Beechcraft Lightning

The Beechcraft Model 38P Lightning was an experimental pressurized turboprop aircraft that Beechcraft built and tested in the 1980s. It was created by fitting a Garrett AiResearch TPE-331-9 engine in the nose of a Baron 58P fuselage and joining that fuselage to the wing of a B36TC Bonanza instead of the Baron twin-engine wing, which gave a low-wing aircraft with six seats including the pilot. It first flew on 14 June 1982, and after more than a hundred flights the engine was replaced with a Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-40, the configuration that made its last flight on 8 August 1984. Beechcraft planned to put it into production, but a downturn among United States general aviation manufacturers led to the project being shelved, and deposits collected by dealers were returned.