Beecraft Queen Bee

The Queen Bee was an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a Lycoming O-320-A1A flat-four piston engine.[1] It had a V-tail and an electrically retractable tricycle landing gear.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3]

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62[4]

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)