Beech Sport 411

Ventucky Red

Ventucky Red

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Anyone have skivvy on the Beechacraft Sport B19? 1976 to be exact?

My brief knowledge is they are a bit slow, have some costly gear maintenance issues, but other wise a solid plane... Any other reason why they are not as popular as the same year Piper or Cessna.

Have a friend the just got his private and want to build time and get the IFR...
 
Yup, slow. Most in the fleet are in need of new donuts (landing gear shock disks, very similar to Mooney). Super solid build, very roomy, and two doors!! Was partners on a sport before buying my sundowner.

Wouldn't give up the shoulder room or pilot side door for anything. Just come to terms with being slow, and you'll be fine...
 
Brad Haggett said:
Head over to www.beechaeroclub.org and find out all you want to know.
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Plus one on beechaeroclub. I have a few hunnert hours in the baby beaches. Even own one. A sprout is a fine steed. Slow enough that you'll need a relief bottle, roomey enough to use it.


Gear issues are really just rumors anymore. Most parts are easy to find or make. O320 is the weak point, if that tells you anything. Hang a bullet proof engine on a sihtbrickhouse... Expensive, fast, strong? Beech picked two of the three for the baby Beeches some say, and not the usual 3.

They didn't sell very well because their marketing department didn't know how to sell to anyone other than ones with lots of disposable income. They couldn't sell Joe a bag of donuts. But they could sell the doctor the promise that he'll need a King Air just as soon as he needs an oil change in his Bo'.
 
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But I though owning a Beechcraft meant you were automatically considered fast?
 
AKBill said:
:lol::lol:
I think @Eric Stoltz summed it up pretty good, fast is not part of the equation for the baby Beaches...:rolleyes:
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There is a Sundowner in my hanger and it has not moved in 3 years. My MX took a gander when I said I might make the guy a low, low ball offer and make it my toy. He said as my MX, please do! But as your friend, don't. When he hand turned the prop, you could hear the squeek of the pistons moving. At least it is hangared, right?
 
Unit74 said:
When he hand turned the prop, you could hear the squeek of the pistons moving. At least it is hangared, right?
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It's good practice to not turn the prop if the engine has sat for an extended time. The cylinders will rust and the rings have a good chance of breaking as the rust is being scraped off the cylinder walls. It is possible to remove cylinders hone and re-ring the pistons. Just saying.
 
AKBill said:
It's good practice to not turn the prop if the engine has sat for an extended time. The cylinders will rust and the rings have a good chance of breaking as the rust is being scraped off the cylinder walls. It is possible to remove cylinders hone and re-ring the pistons. Just saying.
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Yea, but if the jugs are orange, the possibility for the rest of the guts to be rusty is high. MMO and run it 10 hours are recheck? :popcorn:
 
This one was a B19 Sport 150, last flew out of Lexington in 2015 (FlightAware) now appears to be deregistered. It showed 130 mph so looks like you're spot on. Still, that's 15-20 mph faster than my SloHawk by comparison.
 
I have a 1981 Sundowner and have not been able to bring myself to sell it even though I don't fly it much anymore and have moved on to another primary airplane. In my opinion, you should look for a Sundowner with the O360 180hp engine, or even better a Sierra with the 200hp IO360.

This is a great airframe and yes, the large cabin and two doors will forever spoil you and permanently affect what you look for in future airplanes.

Beech built a great entry level airplane but just didn't know what to do with it. That was just not in their area of marketing expertise, not to mention that Cessna and Piper got a big head start on them.
 
I'm doing gear donuts on the Sport this winter. Going to be a big job and not cheep. $1,000 per gear, but as far as I can tell from the logs it's the first time they will be changed. Plane is a 1974 so that's $66/year and I have owned it for 23 years. 1/2 its life..:)

I'm guessing 1 gear per day. I'll pay myself a 6 pack at the end of the day for labor..;)
 
Eric Stoltz said:
O320 is the weak point, if that tells you anything. Hang a bullet proof engine on a sihtbrickhouse...
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With the exception of the 160 HP O-320 engine, I have always thought that the Lycoming O-320 to be a bullet proof engine.... I know of a few Cherokees and 172 where the engines have been flown well beyond their TBO with minimal maintainence.. What am I missing here Eric?

And, thanks for your earlier reply
 
I inquired about one recently and was struck at how bad the payload was. Comparatively made a Cherokee 140 seem like a 206. Did I come across an oddball or is this common? Something like 580lb, and with those big tanks sucking up over half of it...
 
@Ventucky Red i think that was Eric’s point. A compliment to the plane since the “bullet proof” engine is the weakest part.

@Todd82 i don’t think many fill the tanks to preserve useful load. But it is a heavier airframe with the same 150 or 180 horse engine. Makes sense to me the useful load would be lower. I’ve seen a few sports for sale with the rear seats removed.
 
AKBill said:
I'm doing gear donuts on the Sport this winter. Going to be a big job and not cheep. $1,000 per gear, but as far as I can tell from the logs it's the first time they will be changed. Plane is a 1974 so that's $66/year and I have owned it for 23 years. 1/2 its life..:)

I'm guessing 1 gear per day. I'll pay myself a 6 pack at the end of the day for labor..;)
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My Mooney uses the same rubber doughnuts and they're a hundred bucks each. About 300 a gear leg, thousand if I do them all.
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
@Todd82 i don’t think many fill the tanks to preserve useful load. But it is a heavier airframe with the same 150 or 180 horse engine. Makes sense to me the useful load would be lower. I’ve seen a few sports for sale with the rear seats removed.
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Thanks. I was just a bit shocked to see something a good bit worse than a Cherokee 140 which is like the gold standard for "faux four seaters"
 
steingar said:
My Mooney uses the same rubber doughnuts and they're a hundred bucks each. About 300 a gear leg, thousand if I do them all.
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Yah, Beech/Textron really does not want to support the older Musketeers. 8 donuts per leg, my price close to $1100 per gear. Glad for you that Mooney is a little more realistic on the price...
 
Cuz and I went an looked at the Beech Sport yesterday and I will say it is a solid little plane... why this didn't take off on the trainer market at the time is a wonder to me... He is also compensating the Sundowner too and we'll be looking at one next weekend..

Anyone her know if there are any major AD for this scooter?
 
iflyvfr said:
This one was a B19 Sport 150, last flew out of Lexington in 2015 (FlightAware) now appears to be deregistered. It showed 130 mph so looks like you're spot on. Still, that's 15-20 mph faster than my SloHawk by comparison.
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Not sure I’d believe that. I’ve always heard they are 100-105kt airplanes and markedly slower than even a Skyhawk.

Heck, the Sundowner is like a 110kt plane.
 
Bonchie said:
Not sure I’d believe that. I’ve always heard they are 100-105kt airplanes and markedly slower than even a Skyhawk.

Heck, the Sundowner is like a 110kt plane.
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That is just about what the owner said...,. it is about as fast as the the two seat trainer...(aamof he had a very nice Beech Skipper in the hanger too that he is keepring..) but very comfortable and very stable..
 
I love Baby Beeches. I've owned two.

I've never seen a Beech Sport with a useful load above ~760#. Given that it can tanker 360# in fuel (or tabs for 180# or slots for 240#) it's at best a 105kt 2-up airplane with occasional 3-up work when limiting fuel.

The earlier one-door Musketeers do better, usually in the 900-950# range. The goofball IO-346 engine is hated by everyone, but the planes are usually even cheaper than Sports and you can find those motors around all over. They fly nicely. The early Mice come in O-320 and O-360 flavors as well which are honest planes.

The Sundowner is nice if you like the two doors. More expensive because it's a few years newer. I never understood the market's view on them.

The ultimate, though, is the A23-24 Super Musketeer with the IO-360. Usually only with one door, but the second door version is out there. I can't imagine a better plane in the 30-40K price segment.

They're all, as a group, about 10kts slower than the comparably-horsepowered piper, and often at the same or slightly less cost.


My first plane was a Sundowner. Due to, ahem, reasons I had to land it into a very stout steel livestock fence post, about 4" square. No shoulder harnesses. She took the hit right in the main fuel tank, yawed 90 degrees around it, then slid about 100 feet to rest. Not a scratch on me or my 2 companions. They're very stout aircraft.
 
I own a 1981 Sundowner as a "second" aircraft. The only reason I still have it is that I can't bear to sell it. It is that great of an airplane. My 21 year old son got his PPL in it and I told my wife I would sell it after he got his license, but I can't bring myself to do it. Now I have talked him into going ahead with his Instrument rating so I can have an excuse to keep it.

These are great airplanes that are under appreciated by the market. They were never marketed well by Beech, and Beech half-heartily marketed them because of the Bonanza which made them and their dealers a whole lot more money than a trainer ever could.

But if you like a big airplane, pilot's side door, a Lycoming O-360, and over engineering (and the corresponding penalty in weight and speed), then this is a great airplane to look at.
 
Took lessons in a Sport and found it to be very comfortable with good handling—compared to the 150/152 and Cherokees. I was very impressed with the overall solid feel of the Sport. If speed isn’t a top priority, enjoy the comfort and quality that the lower end of the Beech line offers. Yes, it will probably cost you more to fly it, but flying is expensive no matter what route you take so you might as well fly comfortably!
 
Looked like the best dead thread to bump for this topic...

Beech 19's with the 150hp... I get that they're slow even compared to a Cherokee 140 with the wider cabin and all that makes sense, but are they also runway hogs and poor climbers? Any climb prop/cruise prop type mods?
 
I get a chuckle out of the "slow airplane" complaint.
How fast is fast enough?
If you are flying for business, meh, maybe you need to go faaaaaaast. That's what spam cans are for. That's even arguable. Leave sooner, come back later.
If you are flying for fun, and time means something, as long as the plane goes fast enough to make up for preflight, fuel stops, tie down and the last few miles by other transport, and still be faster than your car, you are ahead of the game.
If you are flying for the love of flying, as long as you are faster then Vs and slower than Vne, life is good.
I've been known to spend an entire day flying from place to place, stopping long enough to top off, leave a leak, eat a sandwich under the wing, and never arriving at my actual "destination".
Aviation as meditation?
 
Honestly I only commented on slow to cut through all the bird strike on the trailing edge nonsense that POA likes.
 
Shepherd said:
I get a chuckle out of the "slow airplane" complaint.
How fast is fast enough?
If you are flying for business, meh, maybe you need to go faaaaaaast. That's what spam cans are for. That's even arguable. Leave sooner, come back later.
If you are flying for fun, and time means something, as long as the plane goes fast enough to make up for preflight, fuel stops, tie down and the last few miles by other transport, and still be faster than your car, you are ahead of the game.
If you are flying for the love of flying, as long as you are faster then Vs and slower than Vne, life is good.
I've been known to spend an entire day flying from place to place, stopping long enough to top off, leave a leak, eat a sandwich under the wing, and never arriving at my actual "destination".
Aviation as meditation?
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***How fast is fast enough?***
:dunno:

***as long as you are faster then Vs and slower than Vne, life is good***
:yeahthat:

I don't make my living from aviation, and I certainly understand that for those who do "time is money".
I am fortunate to fly for fun, not food (although what I spend on aviation certainly risks impoverishment and creating enduring scarcity on the dining table at times).

I am finding the fewer years I have left on this orb, the less in a hurry I seem to be when I am going someplace in the plane though.
 
Owned my 1974 B-19 since 1996. It has slowly taken me across most of the US and Canada. 2 folks and full fuel works but as stated the climb rate is less than staller. The Sport has taken me to some amazing places, and helps fulfill my love of flying.

The airframe is built like a brick **it house. I would prefer a 180hp Sundowner essentially the same airframe. 2 doors makes a nice addition to the comfort of a small single....:rolleyes:
 
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