I started skydiving in 1975, and the Beech 18 was one of the most common multi engined jumpships back then. Hundreds and hundreds of one way rides for me in 18's
Great movie! 1963. I think I first saw it in about 1969 when I was about 4 years old at a Cinerama theater in Southern California. My favorite part was the Beech 18 scene! Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney trying to fly that thing was hilarious! Great impression there of Jim Backus! (Of course, I didn’t get all the jokes at 4 years old.) Rooney: Old fashioneds? Do you think you oughtta drink while you’re flying? Backus: Well stop kidding, will ya, and make us some drinks! You just press the button back there marked “booze”. It’s the ooonly way to fly. Backus: There. Who says this ol’ boy can’t fly? Now I’m going to make us some Old Fashioneds the old fashioned way. Hackett: What if something happens? Backus: What can happen to an Old Fashioned?
@@balsumfractus "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" from 1963, with a long list of stars from the 30's 40's and 50's. Even the Three Stooges made an appearance in it.
OMG...! Kinda brought tears to my 58yrs young eyes, to hear him say that the plane goes when he retires... I would have thought that a guy would be flying the wings off that plane upon retirement... I do however have a little insight/understanding (thanks to Mr. Browne’s channel) as to what it takes, money wise, to own one of these beauties let alone keep them in the air... Thank you Juan, and to the owner, a great ride.
Oh yeah - Fuel burn on the Beech 18 is in the neighborhood of 40 gallons per hour. I'm sure the annual inspections run over $4000.00 per year. At $4.21 per gallon it takes a major airline pilots salary to pay for keeping that bird healthy! (not to mention insurance, hanger rent space and regular maintenance costs.)
It's a trade-off: A friend of mine had one, and after many years he sold it & bought a Cessna 310, and said it was the biggest mistake he ever made, because the 310 was more labor intensive than the 18 ever was.
Flew right seat in one of these flying air freight nightly back in the late 60’s. I still remember the noise of flying through a brief hailstorm and getting thrown around against the seat and shoulder straps.
Learning that only about 300 of these beautiful planes are flying, I'm definitely thankful that these folks have put in the massive effort and expense to care for this plane. Also fantastic that they're generous in sharing it like this!
@@nwanchorcertification The handle when free points East and West and is up, as the tail wheel straightens, point the handle North and South ( Parallel with the Fuselage ) and push down, it will lock in place.
In the US Army in 1968, I got to fly as co-pilot in one of these. As a rotary wing aviator, it was like a luxury cruise! The first thing the AC told me was: If you have to land this plane, wheel landing only! He told me the same thing as the owner of this one, the wing blankets the tail in a 3 pointer and makes the rudders ineffective. I logged about 100 hours in this model, before they turned it in for salvage. It was replaced with another Beech, this time a U-21 with turboprops and all the modern features...
Brings back memories. 50 years ago I worked for a fellow who had mail contracts. We used to call gassing and oiling the twin beeches "slopping the hogs." Us lineboys would help load and unload the mail and then ride along. Quite an experience for me as my previous flying was in a C150. We didn't have to ride too long before we got to land and takeoff. Lots of experience gained in a short time with engine failures, total electrical failure, hail, thunderstorms, and ice. I bounced once and that was scary. We always did wheel landings. Rode with Bobby Younkin when he was flying the mail.
I got my multi engine in a Beech 18 in 1970 at Embry Riddle. I went from a Cessna 172 to the Beech. There was a lot going on with cowl flaps, oil shutters, etc, but I loved flying it.
So did I...1962, probably the same airplane. A lot of stuff going on after the 172, but 10 hours later...I was a SMEL pilot! Later flying out of Boise, there was a guy from Texas used to come up in his 18. T-Bone Bowman as I recall. He had a place on the Salmon river. He routinely three pointed it and made the mid field taxiway, 1500 feet. Sweet airplane.
Growing up as a kid we had a Twin Beech parked at our local airport in Rehoboth Beach. They used it for all kinds of flying there. That airplane had a very distinctive sound a deep roaring throat I knew what it was without looking up. This video brought back fond memories of that old beautiful bird. I never got to ride in her but this is the next best thing!..Thanks Juan, Jimmy for the flight around the pattern..
I heard him say it was used for Skydivng in Canada for awhile. I am an old skydiver who has jumped the Beech 18 many times. I love stepping out the door and onto the wing then running off. It is much easier to get out onto the wing than most people think, especially if you have some external handles or a strap. This one is a gem and I am jealous, nice job on the restoration. Thanks for sharing this one with us Juan.
Wow, that was great. I got to ride in the right seat one night on a mail run in an SMB Stage Lines Beech 18. We flew from Texarkana to Longview, Dallas, and back under IMC with a minimums ILS at Texarkana. I didn’t get to see much outside other than the glow of city lights under the clouds, but I could certainly hear those 985’s. Thanks for the ride..
Gorgeous old Twin Beech D-18! Our dad, Sam A. Burkes, Jr, flew a Beech D-18 for Doubleday Publishing Co. in the early 50's out of LaGuardia, NYC. Then took on another corp.pilot job with Coats & Clark Threads, flying a Beech Super 18/E-18 also out of LaGuardia. He had told us they were great airplanes, could carry a load, but you had to 'stay ahead of them', being of the nature they were. Always had to fly them, could be tricky on landing, 'specially in crosswinds. He was also a cert. A&E mechanic, worked on his own planes, specially those P&W Wasp Jr, R-985s!! He loved his work! I went up in the E-18 a couple times, never flew in the Doubleday D-18. Think that was built in 1948. His last corp. piloting job was flying a Cessna 310B for Orion Aviation also out of LaGuardia, erstwhile out of Newark. They sold the 310B, he retired early, was arthritic..Great, iconic airplanes! Would just love to fly in one sgain. I'm 72, don't know how much longer I'll be around. Maybe I'll get the chance. Thanks for great video!!
Once again, loved this informative video. Already knew quite a bit about these old, classic Twin Beech 18's, learned more watching this...And, oh man, those sounds of the P&W Wasp Jr's, the Ham. Std. props, and the exhaust sounds. Wish Dad was alive to relive these sequences!! He'd get a kick out of it! Thank you gentlemen for this vid.!!
Now that brings back memories ! Many years ago I worked for a small operation in Alaska serving Indian villages along the coast and throughout the interior with two Beech 18s. A beautiful classic aircraft with an equally beautiful exhaust note , and an incredible work horse. In regards to the spar AD and required spar strap modification, the aircraft is a known load hauler. In the old days max gross weight was not given the respect shown today. (Understatement) I have always had the suspicion that may have contributed to the original spar issues. A final fond memory - an 18 has a particular scent, the wonderful odor of an old aircraft.
Used to work , jump 195 with same wasp Junior fora decade , 3 blade though , had a beech 18 cargo door gear up on our spot at Airglades 2IS in s fl , cool airplane
The 18 was my first flying job back in 1977. Spent a little over 2800 hours in them and was in love the whole time. Granted, night freight wasn't as glamorous as that beautifully restored machine looks to be.
What a beautiful aircraft! I was fortunate to meet Olive Beech as a young girl several times due to my fathers love for Beechcraft Staggerwings. Thank You for sharing!
Loved the Beech 18. Flew them with car parts in the 70s out of Windsor Ontario Canada then in the high Canadian Arctic ... North of North America, south to Alert... for Bradley Air Services... Loved the airplane! Thank Juan for the memories!
In 1974 as a rookie A&P I worked for an air mail contractor that had a dozen 18s. We installed the spar strap too. Many fond and some not so good memories.
I have some time behind an R-985 in Beavers. Lovely sound. Used to taxi out with the side window slid down and the headset slid partly off my left ear. Two at a time sound even better. Nice to see the love and respect rubbed on that classic airplane.
I had to go do a little digging to figure out what those levers were below the mixture levers that he was pressing on when trying to get the oil temp up a bit. Those are the “oil shutter” controls. So, I gather that the oil coolers have a separate control from the cowl flaps. Pretty cool. Beautiful plane. Got a chance to ride in one years ago and loved it.
6:22 and 6:28 “Look at this” and “look at that” we’re looking! We’re looking! And we’re drooling right there with ya! I love how you took your aluminum girl to visit the Beech instead of the fabric one! Also funny how you said you’ll land long, then proceed to squeak it on the numbers! Haha!
The closest I came to a D-18 was when I got to run-up the engines of a C-45 at an A&P school in Ft. Worth TX to adjust the carbon pile voltage regulators. Just running the engines felt special. Frank Tallman had a heck of a time with that billboard scene. The wing leading edge got banged up and debris blocked the air intake on one engine causing it to shut down. He landed single engine IFE.
The hanger they flew through for the movie is still standing at Sonoma County / STS. Now part of Pacific Coast Air Museum PCAM. Great video Juan and beautiful plane. Thanks all for sharing
In the 50s I used to bike to a local private airport. One of the few hangars had one of these that came and went a lot. The days they flew, I could wait for hours to be able to get an earful as that White & green beauty made it's music as it lifted off the grass strip.
was a passenger in a B-18 once, in the cargo/seating area, no seats skydive plane and the pilot rolled it. damned good pilot. killed in alaska flying fish in a DC-3. really nice guy too.
Stunning aircraft! It's interesting that just by keeping it in the air for 65 years all the factory paint chips off and the air speed brings the aluminum to full polish. Wink wink.
In the late 70's I use to hang out at the resturant /bar at the Excutive terminal at Salt Lake International. There we a guy with one of these that loved to fly and have a few cocktails, but I loved to go flying with him . Some flight where like in the Mad Mad Mad Mad World . He'd say "take the control kid - it's time for a little toddy" ..... Life was good back then.
I worked line service while in high school (50+ years ago) at an airport that had a Super 18 based there. If I remember correctly, it took 80/87 octane and I added oil in gallon cans rather than quarts. I always savored the sound of those Pratts and prop pitch change after takeoff. The non-pilot owner eventually sold it for a King Air.
Thank you for giving me this trip back in time! In the late 60's and early 70's I flew G and E models all around the country delivering sensitive material for the government...even brought a part of Alan Shepard's space suit to Cape Canaveral. It was a fun airplane to fly with an autopilot that only occasionally worked and a radar that only worked when it was clear :). The expression at the time was, "You're not a real pilot unless you've flown a Beech 18 around the Northeast in the wintertime"!! I ended up retiring off the 767-400 for a major carrier, but some of the best flying I did was in the Beech...thanks for the memories!
Beautiful. Unfortunately I've never been in an 18, but for many years our family owned a WWII surplus Crocker-Wheeler training gun turret which were sometimes mounted in an AT-11, training version of a Beech 18
You are bringing back memories. when I was about 12 years old we went to Hawaii. My dad got us a plane ride around the island in a Beech h18. I got to ride in the co-pilot's seat the whole time. The pilot let me fly the damn thing. Memories
1984 We did a hop from HON to Maui for a day trip. Our plane was a well used Beech 18. It was a couple months before I started flight training so the pilot stuck me in the co-pilot seat. Pilot was a petite nervous guy who chainsmoked but his persona matched the patina of the plane. Didn't take long to see most of the instruments did not work, the ones that weren't missing anyway. But it got us to Maui noisy but cramped and back again.
I used to jump a Beech 18 out of Cal City back in the '80's.. Love the sound of those engines! The period background music made the whole thing Juan! Awesome! What a pretty bird.
Having owned a polished aluminum aircraft in the past (Sonex), I can only imagine the work involved in keeping that beauty looking pristine. What a lovely piece of aviation.
"Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King" That TV show made me want to become a pilot... and I did become a professional pilot. Thanks Sky!!!
Michael Brown..Yes!! We've seen every episode of Sky Kjng. His first 'Songbird' airplane was that taildragging Cessna UC-78/T-50, with the Jacob radials. Then, they had him fly what my Dad last flew corporately in '63, that Cessna 310B..great airplane. Had Continental 0-470's, Harzell props..Dad had to take an early retirement due to co. selling the plane, and his chronic R.A...there went his flying career, but instructed to pay our mortgage & bills! He had bittersweet opinions of Twin Beeches, mostly good. Certain that most older pilots would share those as well. We also saw in person Mr Kirby Grant M.C. an airshow @ Ryan Field, w. of Tucson, in 1975..Great time there! I'm sure he's passed on!
Great video Juan...sure miss ours. My dad owned several 18s. The most memorable were a ‘48 D18s and ‘56 E18s. Many many adventures we took in those planes....from Baja to British Columbia and all kinds of places in between. It was the ultimate family SUV!
I wish I could have taken a photo in the engine shop at Kenmore Air in Kenmore WA. I couldn't believe there were THAT many R-985 jugs in one location! What a beautiful sight (and a beautiful round engine). Thanks!
My dad was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force in the late 50s and early 60s and was just telling me that the C-45 9the military version) was his favorite aircraft to work on.
Oh, thank you so much. I knew I knew the airplane. I was a student at Boston University, in 1957, and in the Air Force ROTC, and we got to go up with our instructor, but it was at night, and we had a turn in the cockpit. So I flew this plane. And only later I learned that it was a C-45, and only now, thanks to you, I know that it was a Beech D-18? Whatever. I knew that I knew this airplane. And I have the DVD of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World," and when I saw the airplane I knew that I knew the airplane. So thanks to you. And as luck would have it I wound up in the army, retired as a colonel, so no more flying for me, but thank you again for reminding me of the airplane that I once flew, if only for a moment.
Thank you, Juan! Nice to meet some of 'those magnificent men in their flying machines.' The flying scenes from "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World" were incredible, and no computer generated graphics back then. They really flew one of these through a hanger!
I live just off the departure end of 31 at O61, and enjoy the distinctive sound of this type of aircraft. I remember a ride from Tyndall AFB to Daytona and back in '54 or '55. I really love the distinct sound of the ying yang (C-45, Beech 18.)
I worked in the factory that made this plane. Never flew it though but I did fly other Beech planes. They had a flying club that was pretty good. Five bucks an hour to solo a 140. Most FBOs were charging seven.
Great video and beautiful aircraft! I retired after 41 years with AA in 2019, flew left seat on MD80, 757, 767, 777, 787 - Tell Jimmy not to give up on letting go of that beautiful twin Beech, retirement isn't the end of things it's just another interesting chapter in your life. Where there's a will theres a way! Best wishes to all of you!
Memories. Flew D-18's on a night mail run for an operator in the midwest 1966-68. The 18's were tired but still worked and trustworthy. CGI-MEM-LIT-BVX-JBR. Next night go back the other way. Lot's of stories and a few moments of perspiration.
When I was a young pilot with a A&P working at the Plymouth Airport I got to fly in Bob Trinque's Beech C45. All the passengers draw straws for the copilot seat & I got lucky. Bob actually let me have the controls at attitude. My plane was a Cessna 140 & I had alot of time in my Dad's Maule. But nothing compared to those 900 horsepower engines. I can thank Bob for a great memory. 🙂
There's a twin beech that fly's sight-seeing tours out of Van Nuys airport. It's been converted to a turbo-prop. Still cool to see. I have yet to see one fly through a billboard, though.
Thank you, Juan! My old bones cheered with this one. Excellent video...all the questions were spot on and the answers concise. Some vids I listen to, but yours I have to watch. My father (he listened to Lindbergs landing on a crystal set, waaay past his bedtime...he signed up Dec 9, 1042 and flew "a few" missions) would have been an avid supporter of your approach and love of aviation. My mother (an student-nominated award winning "best teacher" for more years than we can count) would second that! Me, a retired private pilot and teacher, say, "Thank you for your willingness to dedicate the time to record, EDIT, and upload these videos." My prayer is that, some night over a black, you'll know how much you bless us. Journey mercies.
Thanks Juan. Brought back nostalgic memories of my first flying job so very long ago. Didn't pay much but the experience acquired was invaluable. Sure would love to take a Twin Bitch round the patch one more time.
That was probably Methow Aviation out of Paine Field. They had a C-47 that delivered Wall Street Journals to MSO from SEA and we took them to Kalispell, Helena, Great Falls and Billings on the C-45. When the 3 was down or busy elsewhere I would fly the C-45 to SEA and load 3000# of newpapers for transhipment out of Missoula. Methow had a A-26 invader and also had a couple of C-46s for fish hauling in Alaska. It was a great operation. Man, those were the times I loved but not sure I would dare to repeat.
Thank you so much for taking us along on this magnificent airplane! What a treat! As close as I’ll come and I thoroughly enjoyed it! This twin Beech is a class act!
Thank's for the great memory's! First airplane,I manipulated the controls on,as a little boy,thanks to Captain George Parmenter ,at Cape & Islands Airways,I had to sit on a large Jeppesen binder to see over the instrument panel. My first "Airliner" worked on,as a newly minted A&P mechanic,was another fine Beech product,The C-99,at Bar harbor Airlines.
Awesome! Fantastic! Gorgeous Bird! Living 5 miles from Windsor Locks and 15 from East Hartford it did my heart good to see those beautiful HSD props mounted to those mighty P&WA engines! I love that sound from the cockpit or overhead. It seems so weird that those biggish Pratts only cruised her at 150 when only 10 years later a pair of 210 horse Continentals pushed a Baron along at 210 knots. Oh, how aviation jumped ahead in the sixties and seventies. I sure do have a special place in my heart for AA pilots. Have a fabulous day guys. SDH the Great Unknown in CT (Simsbury Airport and BDL)
Sigh, memories of close to a a thousand hours driving a C-45 across Washington, Idaho, and Montana on a freight and night mail run. That airplane was truly a workhorse, and a thorobred at that. That particular aircraft was fitted with 12:1 blowers which made it possible (most of the time) to maintain MEAs across the mountains of Idaho and Montana.
The Hamilton Standard Propellers for the Beech 18 use a pump for feathering and unfeathering. The rear mounted propeller governor is mounted on the gun synchronizer pad on the P&W 985 then though external tubes to the front of engine. The Hamilton Standard AD for inspecting the blade shanks for corrosion pitting is required because the propeller acts like a centrifuge and slings all of the garbage material that builds up in the oil put to sit around the blade shank around the seal. I have seen the blades with about 1/8 inch of corrosion pits in the area that developed in less than 18 months; the operator was using AV Gas. I have also seen what happens when a blade actual has failed in the shank, the blade comes off and you go down now, no five second count to see what the problem is, thankfully the pilot survived.
I worked tor the local Beechcraft distributor at KDTN in Shreveport in the late '50s and early'60s. Back then, before the jets became common, the Twin Beech was the gold standard for corporate transportation. It was faster than the airlines to travel point to point between small towns. The last model I remember was the E-18S-9700. It was easy to spot because of the 3 bladed props. A beautiful, fast airplane that held its own until it was replaced by the jets.
Another great video Juan. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Back in the late 70’s I was finishing college and my private pilot ticket and working at FedEx. We had contracted a company out of Hamilton Ohio called Hogan Air to move freight from CRW and HTS to SDF. Recent deregulation had allowed us to move up from our fleet of Falcon 20’s to the 727. Hogan Air used Beech 18’s out of HTS and DC-3’s from CRW to move freight from those markets to be uploaded to the 727 which flew the freight to the MEM hub. After the Boeing had departed we had several hours to kill waiting for the return flight with the sorted freight. We spent a good bit of that time talking airplanes (among other things!). On occasion there would be a need to take one of the Hogan aircraft up during that time to check out a maintenance issue or something and I’d tag along. I’d sit on a milk crate and hang on to the bulkhead so I didn’t end up in the back of the airplane when we took off. After whatever issue was resolved they’d let me slide into the left seat and get a little “stick time”! For a freshly minted private pilot it was a real treat. The Hogan Air pilots were a great group of guys. I have very fond memories of those days.
Thanks for the great video. Brings back many memories when I flew an 18 for Apollo Airways in a night cencelled check operation out of Detroit City airport. Fine airplane. Great ice carrier in the wintertrime but a lousy ineffectiuve heater. The other pilots flew the ship with the muff heaters.
I used to fly one of those things with Garret turboprops on it, hauling freight in Alaska. What a beast! I also flew a round-engined one with tricycle gear as well. Sweet aircraft!
Will have to look again at my DVD of the Flying Legends Airshow 2005 at Duxford (Cambs, UK) and check out the segment with Bernard Chabert’s Electra flying with Air Atlantique’s Avro Anson - pretty sure the tail wheel was fixed on both.
Juan - Great episode! I was lucky to know two gentlemen from the aviation community who each owned one. One is a gentleman who was a Shuttle mission specialist. The other was a LA dentist who’s avocation was anything that had wings. Got heavily involved in engine management. Best - Don McIntyre / MI
I love its a mad mad mad world. I am 43 and first watched it around 18. I grew up in yucca Valley and 29 palms. Alot of that movie was filmed in those location. Favorite parts of the movie where the airplane seans. Cool plane. Thanks for the video.
Thank Juan! That was a very enjoyable 36 minutes. If it wasn’t for the spar AD there world be many more Beach 18s flying. Spar must run right behind the pilots, separating pilots and passengers. A brilliant idea, a welded tubular spar. Weight saver and strong. Maybe with today’s MIG welders the welds would have lasted longer.
Juan, another fine video with a fine story! The "wheel" deal... you were like a kid in a candy store when you got in the cockpit. Thanks for sharing this interesting story.
As someone who has complete envy for airline pilots, I truly enjoy hearing the experiences and machines you guys have flown through the years. That is given the seniority you had at the time.
+1 As an aside to that, the scene when they flew through the hanger and the billboard was shot at the Santa Rosa airport (STS). That hanger is still there and can be viewed from the road. Next to the airport a short distance is an air museum that has more film related stuff. The stunt pilot, Frank Tallman, said that he was only going to do that stunt once, so the film crew had to capture the moment in one take. I have seen that hanger and it isn't very big. You really had to know what you were doing to fly through that. And who would want to fly a propeller driven aircraft through a billboard? It was crazy and amazing action. The stuff of legends.
@@TalladegaTom Frank Tallman built a replica of the Spirit St Louis from the original plans. He did some of his best work including flying his replica Spirit of St. Louis ( Lindbergh asked for a plane that was hard to fly to help him stay awake) with one leg. He lost a leg to infection from an accident in his driveway playing with his kids and walked with a prosthetic and flew without.
@@TalladegaTom Frank Tallman died from conditions Juan Brown has talked about. On a VFR ferry flight IFR conditions developed. There was a mountain higher than his cruising altitude. He was unable to avoid terrain he couldn't see.
@@TalladegaTom ..... bent the props , crushed the leading edges almost back to the spars - the movie construction crew used the wrong material for the billboard and as a result it was like flying through a brick wall - Frank managed to get the airplane back on the ground but nearly crashed - scared him badly.
Wow, I feel deeply honored for being allowed to get to know this magnificent beast. Pure history. She really was the Learjet of the late 1930s. Thank you so much for the walk-around and checkout aloft.
She's a beauty!! Every time I see one, it reminds my when I was a child. My Aunt and Uncle took my brother an I (I was probably Pete's age), To see It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World in Boston. I was one of those Cinematic surround movie theaters. I remember feeling the motion of the plane flying. Still a great movie. In fact I just watched it a few weeks ago.. Thanks, Mark
