Howard 500
1960s executive transport aircraft by Howard Aero
The Howard 500 is an American executive transport aircraft produced by Howard Aero Incorporated during the early 1960s.
Design and development
During the 1950s and '60s, Howard Aero Inc., led by Durrell U. "Dee" Howard, had been remanufacturing military surplus Lockheed Lodestars and Lockheed Venturas for the executive market. Conversions of multi-engine World War II warplanes into business aircraft were popular at the time, and Howard came to prefer Lockheed designs, as he found heavy transports such as the C-47 to be too slow and light bombers such as the Douglas A-26 lacking in interior space.
While the Howard 500 bears a strong resemblance to the Lodestar and Ventura, it is a substantially new design with a completely new fuselage designed from the outset for pressurization, unlike those of its Lockheed forebears. The only major components taken directly from the Lockheeds were the outer wing panels (from surplus Venturas) and undercarriage (from PV-2 Harpoons). Howard purchased wing and fuselage jigs from Lockheed to use as patterns for jigs for the new aircraft, while the wings were designed wet. The pressurization system maintained a differential of 46.5 kilopascals (6.75 psi) which was greater than any other prop or turboprop executive aircraft on the market at the time and maintained a sea level cabin pressure at up to 16,000 feet (4,900 m). The 500 is a luxurious aircraft with a spacious cabin, ample baggage capacity, a large door situated close to the ground for easy entry, and an onboard toilet.
The engine chosen was a new, higher-power and lighter-weight version of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 that had been developed for the Douglas DC-6. Propeller hubs were taken from F4U Corsairs, four-blade propellers and spinners from DC-7s.
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