Page 9 - Volume 18 Number 8

In civilian use, the T-50 seated five, three on a rear bench and two forward, with 300-pounds of baggage allowed in an aft compartment, reached by a door on the left fuselage side, or by folding the rear seat forward. Boarding required a tall step onto the left wingroot, entering through a door between the seating areas. Price was just under $30,000, a considerable sum in 1940 but very competitive; indeed, there really wasn’t another airplane in the twin Cessna’s class at the time.The T-50 was originally certificated with the 245-hp Jacobs L4MB seven-cylinder radial engine, using fixed-pitch wood propellers, but most military examples were fitted with Hamilton-Standard 2B20 constant-speed props when they were available, particularly when the 300-hp Lycoming R-680-E3 or Jacobs R755A2 engines were installed, options that made it a much better performer. Gross weight was initially 5,100 pounds, increasing to 5,700 pounds with some wing strengthening.The maingear and flaps were electrically operated through chain-drive systems, with a manual handcrank backup provided for the gear. Because most training fields were sod, big 8.50 x 10 maingear tires were used; theyAUGUST 2014TWIN & TURBINE • 7