Advice on buying an old Bonanza

[Steve]

Anyone on the board own an old Bonanza? I am looking at purchasing a 1947 v-35 with the 205 HP engine. The one I am looking at has 4000TT and 1356 smoh. Decent paint and interior with a price just under 30K. Any comments from folks with experience with early Bonanzas would be highly appreciated.

 

[350DRIVER]

I flew quite a few hours in a 1966 V-35 that Fletcher (HOU) had on lease back. Had the big ole IO-550 300 hp engine and I enjoyed that plane to the utmost. I have never had a single problem with regards to "stability" or anything else along those lines. There are many misconceptions pertaining to the V tail "Bannana" so I would take the opinions for what they are worth, as many people as I know that have flown them I have heard of no problems or complaints. I would take an older V-tail over a 172 or 182 any day of the week (hands down)


Sounds like a decent price for that year-


good luck and you will love it if you choose to buy it


3 5 0

 

[Boeingman]

I flew with a guy years ago and his father was one of the original engineers that worked on the Bonanza design. We got to talking about the V-tail Bonanza and his father told him that the earlier models prior to the "V" designation had a thinner guage wing skin. It concerned him the tail brace could transfer added stress to the thinner wing panels and cause possible failure in the wing under certain high load conditions. The comment made was to stay away from the pre V designation years.

Please, no flames just passing along something I was told which seemed helpfull

 

[katanabob]

My advice (based both on six years of doing maintenance on almost any type Beechcraft you can shake a stick at, and about 500 hours in various Bonanza types) is unless you have the ability to perform your own maintenace and have a toolbox-full of esoteric tools, stay away from the pre- 'N' model Bonanzas. (Which, if I recall correctly, are all the pre IO-470 powered airplanes)
The Continental E-series engines are horrendous to work on. Finding mechanics who have experience on them is becoming more and more difficult, as well.
The older airplanes don't have any of the great characteristics of the newer ones. (Speed, range, or carrying capability) Grant it, they are still fun to fly around the patch, but what you get for the buck isn't nearly what you'd expect.
Save a while and get an N or later.. (better yet, go fly that '47 model and then go fly an S model -1964- or later. You'll see that they're two different airplanes)
Buy a copy of 'Colvin's Clinic' from the ABS (American Bonanza Society) before even thinking about a Bonanza/Baron/TravelAir. If you want more info on how to get a copy, PM me. Norm Colvin covers the specs and maintenance aspects of each and every model year.
I'd still rather fly an old Bonanza than any Cessna of comparable vintage.

 

[jergar999]

I second the S Model. You will get unusual speed out of those things, the tail is stronger, and they are still reasonably priced.

 

[jetdriven]

run, dont walk from a 1947-1949 bonanza. they are still subject to an AD which limits them to 140 MPH (120 KIAS) airspeed. The tail has a narrower chord and a flatter "V" angle. A VERY disproportionate number of these bonanza's have had an inflight structural failure.
There is also no shear webbing in the main spar assembly. The E-185 engine is trouble-prone and expensive to work on. If it has an electric prop there is a whole list of things that can go wrong with it. Most of the E-185 E-225 engines had oil pressure right at the "low" red mark in cruise. A lot of older bonanzas have corrosion in the center truss assembly and if it's too bad you might as well junk the airplane.
If you must get an older bonanza get a something like a 1954 E35. these are less of a hell to maintain. E-225 engine with pressure carburetion. They still had the factory electric prop. I had a generator fail in cruise and the prop would not come out of cruise pitch, I could not maintain altitude once I slowed down to pattern speed.
I have flown a 1960 M-35 with the IO-470 engine and it burned about 10-11 GPH at 150 KTAS. Plus this one had an alternator and fuel injection. Those would be a good choice. the P-35 got the "t" style instrument panel and right side angled radio rack and this was carried all the way until 1983. 1964 S-35's got the IO-520 engine and was the fastest of all bonanzas but you can spend 90 grand on a good one. There is no incentive to get any V tail newer than 1964, really. the airplane wasnt changed much after that.

 

[sstearns2]

....

One of the magazines, AOPA Pilot I think, did an article on buying older bonanza's a couple of months ago. Basically it was the story of someone who bought a 'good deal' airplane and ended up spending a ton of money and time to get everything in order.

Scott

 

[Huck]

I owned a 1958 "J" model and it was great. 150 knots on 13.5 gph, autopilot and GPS, bought my third for $22k.

I'd hold out for the IO-470. 1958-1961, I think. Spend good money on a prebuy.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Check for all applicable AD's on any Bonanzas that you might be interested in purchasing. There are some very potentially expensive or performance debilitating AD's that have recently been issued on the entire V-tail line.

I do not have specific knowledge on all the AD's that are applicable to the line but some outstanding ones that I remember have to deal with wing bolts, wing box corrosion, tail section skin thickness. Don't hold me to all this as I am no Beech expert. I had only just researched a V-35TC for a project and came across the ones I just mentioned.

If you are adventurous you can look all this stuff up on the web at the FAA website. Just do a search on Airworthiness Directives. Have fun reading though all of that stuff.

The only other big negative to owning a Bonanza is what I refer to as the "Beechcraft Surcharge". All Beech parts are ruinously expensive, more so than most aircraft parts from other manufacturers.

Take Care, Good Luck & Fly Safe!

 

[vclean]

According to the Aviation Consumers Used Aircraft Guide, the 'straight 35' experienced 75 fatal in-flight breakups out of 1,500 by 1984. The 'straight 35' does not have a shear wed in the main spar. Beech offered an expensive mod in 1951 to strengthen the wing. They estimate 13 of the 1,500 were converted. They also estimate about 600 unmodified 35s are still in service sans any structural mods.

Sometimes these 'deals' are not. Invest in a later V35. The IO-470 powered versions were produced from '58 (J35) to '63 (P35).
The IO-520 finished the production run in '82. The IO-520 series engines have a history of cylinder and crankcase cracking.

Locate a book titled "The Incomparable Bonanzas" by Larry Ball, also the American Bonanza Society can be an invaluable resource.

Good luck in your search.

 

[EMB145XR]

I flew both the F and the M model. Good airplanes, both, but the F had many more problems. I can't tell you how many times that thing tried to kill me. Most notably, and potentially more disastrous, was the time I landed in Sedona (KSEZ; high density altitude). I was about 50 feet from touchdown and the engine failed. I had the aircraft leaned for the elevation, so I was sure that wasn't it. As we exited the aircraft to push it onto a taxiway we saw avgas gushing out of the cowling. Apparently, a fuel line sheared at an AN fitting. Had this happened any earlier in the approach, I wouldn't be here to tell about it.

Watch the maintenance on the aircraft. The 225 series engines are not easy to maintain. This aircraft had the hydraulic prop, but still the prop would not attain proper settings. For every hour of flight, we spent about 2.5 hours in the shop. Fortunately, the owner had gobs of money that he could pour into the aircraft, but he finally sold it after $60,000 in maintenance. This was after $60,000 on refurbishment. I think he unloaded it for $80,000.

If your aircraft has the aux tanks installed, use them only in straight and level flight, just like the limitation says. Trust me.

Noise levels are unbelievable. We could not take the aircraft into Torrance (KTOA) because the prop created so much noise on takeoff.

Nonetheless, I had a blast flying it. It taught me not to trust airplanes for anything, and to second guess everything.

 

[flyboy]

I'm helping a friend sell a 1951 BE35. It has the 205hp you're looking for and is in good shape. PM me if you are interested and I'll email you the specs.

 

[capt_zman]

Am I reading that correctly? You couldn't take a bonanza into Torrance, CA because of a noisy prop??
Just asking as I have never heard of that before.

 

[crash-proof]

I knew this chap down in Brazil who had a 1947 vintage 35 that was outfitted to look like a V35B model, with the long 3rd windows. It still had, however, the original E185 (185hp) continental, so you had all the extra weight but no power.

He came to our local grass strip, 3000ft located on top of a hill, must have been at least 95 degrees that day. Picked up an extra pax. As he took off, with 4 pax an a couple of bags, he used every single foot of that runway. As he lifted off, he sunk out of sight, and my heart sunk too, thinking he stalled out. But, sure enough, he slooooowwwwly climbed into view. He couldn't have been doin more than 150 ft/min. Lucky the strip was on top of a hill, so he had some wiggling room to sink and recover.

Ok, i guess any plane under those conditions would have been the same, but then again, another 100hp would have gone a long way.

Them old bonanzas are scary. By the way, i think the 1st prototypes had only 165hp!!!