Doctor Killer Airplane - The V Tail Beechcraft Bonanza is the best flying machine ever made, bar none. I admit I may be a little biased, but they are nice airplanes. When I traded my Piper Arrow for a V-Tail, I knew I had an airplane that I could fly and enjoy for a long time to come. The Bonanza flew at 35 knots, had a much higher rate of climb and had a firmer feel.
The Bonanza Model 35 made its first test flight on December 22, 1945, after the end of World War II. Beach delivered 1,000 of the new Bonanzas by the end of 1947, at a then-high price of $7,975 per copy. This price was much higher than the average house price of that time.
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The first V-tails had a 165 hp, six-cylinder TCM engine, later upgraded to 185 hp. In comparison, today's Bonanzas have 300 horsepower engines, but they also weigh a lot more. The first aircraft off the assembly line had wooden propellers and fabric control surfaces. Later, the gear was converted to an electrically controlled pitch design and the control surfaces were made with magnesium skins.
Hangar Find: 1951 Beechcraft Bonanza
Since 1947, more than 17,000 Bonanzas have been built. Ten thousand of them were V-tail versions, and the rest were straight tails including 3,000 extended straight tails known as A-36s. Bonanzas enjoyed the longest production runs of any type of aircraft, standing the test of time not only in terms of design, but also in appearance and comfort.
These planes are over engineered. My plane was certified at 4.4g versus 3.8g for Aero and other general aviation aircraft.
The Bonanza is a very agile aircraft with a drag coefficient of 0.0192, or halfway between the P51 and the Lear 35. This was a problem only on the ILS approach. In Bonanza, it's nearly impossible to "go down" and "slow down" at the same time. My early bonanza was maxed out. Gear extension speed (Vle) of 122kts. If ATC tells you to keep your speed to the outer marker, it becomes very difficult to slow down to increase gear and follow GS to DH. The best procedure was to delay Vle before intercepting the localizer, then release the equipment while intercepting the GS or Outer Marker. In later aircraft the gear system was improved and the maximum gear extension speed was increased to 152kts.
My particular V-Tail, N9860R, was a Bonanza M35 model, built in 1960 for an original price of $25,000. From the logbooks, records show that it was purchased by a new doctor. Based on log repair history, this doctor had a plane crash within the first year of ownership. Such incidents earned Bonanza the nickname of the spiny-tailed doctor's killer.
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The N9860R featured an IO-470-C, TCM fuel injection engine rated at 250 horsepower. That iteration of TCM has a very good service history. The aircraft was a bit limited in terms of avionics, although it handled like a dream. There was no autopilot, HSI or flight director, so navigation required keeping your head in the game at all times. I filed IFR as /Alpha with only the NARCO Mark 12-D digital radio/VORs and DME in the panel. Like many generations of pilots before me, I always filed airways and used DME readings and cross-beams to plot my position.
I flew N9860R for many happy years, including many business trips to the Southeast, a few Angel flights, and trips to Key West. And, my daughters were very young at the time, going to North Carolina for a weekend in the mountains. Later there were trips to Michigan, the Bahamas and the desert Southwest.
Eventually I sold the V tail and traded up to the A36 because of its larger cabin space, barn access to the aft cabin, greater fuel capacity and air conditioning. In Florida, airplanes with AC are welcome during the summer months. Or, maybe I'm getting soft.
It occurred to me that we don't really own these great airplanes, some of which are over 50 years old and still flying. We are only current caretakers. Those considering purchasing Bonanza should consider these books:
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This entry was posted in General Aviation and tagged Beechcraft, Bonanza, DH, Glideslope, localizer, Model 35, external marker, Piper Arrow, TCM, v tail, Vle; Maximum gear extension speed. Bookmark the permalink.
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