Lost Wings is FLYING’s ongoing look back at aircraft that once captured pilots’ imaginations but faded quietly from the flightline. These machines—some bold experiments, others everyday workhorses—represent the restless innovation and craftsmanship that shaped general aviation’s past. Each installment revisits a design that aimed high, flew well, and, for one reason or another, slipped into history.
When Beechcraft introduced the Model 60 Duke in 1968, it set out to bridge the gap between the company’s successful Baron and its entry-level turboprop, the King Air. The result was a piston twin with jet-age style, pressurized comfort, and enough complexity to challenge even seasoned operators.
The Duke was not a timid airplane. Powered by a pair of turbocharged 380-HP Lycoming TIO-541 engines, each producing 380 hp. A 4.7-psi cabin differential provided a comfortable cabin altitude of about 10,000 feet while cruising near 24,000 feet, a rarity in the piston-twin world of the time.
