Beechcraft 34 Twin Quad

The Twin Quad was an unpressurized, 20-passenger entrant into the feeder-line market. The name ‘Twin Quad’ came from the two horizontally-opposed, 400hp (300kW) Lycoming GSO-580 engines buried transversely in each wing to drive a single propeller through a common gearbox. The Twin Quad also had a V-tail similar in shape to that of the Bonanza. The first flight of the prototype was on October 1, 1947, at Wichita, Kansas. Following more than a year of flight testing, it was damaged beyond economical repair in a forced landing. By then, Beech had learned that the feeder-line market could not support a new design. Even had there, the unique powerplant installation would have required considerable development to achieve the reliability needed for airline service.