Beechcraft King Air A90
History
The Model 90 King Air was conceived as the Model 120 in 1961. In May 1963, Beechcraft began test flights of the proof-of-concept Model 87, a modified Queen Air with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-6 engines. On 14 July, Beech announced a new type, and a month later began accepting orders for the "King Air", with deliveries to commence in Autumn 1964.[1] After 10 months of test flying, in 1964 the Model 87 was delivered to the United States Army as the NU-8F. On 24 January, the first definitive prototype, by now designated Model 65-90 and also fitted with PT6A-6 engines, flew for the first time. The first production aircraft was delivered on 8 October, and by the end of the month, 152 aircraft had been ordered;[2] by year's end, seven had been built.[3]
In 1966, after 112 65-90s were completed,[3] production switched to the Model 65-A90 with PT6A-20 engines. As a measure of the type's popularity, 206 65-A90s were built in less than two years when production switched to the Model B90, the first of these rolling off the production line in 1968.[3] Military versions built during these years included the 65-A90-1, 65-A90-2, 65-A90-3, and 65-A90-4, all being unpressurised models based on the Model 87. These were produced for the US Army which designated them U-21s of various sub-models; many were fitted out for electronic battlefield surveillance. A total of 162 of these were built between 1967 and 1971.
Cessna 206
History
The original 1964 model was the U206, powered by a 285 hp (213 kW) Continental IO-520-A. The "U" designation indicated "utility" and this model was equipped with a pilot side door and large clamshell rear door serving the back two rows of seats, allowing easy loading of over-sized cargo
In 1977 the U206 had its engine upgraded to a Continental IO-520-F of 300 hp (220 kW) (continuous rating, obtained at a lower speed than the previous IO-520-F) and the TU206 powerplant was changed to the TSIO-520-M producing 310 hp (230 kW).
Production of all versions of the U206 was halted in 1986 when Cessna stopped manufacturing all piston engine aircraft. A total of 5208 U206s had been produced.
