Beech H18   N 22XL                                               (c/n BA-652)

                                       

                                           The last version of the "Twin-Beech" to be produced was the Model H.  Production of this faithful
                                           old aircraft ceased in 1969.  Towards the end of the production cycle Beech purpose built the
                                           tricycle landing gear model themselves.   These first appeared as conversions done by both Volpar
                                           and Pacific Airmotive in the late 1950s, early 1960s.   So successful were they (commercially) that
                                           Beech actually ramped up and converted the original tail dragger design on the production line. 
                                           Several Beech H18s were built as tail draggers, however.     Frankly I always thought they looked
                                           a bit unwieldy (tail heavy?) and often wonder at the efficacy of the mod.    Surely the nose wheel
                                           and its retracting mechanism must have weighed a lot more than the tail wheel?
                                           N22XL, seen here at Camarillo in 2000 was a 1964 model.  The inscription over the cabin
                                           windows reads "For Sale" with a phone numbers.  Presumably a brokers.     It suffered some
                                           fairly extensive damage on 23 November 2003 at Carroll County Airport Regional Airport,
                                          Maryland when the port wing dipped and loss of lift resulted in its coming to rest in a ravine.
                                          It was, however, repaired in 2004 and flew again until ts final cancellation from the register in
                                          March 2008.