RivetBangers.com

OK, this is way OT, but I'd appreciate any feedback on my current plan to buy a 1974 Beach Sport. I don't know anything about them, never flown one. Been browsing all the usual sites and found one for sale. The good, the bad, the ugly on this thing? If you're curious about the specific bird, it's in Vegas, and listed on ebay and at least one of the standard airplane classifieds sites.

I've about given up on ever building my RV-7A. Currently lusting after the RV-14, but still don't have as much time, money, and space as I think it would require.

Hi - I'm a regional director of the Beech Aero Club, which is the type club for these "Baby Beech" aircraft. I own and fly a Beech Super III, which is a Sport with a 200 HP engine.

I have a friend who owns a 1974 Sport. It's a great plane.

There is tons of info at www.beechaeroclub.org - well worth the $50 annual membership. I joined before I bought my 1st Beech.

Summary is that these planes are incredibly well built, fly awesome. Very balanced and solid in the air. A truly great instrument platform. Low cost to own and maintain if you know the tricks (see website above). There are a couple of mechanical gotchas... but nothing bad. The worst one is the underfloor ducts and "your" model doesn't have those.

You hear lots of stuff about how hard they are to land. That is totally untrue. They have trailing link landing gear and rubber donuts. Works great if you replace the donuts every 20 years or so.

These planes are super solid - much stronger than a Cessna (or an RV). The Spar is literally an I-beam.

The only downside is speed - because they are roomier (more frontal area) they tend to be slower. I prefer comfort anyway and the solid roomy feel is like a Bonanza!

PM me and we can email about these planes if you want any details.

So funny that you bring this up. My search towards a family aircraft has put the Sierra nearly square at the top of the list for many different reasons. I joined beachaero a month or so ago and have found a bunch of good info.

I would say that if this line interests you go forth. I really haven't found people with bad experiences and the only complaint seems to be how slow they are, generally made by people who don't own or fly them. Which I find funny as the Sierra's seem to fly just as fast as the Arrow that I fly and people don't malign the Arrow's. Honestly my take is that the biggest problem for this line of aircraft is that they are living in the shadow of the Bonanza.

I say go forth.

John

The Super is nearly the same as the Sierra, but with fixed gear. Mine has 3 doors (2 front + baggage). It has just over 1000# of useful load. It is about a 125 KTAS airplane. The Sierra are about 10+ knots faster, due to the gear.

There aren't many Supers around. I think only 171 or so on the registry.

One concern I have with this particular plane is that it hasn't been flown much lately. Less than 700 SMOH, but that was 20 years ago. And only 80 hours in the last five years, since current owner acquired it. Don't bad things happen to engines in planes that aren't flown much?

Yes - sitting around is bad for airplanes. Mine hadn't moved in 28 years. Every piece of rubber on the plane from tires to hoses and O-rings had to be replaced. The usual problem is the camshaft inside the engine.

It is mounted up high and if the oil drains off of it, it can rust. Then when the engine is run the rust on it (and the followers that rub on it) will cause the cam to very slowly fail. It isn't scary - the engine just gradually loses power as the cam is ground down.

You can easily check for this by having a cylinder removed and looking at the cam. If the plane you are looking at is in a dry climate (Vegas?) you might be fine. Shockingly, the engine in my Super had no significant internal corrosion after 28 years in Iowa, which is NOT a dry climate. Being in a dry hangar probably saved it. I chose to overhaul the engine anyway - even though it had only 628 hours on it. For me it was the right choice.

I'm aware of another baby Beech that has just been brought back to life after sitting maybe 7 years. They rebuilt the engine accessories (mags, fuel injection, etc.) but the engine itself is fine.

Have the rest of the plane checked for corrosion too. Especially areas that water can get in. If the plane has been outside in rain the worst areas are at the lower edges of the windows, especially below the windshield at the top of the firewall (inside).

Good Luck!

I am also looking at a Sport that has been sitting for 5-7 years. The owner has had it sitting outside and for reasons known only by him has had the wing and tail tips removed for the duration. I know this isn't good as it lets the rain and birds in. Is this something that I should just check very carefully or just walk away from? Oh, the aircraft is located in the northeast.

I got mixed reviews about the plane I was considering, from various people. A fellow RB'er hooked me up with a guy local to me who owns a Sierra and is familiar with the Musketeer line. The thing he said that put me off the B19 idea was that these planes were minimally powered when made, and now that they're running on 100LL they can barely get off the ground if they're loaded or it's hot. We're talking climbs of 50 ft/min.