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The Accidental Airliner July 2019
An enormously successful Commuter Airliner program was certainly not the objective when Ed Swearingen first mated a new pressurized fuselage to Beech Queen Air wings, and twin Bonanza landing gear. The result was the SA26 Merlin. Its original Lycoming Engines were quickly replaced by P&W PT6s, and shortly thereafter, Garrett TPE 331s, to create the Merlin IIs. The Merlin IIs were essentially seen as competitors to the King Air 90, and 87 of the IIs were built.
In 1972 the Merlin III was introduced with new wings, nacelles and landing gear. This model was ultimately stretched to create the Merlin IV, and the Metro commuter liner version. Although initial sales were mostly for the Merlin IV, it's not entirely fair to refer to the airliner as an accident. More accurately an unexpectedly favorable development. The Metro simply clobbered the Beech 99 and Twin Otters that were in service at the time with speed and pressurization.
The development costs had depleted Swearingen 's funds, resulting in a buyout by Fairchild, which was better equipped to develop the airliner sales as well as corporate market.
The rest as they say, is history with over 600 metros sold, serving airlines world wide. Following are cards of Metroliners, and a few of its predecessors. |
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