So what is 6 more than a B-17....

Half Fast

Half Fast

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Half Fast
....and 1 less than a B-24?

Answer: why, a B-23, of course! :D

I just picked up my new-to-me 1969 Beechcraft Musketeer Custom III (aka B-23) yesterday and brought her home.

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I purchased the plane in this thread https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/1969-beech-musketeer-b23.128418/ but it's taken a long time to actually get the plane home. We inked the purchase agreement back in late Feb, but it was many weeks before the shop could do the pre-buy and then fix a few squawks. The sale was finally closed in early June and I decided to convert the pre-buy into an annual, which also took a long time and had a few squawks to fix.

Mrs. Half Fast and I drove to Defuniak Springs to pick up the plane on Aug 3, it having come out of annual, but during pre-flight inspection I found three more squawks: fuel guages not working, electric trim not working, and pitot heat not working. It took a couple of weeks to get those fixed, then the weather was not conducive to flying (as in tropical storm and hurricane wx). I was finally able to get the plane this week.

Took her up for a test flight on Thu, then flew her back to her new nest at KGIF (Winter Haven, FL) yesterday. The flight home was, uh, entertaining, involving skirting around some difficult weather and needing to set down in Crystal River for a while to let things improve a bit. But she's finally home!

The whole purchase process has been long and tangled but.... I learned that the most important thing in purchasing a plane is to buy from a great seller. Forum member @zayerpaul was terrific through the entire time, extremely helpful and accomodating all the way. I'm very thankful to him for all his help.

I'm looking forward to lots of years and many hours with this plane.
 
Tantalum said:
Nice! I always liked the Musketeer too bad there aren't more of them around
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I seem to be seeing more of them lately, and they’ve been in a few magazine articles over the last year.
 
Congratulations- I wish you many happy years flying her.
 
Nice! I knew I should have jumped on that plane. If you don't mind explaining, what made the buying process complicated? Was it just waiting on the shop or other issues as well?
 
To be a B-23 is:

Douglas bomber version of DC-3 named the “Dragon”.

Howard Hughes personal aircraft.

White , blue , grey livery of the General Electric pre biz jet exec fleet.

Aircraft NOT selected for Doolittle raid as wingspan too long got carriers.

“ Test Mule” for R-3350 with turbo in B-29 development.
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Nice! I knew I should have jumped on that plane. If you don't mind explaining, what made the buying process complicated? Was it just waiting on the shop or other issues as well?
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Long waits for the shop and time to find parts, mostly. It needed a new spinner and that took a while to locate. Plus I didn’t expect to find 3 squawks, two of which were airworthiness issues, immediately after the plane came out of annual.

Then the FAA made a typo on my address for the registration, so I had to have that fixed. I have an extension for the temporary paper now and I’m still waiting for the corrected version.

Plus, the distance to the shop made it impossible for me to run over to look at things or ensure progress. And I had to wait for decent weather to go get it (twice). Florida summer weather is often full of convective activity, and we had a tropical storm go straight through Defuniak Spgs during all this. I barely got a hotel room this trip, as all the hotels are filling up with Hurricane Ida refugees.
 
Congratulations! That thing looks nice! Glad you got her home. I flew a Sundowner for a while years ago. Very solid aircraft. Comfortable cabin.
 
Half Fast said:
I just picked up my new-to-me 1969 Beechcraft Musketeer Custom III (aka B-23) yesterday and brought her home.
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Congratulations on your new Beech. They fly great, speed is not an option but responsiveness is. Landings are smooth if you nail the speed. I always use full flaps. I think you will like the 180hp Lycoming. Inexpensive to operate and nice on the pocketbook for repairs. I'm sure you joined Beech Areo Club if not please do, great folks and good knowledge regarding the Baby Beechs. What is total time on the plane? I have flown my Sport from MS to AK, AK to IL to NV and back to AK. Slow but comfortable
 
AKBill said:
Congratulations on your new Beech. They fly great, speed is not an option but responsiveness is. Landings are smooth if you nail the speed. I always use full flaps. I think you will like the 180hp Lycoming. Inexpensive to operate and nice on the pocketbook for repairs. I'm sure you joined Beech Areo Club if not please do, great folks and good knowledge regarding the Baby Beechs. What is total time on the plane? I have flown my Sport from MS to AK, AK to IL to NV and back to AK. Slow but comfortable
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Yep, joined BAC a few months ago. Great group and very helpful. The plane has about 3120 total hours.

I have a few things on my list to do to her. The landing gear pucks need replacement and I already have the new ones waiting for installation. I want to replace the shoulder harnesses with an inertial reel type. Plus the radio, while it works, is noisy and outdated so it will need to be replaced.

It probably also needs an adjustment to the trim tabs, or maybe the rigging, as I have to hold a bit of left rudder in straight and level flight.

Overall, though, it’s a very solid plane and flies quite well.
 
Half Fast said:
The landing gear pucks need replacement and I already have the new ones waiting for installation.
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Where did you get the landing discs from? I just replaced mine, time consuming but not hard to do. I would also do the mod for the nose gear brass bushings. PM me for a more detailed description of what is involved.

Edit: I have all the special tools needed to do the landing gear shock droughts. You cab use them if you pay shipping
 
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AKBill said:
Where did you get the landing discs from? I just replaced mine, time consuming but not hard to do. I would also do the mod for the nose gear brass bushings. PM me for a more detailed description of what is involved.
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I bought the pucks from https://avunlimited.co/product/beechcraft-shock-disc-fixed-gear/ . They're technically an owner-produced part, as you provide the company with a drawing of the part and manufacturing instructions when you place the order. $840 for the entire set is a pretty good bargain.
 
Will do. It will be a while before I install them, though.
 
Congrats on your new Bird!!
Looks Great!!!
 
Sierra_Hotel said:
Nice! I knew I should have jumped on that plane. If you don't mind explaining, what made the buying process complicated? Was it just waiting on the shop or other issues as well?
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Are you actively shopping for a plane? It took me about a year and a half to find the right plane, with many frustrations, false leads, misrepresented aircraft, and missed opportunities along the way.
 
Yes and no. That one was very enticing at its price.
 
AKBill said:
They have been undervalued for a long time. The Sundowner IMHO is the best bang for your buck
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Definitely great bang for the buck. The only other aircraft in this price range were things like 152s, Ercoupes, old rag wings, etc. I had been looking for a Warrior, but I think this is a better plane at a considerably lower price.
 
Half Fast said:
Definitely great bang for the buck. The only other aircraft in this price range were things like 152s, Ercoupes, old rag wings, etc. I had been looking for a Warrior, but I think this is a better plane at a considerably lower price.
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I'm sure you will enjoy your Sundowner. With 180hp it should climb like a raped ape. My Sport does OK lightly loaded. Cruise 100kts
 
Congrats on finding a very nice plane! It's surprisingly roomy inside, too - even the back seat seemed big. Glad you finally got her home! :)
 
Congratulations, I am glad things worked out. Long time coming.
 
Half Fast said:
You’re right about that! Hard to believe it’s been a year now since I looked at Josh’s Warrior. Did he ever sell it?
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Yes, he did. After the two cracked cylinders were replaced. Two young cfi’s from western VA bought it. Looking at FlightAware they have been making good use of it.
I sold two shares of my Arrow. So far it has worked out really well. No real loss of access and I only have to pay for one third of the bills.
Enjoy your new ride!
 
Good! I'm glad it's being put to good use. It's a very nice plane, but at the time there were too many unknowns and pitfalls for me.

Nice deal for you with the Arrow!
 
In the early days of Lockheed Martin's development of the F-35 , those of us who had a hand in the program received a variety of program trinkets. Coffee mugs, lanyards, pins, etc. And keychains. So guess what's holding the keys to my new B-23?

Maybe it will inspire the plane to greater performance. I just hope it doesn't inspire F35-like maintenance costs..... :)

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Congratulations, your name is now Quarter Fast!

Just kidding, I hope you enjoy many miles and smiles in your new airplane. I like the keyring!
 
Bill said:
Congratulations, your name is now Quarter Fast!

Just kidding, I hope you enjoy many miles and smiles in your new airplane. I like the keyring!
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Kinda funny - of my three primary vehicles, my airplane is the slowest. Oh well - at least it has more range than the bike.
 
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