FTLComm - Tisdale - July 27, 1999
This is a 1957 Beechcraft Bonanza, a four place retractable cross country aircraft. Produced since 1947 as a full sized flying sedan. Walter Beech's magnificent Staggerwing set the standard for personal aircraft and he merely refined and modernised the concept in this aircraft. The efficient design detailed and standardised manufacturing standards makes this a classic. The engineer who
for years looked after my Cessnas referred to Beechcraft machines as "real" airplanes. This model can carry one thousand pounds of passengers, fuel and cargo for a range of 775 miles at a cruise speed of 184 mph. Its stall speed is a mere 55mph and it has a ceiling of 19,200 taking off in just over a 1,000 feet and landing in just over 800 feet. Because of its extraordinary performance it is one of the most popular aircrafts today.
The unique "V" tail of the Bonanza had its share of controversy at various times and late model versions have evolved into conventional tails. Because of the aircrafts extremely slick design it can build up speed very quickly and pilots need to be proficient and well trained to fly this aircraft with safety. That is true of all higher performance aircraft. This particular aircraft has been from Texas to Tisdale in the past week and its owner makes his home in Seattle where he is employed
with Boeing. This aircraft was so successful that it was modified and turned into the US airforces primary trainer and called the Mentor and later versions were fitted with 400 horse power turbines. Piper never made an aircraft to compete with the Bonanza and Cessna's Centurion 210 though similar in price was never equal in performance to the Bonanza. Though much smaller, the only competitor was the Mooney which was less money but also less versatile. Beechcraft made a lot of different versions of this basic aircraft with a low price
model called the Debonair and the bigger six place A36. They also made an interesting twin engine version but is did not share in the success of this standard model 35. Below is the office of this Model 35H with its GPS and updated avionics.
Timothy W. Shire
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