Beechcraft Bonanza

Civilian Multi-Purpose Utility Aircraft [ 1947 ]

The Beechcraft Bonanza, introduced in 1947, remains a hugely popular civilian aircraft seeing production totals surpass 17,000 units.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/25/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image from official Textron Aviation marketing material.

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The Beechcraft 'Bonanza' is one of the great commercial aviation success stories of the post-World War 2 world. With over 17,000 examples produced, the aircraft remains a fixture of the General Aviation (GA) market. A first-flight was recorded on December 22nd, 1945 and the type continues in service, in number, today in both civilian and military circles. Military operators include Haiti, Iran, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, and the United States.

The Bonanza design carried a most conventional appearance: the engine was housed in the nose in traditional fashion with a twin, side-by-side seating arrangement for the pilot and a single side passenger. The aft section of the cabin could seat additional persons. The wing mainplanes were straight appendages and low-mounted along the fuselage sides. The tail unit is what differentiated major marks of the Bonanza, one form fielding a conventional/traditional single vertical fin with low-set planes and the other form given a V-tail unit with outward-canted vertical fins (sans horizontal planes). Due to the many accidents associated with the latter, this version became known as the "Doctor Killer".

Because of its broad range of global operators (and long service tenure to boot), the Bonanza series consists of a plethora of variants. The major Model 33 "Debonair" / "Bonanza" sub-group alone consisted of fourteen marks while the subsequent Model 35 Bonanza constituted no fewer than nineteen of its own marks. The Model 36 followed with nine of its own including the QU-22 for USAF military service. The QU-22 "Pave Eagle" was a Model 36/A36 variant serving the USAF in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) as a signal relay platform and equipped with electronics monitoring systems for the role. This also differed in being powered by a Continental GTSIO-520-G series turbocharged engine with reduced noise output.

The Model 40 served as an experimental form and appeared in 1948. Defense Industries Organization (DIO) of Iran has illegally reverse-engineered the F33 model to serve as the basis for its localized "Paratsu".

The G36 production form of 2011 seats one pilot and up to five passengers. Its overall length reaches 27.5 feet with a wingspan of 33.5 feet and a height of 8.6 feet. Empty weight is 2,515lb against an MTOW of 3,650lb. Power is from a Continental IO-550-B engine of 300 horsepower driving a three-bladed Hartzell-branded propeller unit at the nose. Cruising speed reaches 203 miles-per-hour with a range (ferry) out to 1,070 miles and a service ceiling up to 18,500 feet. Rate-of-climb is 1,230 feet-per-minute.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1947

Origin

United States

Status

ACTIVE
In Active Service.

Crew

1

Production

17,000
UNITS

Beechcraft - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Haiti; Iran; Israel; Indonesia; Ivory Coast; Mexico; Netherlands; Nicaragua; Paraguay; Spain; Thailand; United States

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Transport
General transport functionality to move supplies/cargo or personnel (including wounded and VIP) over range.

✓ Commercial Aviation
Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, ferrying both passengers and goods over range.

✓ VIP Service
Used in the Very-Important-Person (VIP) passenger transport role, typically with above-average amenities and luxuries as standard.

✓ Training (General)
Developed ability to be used as a dedicated trainer for student pilots (typically under the supervision of an instructor).

Length

27.5 ft
(8.38 m)

Width/Span

33.5 ft
(10.21 m)

Height

8.6 ft
(2.62 m)

Empty Wgt

2,531 lb
(1,148 kg)

MTOW

3,651 lb
(1,656 kg)

Wgt Diff

+1,120 lb
(+508 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Beechcraft 2009 Model G36 production variant)

Installed: 1 x Continental IO-550-B developing 300 horsepower driving a two- or three-bladed Hartzell propeller unit at the nose.

Max Speed

203 mph
(326 kph | 176 kts)

Ceiling

18,501 ft
(5,639 m | 4 mi)

Range

1,060 mi
(1,706 km | 3,160 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,230 ft/min
(375 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Beechcraft 2009 Model G36 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

"Bonanza" - Base Series Name

35-33 Debonair

35-A33 Debonair

35-B33 Debonair

35-C33 Debonair

35-C33A Debonair

D33 Debonair

E33 Bonanza

E33A Bonanza

E33B Bonanza

E33C Bonanza

F33 Bonanza

F33A Bonanza

F33C Bonanza

G33 Bonanza

Model 35

A35

B35

C35

D35

E35

F35

G35

H35

J35

K35

M35

N35

035

P35

S35

V35

V35A

V35B

Model 36

A36

A36TC

T36TC

B36TC

G36

YGU-22A

YAU-22A

QU-22B

Bonanza (Propjet)

Bonanza (Turbine Air)

Bonanza Whirlwind System II

Bonanza Whirlwind TCP

Parastu - Iraning unlicensed reverse-engineered Bonanza.

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Image from official Textron Aviation marketing material.