這架1956年造的E18S, 於1965年以 PAC Aero Turbo Tradewind 的改裝套件改造成前3點及渦輪螺旋槳發動機. 1966年華航買進後, 於越南從事特種任務.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/154191970@N03/31231173178
https://www.airhistory.net/photo/188909/N25SM
https://www.airhistory.net/photo/141026/C-FRGT
華航Beechcraft E-18S/ PAC Aero Turbo Tradewind B-1530 見 00:41
BA-154 E18S -9700
N48W (1
Tulsair Distributors Inc, Tulsa OK 16.5.56
Norango Inc 16.5.56/57
Flight Service Inc 30.1.57/58
The Ridge Tool Co 26.1.59/60
(modified 5.59 to E18S-9700)
Hanover Shoe Farms Inc, Hanover PA 6.5.60/64
PacAero Turbo Tradewind
N6651R (2
Pacific Airmotive Corp, Burbank CA 28.9.64
Pacific Airmotive Corp, Burbank CA 11.64/67
(converted by PacAero to Turbo Tradewind with
PT-6A-6s, Volpar trigear, single fin: flight testing 10.65,
completed 25.7.66)
Continental Air Services, Laos 66
Boun Oum Airways, Laos
Ken Air Inc 4.10.67
B-1530
China Airlines, Taipei 4.10.67/73
N40AP
Sizer Airways, Rochester MN 18.6.73
Aveneles Aviation, Las Vegas NV 28.6.74/76
(cargo floor & cabin cargo door installed 9.75,
cockpit door installed 1.76)
N25SM
Aveneles Aviation, Las Vegas NV 27.2.76/78
Oliver Smith/ Umiat Enterprises, Van Nuys CA 10.78/79
(op. as Alaska Umiat Enterprises)
Union Flights, Sacramento CA 2.4.79/91
Ministic Air Ltd, Winnipeg MAN 29.4.91
sold to Canada, struck-off USCR 1.5.91
C-FRGT
Ministic Air Ltd, Winnipeg MAN 14.5.91/00
undershot on landing approach, crashed on frozen lake,
Little Grand Rapids MAN 5.2.92
K & K Aircraft Inc, Bridgewater VA .92/98
(salvaged ex lake crash site by K&K, stored at
Bridgewater for spares use)
This aircraft? or possibly Tradewind AF-831/N9981Z/HS-SKA?
- In early 1967, CIA was preparing a programme of surveillance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail:
Air America planned to use its Volpar Turbo 18s, also bidding for the contract was Boun Oum Airways (BOA) owned by Laotian prince Boun Oum: since 1965 BOA had expanded
when Continental Air Service (CASI) loaned it 2 PA18s, 2 C-47s, a second Dornier Do28 and a Beech Tradewind conversion: none of BOA's aircraft carried any airline logo and aircraft and their Thai pilots were integrated with CASI by early 1967;
- As part of the overall shift of CIA paramilitary programmes to the US Dept of Defense, covert operations in Vietnam were turned over to a new Saigon-based Special Operations Group (SOG)
controlled by the Pentagon from January 1964. Under SOG, infiltratiion missions into North Vietnam were to continue, using Chinese Air Force C-123Bs with ECM gear flown by Chinese and SVNAF
crews, plus C-46s. From 1966 two unmarked China Airlines aircraft, a C-47 & Beech C-45 plus crews, were contracted by SOG for flights within South Vietnam. The C-45 was used primarily by the SOG commander and other senior personnel. The following year the C-45 was found to be unairworthy and was replaced by a modified PAC Tradewind effective 1.9.67;
- In June 1971 the Tradewind had been replaced by a C-46, which was used for SOG passenger flights. The C-46 hit a mountain 5.6.72 in Central Highlands, killing 11 Americans,1 South Vietnamese and 6 Chinese. After this, the remaining CAL crew returned to Taiwan, bringing to an end this secret chapter of Republic of China participation in the Vietnam War;
- Parmerter p.375: "The prototype Tradewind N9981Z was operating in SE Asia in late 1966 for Continental Air Services Inc, then with Boun Oum Airways (owned by Laotian Prince Boun Oum) then then for Sahakol Air in Thailand as HS-SKA. Its fate is unknown".
- photo of B-1530 in Taiwan: Tradewind single tail, trigear, E18S type fuselage, 4 square cabin windows: by 1979 N25SM had middle two windows extended to one long vista window + 2 standard windows;
N6651R noted Burbank 6.5.66,
N6651R noted Burbank CA 6.8.66 Turbo Tradewind, plate BA-154;
N25SM noted Bakersfield Air Park CA 8.76 Trigear Turbo Tradewind, plate BA-154;
N25SM noted Mojave CA 8.76 Turbo Tradewind;
N25SM noted Van Nuys CA 18.10.78 Tradewind;
N25SM photo (no date) in Alaska (looks like Fairbanks:GG) Turbo Tradewind trigear
"Umiat Alaska - Umiat Enterprises" titles above windows;
N25SM photo with titles "Alaska Umiat Enterprises";
Text from "beech18-part-4.pdf" page 47
另請參見 "半世紀來航空迷的視界" 一書, 13章 美國畢琪公司 Beech D-18/C-45 運輸機 文良彥 頁151
留言列表
