Travel Air 4000 Specs | Model 17 Specs | Model 18 Specs | Model 33 Specs | Model 35 Specs | Model 36 Specs   Model 17 Drawings | Model 18 Drawings Home > Technical Library View Another Specification in Library Travel Air 4000 Model 17 - 17R Model 17 - A17F Model 17 - A17FS Model 17 - B17B Model 17 - B17E Model 17 - B17L Model 17 - B17R Model 17 - C17B Model 17 - C17E Model 17 - C17L Model 17 - C17R Model 17 - D17A Model 17 - D17R Model 17 - D17S Model 17 - D17W Model 17 - E17B Model 17 - E17L Model 17 - F17D Model 17 - G17S Model 18 - S18D Model 18 - C-45H Model 18 - D18S Model 18 - Super E18S Model 33 - 35-33 Debonair Model 33 - 35-A33 Debonair Model 33 - 35-B33 Debonair Model 33 - 35-C33 Debonair Model 33 - 35-C33A Debonair Model 33 - E33 Bonanza Model 33 - E33A Bonanza Model 33 - E33C Bonanza Model 33 - F33 Bonanza Model 33 - F33A Bonanza Model 33 - F33C Bonanza Model 33 - G33 Bonanza Model 35 Bonanza Model 35 - 35R Bonanza Model 35 - A35 Bonanza Model 35 - B35 Bonanza Model 35 - C35 Bonanza Model 35 - D35 Bonanza Model 35 - E35 Bonanza Model 35 - F35 Bonanza Model 35 - G35 Bonanza Model 35 - H35 Bonanza Model 35 - J35 Bonanza Model 35 - K35 Bonanza Model 35 - M35 Bonanza Model 35 - N35 Bonanza Model 35 - P35 Bonanza Model 35 - S35 Bonanza Model 35 - V35 Bonanza Model 35 - V35A/V35A-TC Bonanza Model 35 - V35B/V35B-TC Bonanza Model 36 - 36 Bonanza Model 36 - A36 Bonanza Model 36 - A36TC Bonanza Model 36 - B36TC Bonanza Model 18 Specifications Beech 18 Basics As a general guide, Beech 18's can be divided into six significantly different categories:   A. Pre-war civil with various engines (29 produced--very few around).   B. Wartime USAAF & USN production (approx. 5,200 but scarce today) all these and subsequent models had two P&W R985 Wasp Jr. engines of 450 hp each.   C. Post-war civil D18S production (1035) and the very similar USAF & USN aircraft from the remanufacture program C-45H (900) and SNB-5 (1015, later redesignated UC-45J).   D. Civil Super E18S (460), G18S (156) & H18 (40) taildragger production.   E. Factory trigear H18 (109) and trigear conversions of E18S (68), G18S, (12), H18 (3), C-45H (99) miscellaneous models (19) & D18S (39) for a grand total of 350 trigear 18's.   F. Airframe modifications such as single vertical stabilizer, revised nose, extended nose, raised cabin, floats, wing tips and Engine modifications such as intake & exhaust changes, turboprop power or horizontally opposed engine power.   Distinguishing Features of the Categories   A. Pre-war usually had cowl bumps and most had distinctively round vertical tail surfaces.   A. & B. Pre-war and wartime production both had short & stubby overwing engine nacelles and the landing gear strut forks had a distinctive circular flat surface as the forks bent downward. The wing leading edge between the engines and fuselage continued at the same angle as outboard of the engines.   C. Post-war aircraft had longer overwing engine nacelles, new landing gear forks (rounded as fork bent downward) and new wheels and brakes. The wing leading edge at the inboard side of each engine nacelle was extended forward to a point about six inches ahead of where the earlier models attached to the nose section. Flush riveting was used on the nacelles, cowling and nacelle fairing as well as the nose section and on the leading edge of the top and bottom of the wings. The leading edge of the stabilizer was raised a degree and a half from its previous setting of 3.5 degrees negative to the longitudinal axis and full feathering Hamilton Standard Hydromatic 22D30 propellers were available.   D. & E. Super 18's have a higher cabin which meant the fuselage top came over the top of the horizontal stabilizer and that the cabin windows would be larger, different shaped eyebrow windows, different shaped nose, squared off wing tips, and new landing gear, wheels & brakes. However, to complicate model identification, many improvements were incorporated into earlier models through STC modifications. The only way to be certain of the original Beech 18 model is to ascertain its Beech c/n and model from the dataplate or records.   Pre-war & wartime 18's have a three or four digit Beech c/n (except for the prototype c/n 62).   Postwar Beech c/n's use a 1 or 2 letter prefix:   A D18S (A-1 to A-1035)   CA D18S (3N, 3NM, 3TM) Canadian RCAF production (CA-1 to CA-281)   AF C-45H (AF-1 to AF-900)   BA E18S (BA-1 to BA-460), G18S (BA-461 to BA-617), H18 (BA-618 to BA-765)   US Navy SNB-5 (UC-45J) models that were remanufactured, 1949-54, should still use their original 4 digit wartime production c/n but often the 5 digit US Navy BuA number is incorrectly quoted as the c/n.   Maximum Gross Weight Ranges Maximum gross weight ranges (numerous variables affect exact allowed maximum gross weight). Modification kits may increase the weights shown here.   A. Pre-war 6500 lbs to 7200 lbs   B. Wartime production 7660 lbs to 8727 lbs   C. Post-war civil D18S, C-45H and C-45J 8500 lbs to 9500 lbs   D. Super E18S, G18S & H18 taildragger 9300 lbs to 9900 lbs   E. Factory trigear H18 9900 lbs Ownership Consideration The following are considerations for prospective owners (no particular order):   1. Type of spar strap and x-ray history (# of yrs since last and # hrs since last x-ray)   2. Hamilton Standard 2 bladed props or Hartzell 3 bladed (light or heavy)   3. Thorough airframe and corrosion inspection   4. Thorough engine and propeller inspection   5. Good record of AD compliance and maintenance   6. History of damage   7. STC modifications that have been installed   8. History of use--freight operations for example     Beechcraft Heritage Museum P.O. Box 550 - Tullahoma, TN 37388 P:(931)455-1974 - F:(931)455-1994 museuminfo@beechcraftheritagemuseum.org   • • © 2007 Staggerwing Museum All Rights Reserved• • Please send Questions/Comments to webmaster@beechcraftheritagemuseum.org