you control airspeed and descent on final, it's easy to land.

After flying other brands of planes, I'm glad I own the Sundowner. It's like driving a Buick or a Lincoln. The plane is solid and well built. It's not fast, so I get to spend a few minutes longer flying than the other guy. I like that. My size is 6ft, 250lb. Two big guys can sit in the front seats with lots of room in front and back. Useful load is 920lbs. I sit in front of the wing's leading edge and have a BIG windscreen. Visibility is very good. Most of my flying is 200 NM or less. However, we flew to the Bahamas (from Wisconsin) two years ago and the trip was an easy one.

There was a time when I thought I may trade up to a Bonanza, but not anymore. The extra performance would be nice, but there would be little improvement in comfort or useful load. The increased cost of ownership was the deal-breaker. A well maintained Sundowner is affordable for me.

-- Mark
'73 Sundowner, KRYV
 
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