Beechcraft U-21 Ute

The Beechcraft U-21 Ute is an American utility aircraft built by Beechcraft for the United States Army. It began as a re-engined turboprop version of the Queen Air: in 1963 Beechcraft fitted a Model 65-80 Queen Air with two Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-6 turboprops as the Model 87, a proof of concept for the King Air, and its Army designation moved from L-23G to NU-8F and then YU-21. The Army awarded a production contract for the U-21A in October 1966, an aircraft that kept the unpressurized Queen Air fuselage and added the wings, tail and undercarriage of the King Air, carrying up to ten passengers in troop transport configuration. Some were built or modified for signals intelligence as the RU-21, and many were sold to civil buyers as military surplus after the Army retired them.