You are hereBeechcraft Bonanza

Beechcraft Bonanza




The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. It is still being produced by Hawker Beechcraft and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history. More than 17,000 Bonanzas of all variants have been built.

Design and development


Designed by a team led by Ralph Harmon, the model 35 Bonanza was the first truly modern high-performance personal aircraft. It was a very fast, 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 (equipped with a combination elevator-rudder called a ''ruddervator''), which made it both efficient and the most distinctive private aircraft in the sky. The prototype 35 Bonanza made its first flight on 22 December 1945, with the first production aircraft debuting as 1947 models. The first 30-40 Bonanzas produced had fabric-covered flaps and ailerons, after which, those surfaces were covered with magnesium alloy sheet.

A series of fatal accidents caused many to suspect flaws in the V-tail structural design. A study by Beech concluded that the cause was primarily use of the Bonanza for long-distance travel in all types of weather, and that the inflight breakups were mainly the result of excursions into extreme turbulence (as might be found in thunderstorms), not any inherent flaw in the design. Other types that were similarly employed, such as the Cessna 210, did not have the same breakup rate as the Bonanza and a more likely explanation was that the leading edges of the stabilizers were cantilevered too far ahead of the main spars. The FAA issued two Airworthiness Directives covering the V-tail. The first (AD 2002-21-13) applied only to the earliest 35, A35, and B35 models built in 1947 to 1950, and mandated a detailed inspection and repair procedure. The second (AD 94-20-04 R2) required a one-time inspection of the empennage structure, reinforced the need for correct balancing of the control surfaces and tensioning of the cables, and included the installation of a cuff securing the leading edge of the stabilizers to the fuselage skins.



All Bonanzas share an unusual feature: The yoke and rudder pedals are interconnected by a system of bungee cord s that assist in keeping the airplane in coordinated flight during turns. The bungee system allows the pilot to make coordinated turns using the yoke alone, or with minimal rudder input, during cruise flight. Increased right-rudder pressure is still required on takeoff to overcome torque and P-factor . In the landing phase the bungee system must be overridden by the pilot when making crosswind landing s, which require cross-controlled inputs to keep the nose of the airplane aligned with the runway centerline without drifting left or right. This feature started with the V-tail and persists on the current production model.


QU-22 Pave Eagle


Six YQU-22A prototypes (modifications of the Beech 33 Debonair) were combat-tested in 1968 and two were lost during operations, with a civilian test pilot killed. 27 QU-22Bs were modified, 13 in 1969 and 14 in 1970, with 6 lost in combat. Two Air Force pilots were killed in action. All of the losses were due to engine failures or effects of turbulence.


Model 33 Debonair/Bonanza (BE33)

35-33 Debonair


35-A33 Debonair


35-B33 Debonair


35-C33 Debonair


35-C33A Debonair


D33 Debonair

One S35 modified as a military close-support prototype.

E33 Bonanza


E33A Bonanza


E33B Bonanza

E33 with strengthened airframe and certified for aerobatics.

E33C Bonanza


F33 Bonanza


F33A Bonanza


F33C Bonanza

(1970) F33A certified for aerobatics, 118 built.

G33 Bonanza


Model 35 Bonanza (BE35)


(1947–1948), main production with Continental E-185-1 engine, 1500 built.





































Model 36 Bonanza (BE36)















(Model P.1079)USAF military designation for a prototype intelligence-gathering drone version of the Bonanza 36, six built.


(Model PD.249)Prototype low-cost close-support version using Bonanza A36 fuselage and Baron B55 wings, one built.


Production drone model for the USAF operation ''Pave Eagle'', 27 built.


Propjet Bonanza

(A36)standard aircraft modified by Tradewind Turbines with an Allison 250 -B17F/2 turboprop engine (Original STC by [ Soloy]).

Turbine Air Bonanza

B36TC modified by [ West Pacific Air, LLC and Rocket Engineering] with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-21 turboprop engine.

Whirlwind System II Turbonormalized Bonanza

(36, A36, G36)standard aircraft modified by [ Tornado Alley Turbo] with a Tornado Alley Turbonormalizing System and approved for a 4000 lb MTOW.

Whirlwind TCP Bonanza

(A36TC or B36TC)standard aircraft modified by [ Tornado Alley Turbo] with a TCM IO-550B Engine and Tornado Alley Turbonormalizing system. This airframe is approved for a 4042 lb MTOW.

Unlicensed version



Model 40

The Beechcraft Model 40A was an experimental twin-engined aircraft based on the Bonanza. Only one prototype was built in 1948. It featured a unique over/under arrangement of two 180 hp Franklin engines mounted on top of each other and driving a single propeller. The plane had a different engine cowl than a standard Bonanza and the nose gear could not fully retract, but otherwise it greatly resembled the production Bonanzas of the time. Certification rules demanded that a firewall be fitted between the two engines, however, thus stopping development. The status of the prototype is unknown.


Military operators





*Armed Forces of Haiti


*Imperial Iranian Air Force


*Israeli Air Force


Ivory Coast









*United States Air Force

Notable flights

* In January 1949 the fourth Bonanza to come off the production line was piloted by Captain William Odom from Honolulu, Hawaii to the continental United States (2,900 statute miles), the first light airplane to do so. The airplane was called ''Waikiki Beech'', and its 40-gallon (150 L) fuel capacity was increased (using fuselage and wing tanks) to 268 gallons (1010 L), which gave a still-air range of nearly 5,000 statute miles.

* In March 1949 Captain Odom piloted ''Waikiki Beech'' a distance of from Honolulu to Teterboro, New Jersey , setting a nonstop record. Flight time was 36:01 hours, at an average speed of , consuming of fuel. After that flight the airplane was donated to the Smithsonian Institution 's National Air Museum , as the National Air and Space Museum was then called.

* On 7 October 1951 an American congressman from Illinois , Peter F. Mack, Jr. began an around-the-world trip in ''Waikiki Beech'', on loan from the Museum and reconditioned at the Beech factory and renamed ''Friendship Flame''. He spent 15 weeks traveling through 30 countries (223 hours flight time). The plane was again refurbished in 1975 and returned to the National Air and Space Museum. It is still on display there, with both names painted on its sides.

Accidents and incidents

* On 3 February 1959, Buddy Holly , Ritchie Valens , The Big Bopper , as well as the pilot Roger Peterson died when their Beechcraft B35 Bonanza, registration N3794N, crashed shortly after takeoff, at night and in bad weather. This accident has become known as The Day the Music Died .

* On July 31, 1964, country music star Jim Reeves and his pianist Dean Manuel died when the Beechcraft Debonair Jim was piloting crashed in the Brentwood area of Nashville during a violent thunderstorm. The wreckage and bodies were discovered on 2 August 1964 amid dense foliage in a wooded area just off Baxter Lane next to US interstate 65.

*In February 1981, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak crashed his Beechcraft Bonanza while taking off from Santa Cruz Sky Park. The NTSB investigation revealed that Wozniak did not have a "high performance" endorsement (making him legally unqualified to operate the airplane) and had a "lack of familiarity with the aircraft." The cause of the crash was determined to be a premature liftoff, followed by a stall and "mush" into a 12-foot embankment. Wozniak later made a full recovery, albeit with a case of temporary retrograde amnesia .

* On 19 March 1982, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads was killed when the wing of the Bonanza F35 he was riding in clipped Ozzy's tour bus and crashed into a nearby mansion garage. The pilot and another passenger were also killed.

* On 13 March 2006, game show host Peter Tomarken crashed his Bonanza A36 into Santa Monica Bay during climb-out from the Santa Monica Airport in California. He was en route to San Diego to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment. Tomarken and his wife were killed in the crash.