Beech 18/Hamilton Westwind

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask, but does anyone know where the Hamilton Westwind originated? I've read that Hamilton bought the programme in 1970 from a "Mr West" but can't find anything more. Thanks very much.

 

[riggerrob]

I must have 1,000 skydives from Beech 18s. Most of them were from stock RCAF or USAF-surplus Beech 18s/C-45 Expeditors.

I have done a hundred-ish tandem skydives from the Hamilton-Westwind Beech 18 that operated from Hinckley, Illinois during the summer of 1992. Pratt & Whitney of Canada PT6A-?? turboprop engine and a double-wide cargo door and climbed like a "raped ape!"
Yeehaa!
It looked weird with that long nose (for balance). It also had an extra strake on the aft fuselage to compensate for the long nose.
Earlier that year, another Westwind Beech ground-looped in Arizona.