The Beechcraft Model 38P Lightning was an experimental turboprop

Turboprop

A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...

 aircraft built and tested by Beechcraft

Beechcraft

Beechcraft is an American manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft, ranging from light single engine aircraft to business jets and light military transports. Previously a division of Raytheon, it has been a brand of Hawker Beechcraft since 2006....

 (now a division of Hawker Beechcraft

Hawker Beechcraft

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation is an aerospace manufacturing company that builds the Beechcraft and Hawker business jet lines of aircraft....

) in the 1980s.

History

The Model 38P (Pressurized) (also known as the model PD.336) was created by installing a Garrett AiResearch TPE-331

Garrett AiResearch TPE-331

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-9 engine in the nose of a Beechcraft Baron 58P

Beechcraft Baron

|-See also:- Further reading :*Harding, Stephen. U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947. Shrewsbury, UK:Airlife Publishing, 1990. ISBN 1-85310-102-8.*Michell, Simon. Jane's Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades 1994-95. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Information Group, 1994. ISBN 0-7106-1208-7.*Taylor, John W. R....

 fuselage, which was mated to a Beechcraft A36TC Bonanza

Beechcraft Bonanza

The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. , it is still being produced by Hawker Beechcraft, and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history...

 wing in place of the Baron's wing with two engines. This resulted in a low-wing aircraft with six seats including the pilot's. The aircraft flew for the first time on 14 June 1982. After 133 flights over almost 18 months the aircraft was temporarily grounded so that the TPE331 could be removed and a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6

The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history, and is produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. The PT6 family is particularly well known for its extremely high reliability, with MTBO's on the order of 9000 hours in some models. In US military use, they...

A-40 engine fitted in its place. The aircraft flew in this configuration for the first time on 9 March 1984 and the last flight was on 8 August the same year. Beechcraft originally planned to put the Lightning into production but the economic downturn among general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 manufacturers in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the 1980s led to the project being shelved shortly after the first flight with PT6A power.

See also