Silhouette traced from a photo · source · CC BY-SA 2.0
Beechcraft · Turboprop
Beechcraft 99 Airliner (99, A99, B99, C99)
Beech's first turboprop airliner, between the piston Queen Air and the pressurized 1900; the C99 was the final version.
The Beech 99 hauls about 3,600 lb of cargo on proven Pratt & Whitney PT6 engines for a modest price, but wing fatigue limits, airline-style inspections and an unpressurized cabin make it a freight tool, not a private aircraft.
Buy it if
You run or are starting a cargo, mail or skydiving operation, need about 3,600 lb of lift into regional airports, and can support a formal inspection program with maintenance people who know the type.
Skip it if
You want a personal or executive aircraft. The cabin is unpressurized, almost none trade publicly, and a King Air 90 or 100 gives the same PT6 engines with far more comfort and resale.
Biggest compromise
Structural life. On the 99 through B99, FAA rules require wing spar inspections every 500 hours and new lower spar caps and attach fittings every 10,000 hours, and advertised examples show 52,000 to 70,000 landings.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$463K–$468K
guide value (PlanePhD)
What it costs per year
$562K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
911 nm
250–700 nm with passengers
How fast
249 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
15
15 commuter seats, or a cargo floor
Pilots needed
1
No type rating needed; one pilot for cargo, two for commercial flights with ten or more passenger seats.
Price
What one costs to buy
Guide value
$463K–$468K
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
No Beech 99 for sale shows a public price. PlanePhD values 1968–1969 examples near $463,000–468,000; wing life and engine times swing real prices widely.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
Beechcraft 99 Airliner (99, A99, B99, C99) · This aircraft
$463K–$468K guide
Guide value, not a listed asking price.
The least expensive here; next up is the DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 100, 200 and 300.
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, airframe maintenance, engine reserve and propeller overhauls rise as you fly more. One professional pilot, recurrent training, hangar, insurance and subscriptions stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
- One professional pilot$110,00020%
- Recurrent training$15,0003%
- Hangar$36,0006%
- Insurance$25,0004%
- Subscriptions$7,5001%
- Fuel$186,75033%
- Airframe maintenance$105,00019%
- Engine reserve$71,40013%
- Propeller overhauls$5,5001%
Fuel is the biggest single cost at 33% of the total.
The JetGrade
64 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 / 200 / 300, Dornier 228-100 / 200, BAe Jetstream 31 / 32, Beechcraft 1900C
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on running costs, weakest on value & resale.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-08.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Depends on weight or weather
Fuel stop likely
1 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.4 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop, well within range
- 3.2 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · High terrain; oxygen, weight and weather limits
- 4.2 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Beyond four-passenger range with full reserves
- 4.9 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · Needs one stop, typically in the Carolinas
- 6.2 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Needs one stop, typically mid-route
- 10.7 hr
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Needs at least two fuel stops
Lineage
What came before and after
Beechcraft Model 18
Piston Twin Beech the 99 was designed to replace.
Beechcraft Queen Air
Piston twin that supplied the 99's wing and fuselage design.
1968–1986
Beech 99 / A99 / B99 / C99 Airliner
Unpressurized 15-seat turboprop commuter, built in two production runs.
What changed from the Beechcraft Queen Air
- King Air PT6A turboprops replaced the Queen Air's piston engines.
- Stretched Queen Air fuselage with a longer nose to balance the long cabin.
- Up to 15 single passenger seats either side of a center aisle, unpressurized.
- Electrically adjustable horizontal stabilizer to handle a wide loading range.
- C99 raised maximum takeoff weight to 11,300 lb from the original 10,400 lb.
- C99 engines are flat-rated at 715 horsepower, up from 550 on the first 99.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
Beechcraft 99 Airliner (99, A99, B99, C99)
- JetGrade
- 64
- Price
- $463K–$468K guide
- Cost per year
- $562K
- Range
- 911 nm
- Speed
- 249 kt
- Seats
- 15
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1968–1986
← Before
Beechcraft Queen Air
Not yet graded
After →
- JetGrade
- 66
- Cost per year
- $938K
- Range
- 1,425 nm
- Speed
- 275 kt
- Seats
- 19
- Cabin length
- 25′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1984–1991
Alternative
DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 100, 200 and 300
- JetGrade
- 66
- Price
- $1.42M–$1.42M guide
- Cost per year
- $772K
- Range
- 700 nm
- Speed
- 182 kt
- Seats
- 19
- Cabin length
- 18′ 5″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1965–1988
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 76
- Price
- $1.99M
- Cost per year
- $442K
- Range
- 1,163 nm
- Speed
- 184 kt
- Seats
- 9
- Cabin length
- 16′ 9″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1986–2012
- Beechcraft 1900C instead: The natural step up: pressurized, 19 seats or far more cargo space, flown by the same freight operators, at higher operating cost.
- DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 / 200 / 300 instead: Slower, but a true short-field and float-capable utility twin with strong factory support and a deeper resale market.
- Cessna Grand Caravan 208B instead: One PT6 engine, lower running costs and easy resale for thinner routes that do not need twin-engine lift.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 (C99); PT6A-20, -27 or -28 on earlier versions · 715 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Nose gear fork inspection · 200 hr
- Elevator spar inspection · 400 hr
- Wing front spar inspection · 500 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 3,000 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,600 hr
- Wing spar cap replacement · 10,000 hr
- Wing attach bolt inspection every 60 months
Hourly engine plan eligibility for these older PT6A models varies; confirm overhaul history, hot section records and any reserve that transfers with the sale.
Known issues
Wing spar fatigue life
On the 99 through B99, lower spar caps and fittings need inspections every 500 hours and replacement at 10,000 hours.
Very high airframe cycles
Freight flying piles up landings; advertised examples show about 52,000 and 70,000, so structural records matter more than hours.
Elevator and trim history
Many directives cover the elevator, trim and controls; a September 2026 FAA bulletin flags corrosion inside the elevator torque shaft.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
Textron Aviation still holds the type certificate and issues service documents, PT6 engines have worldwide support, and specialist shops handle Beech 99 structural inspections and wing-life work.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Carries about 3,600 lb of freight through a 50-inch-square cargo door, with roughly 450 cubic feet of usable space.
- Two Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprops, 715 horsepower each on the C99, with worldwide parts and overhaul support.
- Weighs 11,300 lb or less, so pilots need no type rating, and it is approved for known icing when equipped.
Limitations
- Unpressurized: above 12,500 feet the crew needs oxygen, so most flights stay low, in weather and icing.
- With all 15 seats filled, we estimate practical range with standard fuel reserves at only about 250 nautical miles.
- No retail market: we found no Beech 99 for sale with a public price in October 2026.
The Beechcraft 99 Airliner was Beech's first purpose-built turboprop commuter airliner. Designed in the mid-1960s to replace the piston Twin Beech, it paired a stretched Queen Air fuselage and wing with the PT6A turboprop engines and nacelles of the King Air. The FAA certified it in May 1968, and Beech built 239 in two runs: the original 99, 99A and B99 through the mid-1970s, then the heavier C99 after the line reopened in 1980. The pressurized 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 replaced it in Beech's airline lineup.
Pilot's take
The Beech 99 flies like a long Queen Air with turbine power: stable, honest and quick to climb. Its weak points are loading and pitch. The long cabin moves the center of gravity aft quickly, and a 1989 accident in Sweden followed flap extension at high power with the aircraft loaded too far aft, so weight and balance discipline is essential. The elevator and trim systems carry a long history of directives. Unpressurized and often flown single-pilot at night in winter, it demands icing judgment and real instrument skill. No type rating is required, which is why so many freight pilots logged their first turbine captain time in its left seat.
Who this is for
Cargo and mail operators, feeder carriers for parcel networks and skydiving centers with an approved jump door: buyers who value cheap twin-turboprop lift over comfort and who already run an inspection program.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Beech 99 / A99 / B99 / C99 Airliner.
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