The reverse pitch prop equipped Beach Baron was a very nimble aircraft; you could set down and stop very quickly.
Anyway, I was curious to know if you had any solid recollection of a reverse pitch propped Beach Baron?
I'd be curious to know, in detail, a list of the aircraft used at Mena; and in particular, any technical extras you may recall, special features, etc., of each aircraft; no A/C no.'s, please.
No recollection at all of any small aircraft not designed from the factory with reverse pitch props. I can land and stop a normal Baron (say 20 seconds) in much less distance than it can take off in. This is true of most aircraft. Especially the small ones. For that reason, I can see why there would be little demand for such an innovation.
As for aircraft we had at Mena...2 Piper Navajo's with Panther conversions almost identical. These had illegal cargo door installations which enabled the "kicker" to remove and bring the whole door inside the aircraft. We had a internal bladder fuel tank connected into the crossfeed fuel system. We had nacelle and nose fuel tanks. We had 2 JATO bottles connected on the aft lower fuselage. We had HF radio, VLF Omega, Loran, a fuel computer, a skyscope, an encrypted "ringer" that would transmitt LF or VHF, hand held encrypted two-way radios off of the scanner bands, beacon radars, night vision goggles, top of the line (for the time) dual navigation, flight, and communications electronics and a few other goodies. 2 Piper Senecas outfitted much the same as the Navajos but for the conversion, JATO, and cargo doors. This was the base of our fleet and the Seneca's were basically obsoleted by the Navajos. We also had an old Convair and Albatross which were never used, but sat parked on the apron. Late in the game, we had the Fat Lady (C-123) which was used twice before it was sold back to Doan. We had other aircraft and helicopters, but they weren't kept at Mena...though occasionally they went there.