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The Beechcraft Bonanza is one of the most important civil aircraft in aviation history. Introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation, as of 2006 it is still being produced by the Beechcraft Division of Raytheon Aircraft. Despite relatively high prices, the Bonanza line has been enduringly popular, with more than 17,000 aircraft sold by 2004.
Development
Designed by a team led by Ralph Harmon, the original model 35 Bonanza was the first truly modern high-performance personal aircraft: a very fast, all-metal, low-wing monoplane at a time when most light aircraft were still made of wood and fabric. The model 35 featured retractable landing gear and its signature V-tail, which made it both highly efficient and the most distinctive private aircraft in the sky. The prototype 35 Bonanza made its first flight on December 22, 1945, with the first production aircraft debuting as 1947 models.
At the end of World War II two all-metal aircraft emerged, the 35 Bonanza and the Cessna 195, that represented very different approaches to the premium-end of the postwar civil aviation market. With its high wing, seven cylinder radial engine and fixed undercarriage, the Cessna 195 was little more than a continuation of prewar technology; the 35 Bonanza, however, was more like the great fighters developed during the war. Featuring a more powerful and easier to manage horizontally-opposed six cylinder engine, a rakishly streamlined shape, retractable undercarriage and low-wing configuration, the Bonanza captured the public's imagination, as well as the premium light plane market. The Cessna was unable to compete with the more advanced Bonanza (although it was the progenitor of the highly successful Cessna 172 and its variants, which dominated the lower end of the light plane market for decades).
Over time, Beech's implementation of the V-tail proved to have design flaws causing weakness under extreme load. Accident analysis showed the V-tail Bonanza had a fatal in-flight failure rate 24 times that of the conventional-tail variant, the model 33 Debonair (called the 33 Bonanza after 1967). In 1982 the V-tail Bonanza was dropped from production, though more than 6,000 V-tail models are still flying today. All were either built with a larger, strengthened tail, or are subject to a FAA Airworthiness Directive that requires reinforcement and ongoing inspections of the tail structure.
The straight-tail model 33 continued in production until 1995. Still built today is the model 36 Bonanza, a longer-bodied, straight-tail variant of the original design, introduced in 1968. As of 2006, a new 36 Bonanza costs nearly $700,000, considerably more than newer competitors such as the Cirrus SR22. Nevertheless, new Bonanzas remain very popular among those who can afford them, while older models command very high resale value.
All Bonanzas share an unusual feature: the rudder pedals and the ailerons are loosely interconnected with bungees. This system reduces the physical effort required to maintain coordinated flight in turns. This feature started with the V-tail and persists on the current production model, the G36*.
Note that the twin-engine variant of the Bonanza is called the Baron, whereas the Twin Bonanza is a completely different design not based on the original single-engine Bonanza.
Operational history
Variants
Model 33 Debonair/Bonanza (BE33)
- 35-33 (1960)
- 35-A33 (1961)
- 35-B33 (1962-1964)
- 35-C33 (1965-1967)
- 35-C33A (1966-1967)
- E33 (1968-1969)
- E33A (1968)
- E33C (1968-1969)
- F33 (1970)
- F33A (1970-1994)
- F33C (1970)
- G33 (1972-1980)
Model 35 Bonanza (BE35)
- 35 (1947-1948)
- A35 (1949)
- B35 (1950)
- C35 (1951-1952)
- D35 (1953)
- E35 (1954)
- F35 (1955)
- G35 (1956)
- H35 (1957)
- J35 (1958)
- K35 (1959)
- M35 (1960)
- N35 (1961)
- P35 (1962-1963)
- S35 (1964-1965)
- V35 (1966-1967)
- V35 TC (1966-1967) - turbocharged engine
- V35A (1968-1969)
- V35A TC (1968-1969) - turbocharged engine
- V35B (1970-1982)
- V35B TC (1970) - turbocharged engine
Model 36 Bonanza (BE36)
Still in production as of 2006.- 36 (1968-1969)
- A36 (1970-2005)
- A36TC (1979-1981) - turbocharged engine
- B36TC (1982-2002) - turbocharged engine and extended wing
- G36 (2006-*) - glass cockpit update of the A36 with the Garmin G1000 system
- UA-22A
- QU-22B
Specifications (1953 model D35)
Trivia
- A Beechcraft 35 Bonanza was the aircraft Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died in when the aircraft crashed in the middle of a snowstorm (see The Day the Music Died).
- On 7 February 1981, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak crashed his V-tail Bonanza on takeoff from Santa Cruz Sky Park.
- On March 31, 1984, Robert J. Moriarty flew the Beechcraft V-35 Bonanza, N111MS, owned by Mike Smith of Mike Smith Speed Conversions in Johnson, Kansas, through the arches under the Eiffel Tower in Paris. *
Military Operators
- Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain, United States,
References
External links
Related content
"Beechcraft Bonanza"