Today’s Top Pick is a 1963 Beechcraft 23 Musketeer. The general aviation boom was well underway in the U.S. by the early 1960s. Cessna’s 172, with its then-novel tricycle landing gear ...

A Virginia State Police spokeswoman said the airplane, a 1962 Beechcraft Musketeer 23, left Fredericksburg on a pleasure trip that did not require a flight plan. It crashed about 18 miles away.

Earlier this month, a firefighter told the Daily Pilot that emergency responders initially were unable to open the doors of the four-seat Beechcraft Musketeer, which was stuck nose-down in a mudflat.

Here, we’ll explore the fixed-gear variants of the Musketeer family—and evaluate whether the combination of Beechcraft quality and refinement, at a price comparable to a basic Cessna or Piper ...