COMMON
BE18
Beechcraft Model 18
The Twin Beech
“Two radials, two tails, three decades of production.”
Beechcraft (Textron) · private
NO PHOTO
Length
34 ft 2 in
Wingspan
47 ft 8 in
Max speed
160 kts
Range
1,200 nmi
Ceiling
20,000 ft
Engines
2x Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radials (450 hp each)
Crew
2
Max passengers
7
Typical config
1-2 crew + 6-8 passengers
Built
9,000+ (incl. military C-45)
The Twin Beech did everything: airliner, military trainer, freight hauler, skydiving jump ship, movie star. Its twin radial engines and twin tail fins are pure golden-age glamour, and the survivors are cherished like flying antiques that still earn their keep.
Fun fact
It stayed in production from 1937 to 1969 — at the time, the longest continuous production run of any aircraft.
How to spot one
Twin radial engines, twin oval tail fins, tailwheel stance. Nothing else at a modern airport looks or sounds like it.
Crews call it
The Twin Beech
Sounds like
Two Wasp Junior radials thundering in loose harmony — one of aviation's great sounds
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Twin Beech from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey