Aircraft model
BEECH A23A
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Musketeer Custom III, a detail development of the A23 with a slightly higher gross weight and interior improvements. Same 165 hp Lycoming, same wide two-door cabin, same modest performance.
The Musketeer family is bought for the cabin and the price rather than for how it flies, and that is a defensible reason: it is genuinely roomier and better finished than its contemporaries and it costs less than they do because it is slower. Four adults remains optimistic with under 1,000 lb of useful load. The engine is a standard Lycoming O-360 and cheap to maintain; the airframe-specific parts are where Beech pricing bites. It is a pleasant, honest aeroplane that nobody buys to go anywhere quickly.
Compare with…
Put BEECH A23A side by side with up to two other models.
- BEECH A23A
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-360-A2G |
| Horsepower | 165 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1966 |
| Production end | 1967 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 120 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 760 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 54 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,900 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,400 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 975 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 633 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,425 lb |
| Usable fuel | 57 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 9.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $38,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $90,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $32,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $46,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 153 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 51 |
| Median year built | 1966.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 78.43 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 78.43 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 13.73 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 51 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 51 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 51 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 9.6 of 103 |
| Support | 2.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.1 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.