2-839-553 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

N80040; four-seat, single-engine, "V-tail" general aviation and business aircraft; William P. Odom flew "Waikiki Beech" on a record-breaking Honolulu to Teterboro, New Jersey flight, March 6-8, 1949. Continental E-165 engine; low-wing, tricycle gear design. The classic Beechcraft Bonanza was introduced in 1947 and is still built today by Textron Aviation. The four-place aircraft sported all-metal construction and retractable landing gear for the sophisticated or executive pilot. Initially designed with the distinctive butterfly or V tail--a conventional tail model was offered too--it was the basis for later Beech aircraft. On March 7-8, 1949, William P. Odom set a light-plane, nonstop distance record from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Teterboro, New Jersey, in the Waikiki Beech (see markings on left side), the fourth Bonanza built. Congressman Peter F. Mack flew the renamed Friendship Flame on a goodwill world flight from October 7, 1951 to April 19, 1952 (see markings on right side).