Beechcraft of the Month

In May of 1989 my father’s 1979 A36, serial number E-1410, tail number N2051W, graced the cover of this magazine. That’s me, age 14, in the back, looking over my father’s left shoulder in the cover photo; my brother Andy, then 16, is sitting up front. Dad’s short cover essay ended with him calling 51W “a pure joy to fly” and he said that he loves it. It is now almost 40 years later – and both are still true.

For many pilots, first observing a Beechcraft® V-tail Bonanza often causes a curious look. It is most often viewed as odd, outdated, or in my case, attractive. As a student pilot, my first glance of one in 1987 stuck with me. Even today, from time to time over my 34 years of owning and flying V-tails, a not-so-unusual pilot question comes up from others asking: “How do you fly a V-tail or, is it different?” After fielding a few of these questions I started responding with my now-standing reply: “For the most part they’re like flying a conventional tail, but I have to admit, getting used to the third pedal takes a bit of practice.” Everyone bites on my answer as I grow a wide smile.

In mythology, Lima is a goddess protecting thresholds. The name fits well as N2090L (Lima) has allowed the crossing of many thresholds.

Since there are very few Beechcraft available to rent, I’m guessing we all can remember when we finally decided to search for and buy our first Beechcraft. Some of you may have had the privilege of flying as a child and taking ownership of the family Bonanza, while others may have joined other pilots in a partnership for an airplane. But many of us had to embark on the process of searching for that first Beech through the existing channels, including ABS Magazine and countless others.

The summer of 1990 found me fresh out of high school and working on finishing my Private Pilot certificate. My dad and I were flying a Cessna 150 to another North Georgia airport to visit an aviation museum. That day I discovered that pilotage and especially dead reckoning actually worked. The visibility in the hot haze was terrible. It was like flying inside of a milk jug, and I couldn’t find the airport. Glynn, my long-time pilot dad, finally broke his silence and suggested I look straight down. Right under the Bermuda blue wheel fairing was the dead center of the runway! I spiraled down, landed to the north, then parked on the ramp.

I soloed on my 16th birthday in a Cessna 150 and continued to fly single-engine Cessnas until I bought an A36 Bonanza in 1999. It was a wonderful family airplane and took us on literally hundreds of trips to Bar Harbor, Nantucket, the Jersey shore, Hilton Head, Sun ‘n Fun, and Oshkosh. Our twins flew in it before their first birthday and grew up flying in it to most family gatherings and vacations.

My first love was a sailboat…but then I got a Beechcraft.

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with flying: the concept as well as the sense of freedom that must come along with being a pilot. I just never thought there was anything I could do about it. Then, in the spring of 2005, my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) offered me a ride with her and her dad in her dad’s 1981 A36 Bonanza, N499DL. That was it, I was hooked. I found that there was a way to have access to the freedom of flying.

It was not an easy task to be 17 years old flying around in a Bonanza A36. There were lots of challenges, setbacks, and late nights.

Hi, my name is David Anthony. I am a proud operator of a 1974 A36 Bonanza. I started flying N582TM in the summer of 2023 thanks to a gracious friend who allows me to fly it for leisure. This Bonanza is equipped with a Continental IO-550 engine along with long range Osborne tip tanks. The avionics include a Garmin GNS 530 and 430 unit paired with an Aspen Evolution ADI (attitude deviation indicator). These paired units work together for a great IFR airplane. An added air conditioning unit also comes in handy during the warmer days of summer.

Somehow I let my whole life up until age 40 go by without discovering general aviation. Given the fact that I grew up racing motocross, did amateur automobile racing in Porsches, and just generally loved anything that goes fast, it is somewhat surprising that it never crossed my mind that I could get my Private Pilot certificate and buy a plane. But it didn't. Then, in 2003, a friend took me for a ride in his airplane, and I was enthralled.

Some say it is preference. Others say it is what you get used to. The answer may lie somewhere else. I’m not sure how it came to be, the thought that is. One moment you are thinking about all sorts of things unrelated to anything in particular and the very next moment a thought emerges. That thought took me 2,000 miles away in search of my personal flying carpet.

Back in 2016 I got an itch to own a more versatile aircraft than our 1946 Globe Swift. Don’t get me wrong, the Swift, equipped with a 210hp Continental IO-360 and 49 gallons of fuel, could easily make 500 statute mile trips nonstop (which covered most of the destinations for us in California and neighboring states). But a couple of tote bags and a backpack were all that was going with us. I looked closely at Cessna 182s, 206s, Rockwell 114s, and even, albeit briefly, a Stinson 108-2 (it was part of an estate sale and had been well cared for).

My flying career started in 1990, flying a Cessna 172 out of “Just Plane Fun Airpark,” a grass strip near Nacogdoches, Texas. Owned by the Lemon family, a (then) Continental Airlines Captain, Just Plane Fun Airpark was one of those neat places that is so important to the fabric of our aviation lives. It was a great place to get a start. The aviation hook set deep, and I was lured into a world that has been very good to me over the decades. Within 13 months I had progressed through private, instrument, commercial, and CFI certificates/ratings and was on the path to an aviation career.

Like many aviators, my road to aircraft ownership started with humble beginnings. It began with training and flying different airplanes to new airports. I learned from instructors, mechanics, mentors, and fellow pilots who have seen and flown way more than I had. There was so much to learn. As a young aviator, I was impressed by the community of older pilots with passion towards the younger generation of pilots. This is my story of student pilot to commercial pilot and becoming a Beechcraft Bonanza F33A owner.

My name is Michael Alexandroff, from Santiago, Chile, and I’ve been a pilot since 1998. I bought my first Bonanza in 2014, a 1960 M35 V-tail (older than me). I had the M35 for three years and started searching on the internet for an F33A in April 2017. After eight months I found my Bonanza with only 800 hours on its airframe and engine.

We had been warned. But we were still shocked by the news that, after 50 years of flying and owning both piston and turbine aircraft, we were unable to renew our insurance on a turbine Meridian, a model we’d been flying for the most recent 20 years.

VH-ERB is a 1979 A36 that we have owned since September 1992, having previously owned a 1977 A36 and interests in three Cessna 210s. I learned to fly in 1977 after six months of training with O'Connor Air Services completing my private pilot’s certificate. An Instrument rating was gained in 1981.

Poking around in dark, turbulent clouds near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with thunderstorms in the region and no autopilot or weather gear in our 1977 Cessna 172N and our two girls in car seats in the back, my wife looked at me and said, “Maybe you should look into getting a more capable airplane.” Permission is good!

Well, it happened. It finally happened. After over 12 years of dreaming, we were finally Bonanza owners.

When I was a young boy, I was fascinated by airplanes. I spent a lot of my free time building plastic models, and building and flying simple control line airplanes with the ubiquitous .049 glow fuel engine. My parents had grown up in Nazi Germany and immigrated to the U.S. with no money, basically with only the shirts on their backs, so actual flying was totally out of the question. Their focus was ensuring that their children were getting a good education, developing a strong work ethic, and becoming good, productive citizens. After I got my Ph.D. in Semiconductor Device Physics, I quickly got involved in the hectic and very time-consuming computer and network research and development sectors. There just wasn’t time to think about GA flying. However, I had some colleagues who were pilots, and I did get to hear some of their stories.

N3236C began its journey to her new family on March 3, 2021, from Gaithersburg, Maryland, to Rochester, Minnesota. 36C had been with the same family since 1969, so for me to be the one to take her away from them was definitely a bittersweet moment, to say the least. It felt as if I was adopting a member of their family. In fact I wasn’t the first one in line when it came to purchasing 36C, but I was the one who came home with her in the end simply because I fit their mold for who they wanted to be her next owner. It’s fascinating to me how these airplanes really do become part of a family, and when it’s time to part ways with them, it is more like an interview process rather than who comes up with the money first. At least this was true in my purchasing experience!

When a friend called and asked if we were interested in buying a nice Bonanza, we looked at each other and said, “No, thanks. We are simplifying and downsizing, selling airplanes and not buying them.” His neighbor was selling because of health reasons, and our friend’s parting remark was, “Well, it is a pretty nice airplane!” We decided to just go look at it, and to make a short story long, we bought it just about on the spot.

Our love for aviation began in the 1960s during the unprecedented economic expansion of post-war America. Dad began his flight training in 1967 and continued training under the GI Bill in eastern North Carolina, when I was six years old. The next year he took me on a flight in his newly acquired Aeronca 7AC Champ. I sat in his lap and he taught me how to use the controls. His passion soon became my own.

“I purchased our 1961 Bonanza in 1976 and in the 46 years since, our family has landed in all 48 ‘lower’ states, Canada and the Bahamas.”

I became an aviation enthusiast at a young age, building model planes in the 1960s and setting my sight on becoming an astronaut (like 90 percent of all young boys in those days). I was particularly keen on WWII aircraft, and I did a lot of reading about the war and the role that aviation played. My favorite airplane was the P-51 Mustang.

This is a cautionary tale, one that emphasizes both the pitfalls and advantages of advice received that can at the time go both ways. Around 2006, I was in the market for and had found what seemed to be an ideal Bonanza in Trade-A-Plane as far as its specifications were concerned. I began a dialogue with the owner, Chuck Graves of Graves Aircraft, the FBO at El Reno, Oklahoma (KRQO), where the aircraft was based.

I met her on the web, and I fell in love at first sight. She looked beautiful. Even my wife gave up resistance and agreed to let me go ahead with this lifetime adventure.

N6008F was my father’s second airplane. His first airplane was a Cessna Cardinal RG, which he had for a few years; then he and a partner purchased N6008F, a 1965 S35, in 1977 when I was nine years old.

Once upon a time in 2005, in an old set of T-hangars with drafty rolling doors with galvanized tin walls blowing in the wind, was a Piper Warrior that was within our budget. As I was pulling the Piper out, we noticed the walls dividing the hangers were loose. As I went to inspect, I noticed this beautiful Beechcraft Bonanza through where the panel was broken loose. We peered through the dark shadows of the neighboring hangar in amazement at the powerful look and sleek design of what was then N333JR. I dreamed of owning something like that, with the power to take passengers and baggage with sufficient fuel for cross-country flight. That Bonanza is what I wanted.

Being an old pilot doesn’t mean you can’t fly the best. My last three airplanes dating back 30 years have all been Beechcrafts, two Bonanzas and a Baron. All have been essentially maintenance-free (other than routine annuals and oil changes) and a joy to fly.

My story started when I was a high school student back home in Baghdad. With a big desire to get into the aviation world and become a pilot, sometimes life does not go as we wish. So I ended up studying engineering.

I’m a co-owner (along with Wayne, Peter, Julian, Richard, and Steve) of a venerable 1973 A36 Bonanza registered VH-FIM (E-434), which is based at Canberra International airport (YSCB), in the Capital Territory of Australia. FIM started its life ferrying mail from Melbourne (Australia’s second-most populous city) to Flinders Island in the Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and Tasmania each day – hence FIM, Flinders Island Mail.

Can a 69-year-old E-series V-tail hold her ground in the tough daily grind of a GA business?

I have to admit, I somewhat stumbled upon flying while visiting with my local veterinarian friend Brian. He had just attained his Private Pilot certificate and excitedly offered to take me for a flight. Not being a fan of heights in general, I still did not want to miss out on a potential thrilling opportunity to view our small town from above. We are blessed in the southwest corner of Wisconsin among the valleys and bluffs, often referred to as the “Driftless” unglaciated part of the Midwest. As the Wisconsin River joins the mighty Mississippi, it flows with picturesque scenery. It did not take long to catch the flying bug! We landed and I inquired, “How do I take lessons?”

What’s one of the best ways to have an absolutely wonderful time with your own personal airplane? Pick a good partner.

After getting my Private pilot’s license and allowing it to lay dormant for nearly 20 years, I decided to return to flying in my early 40s. A large part in my return was played by a flying mentor and friend, Michael Boyd. Michael and I worked together and flew a good bit in his Rockwell Commander. One day he called me and said, “Come out to the airport, there is a plane that you need to buy.” A local funeral director was selling his fixed-gear Cessna Cardinal to buy an A36, and he was selling it for a song. I bit, and bit hard! A Cardinal is a great starter plane. My two sons were small, it was cheap to fly, we flew it everywhere, and it was ideal to work on my instrument rating.

Foreword: The Remanufacture of a 70-year-old Airplane

I didn’t intend for it to be this way. I never thought I’d be smitten, but here I am.

Why can’t a 57-year-old Bonanza fly around the world?

My first airplane ride was in Alaska when I was about five. The pilot landed the Cessna 185 with my father, his buddy, and me on a rocky sandbar somewhere on the Kenai Peninsula. Fast-forward 25 years and I am commuting from San Diego to Santa Barbara weekly, consulting for long-time clients. Stuck in soul-crushing northbound I-405 traffic on a Friday afternoon, a Cessna passed overhead on short final. I thought, “I need to buy a plane.” My wife wasn’t convinced and told me I needed my pilot’s certificate before I bought anything. Fast-forward to 2011, two kids later, an impending corporate restructuring, and a major surgery on the horizon for my second daughter; a co-worker convinced me to pursue my ticket. What better time to get my pilot certificate, right?

Beechcraft Bonanza Model 35, serial number D-1389 (N4560V), was certified airworthy on March 15, 1948, and was sold to Anderson Air Activities of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the following day.

This is a great story of restoration and preservation of a piece of Americana, one of the oldest Beechcraft Bonanzas still in the air: N2751V.

I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I developed my passion for aviation as a child going to local airshows with my father. At the age of 18 I got my Private Pilot’s certificate. From that point on I dreamed of owning my own airplane and flying wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. A kid can dream!

What is yellow and white, makes us smile, and takes us to explore destinations known and unknown? Our 1961 N35 Beech Bonanza!

To say I have been flying all my life is an understatement. I am confident that my parents flew somewhere while my mother was pregnant with me, so therefore I have been literally flying my entire life. I inherited my love of flying from my late father, Captain Glenn L. Wegener U.S. Navy. Daddy joined the Navy immediately after college and earned his wings in an SNJ at Pensacola Naval Air Station. To avoid ending up steering a PT boat, he volunteered for a new aviation program…night carrier operations. After spending six years in the regular Navy (read about some of his escapades in G.G. O’Rourke’s book Night Fighters over Korea), he switched to the Naval Reserves and started his practice of medicine. He kept the fact that he was a physician a closely guarded secret so as not to get grounded from flying. When he turned 40, the Navy refused to allow him to continue to fly fighters as a weekend warrior, so he retired. This is when the Wegener family’s love of Beechcraft began.

I’ve been a pilot for the past 45 years. I’ve accumulated 4,000 hours with a current instrument ticket, and have been a Bonanza lover as long as I can remember. I started out renting Cessna 172s, flew a Turbo Saratoga for 10 years, then checked out in an old blue V-tail Bonanza, which was a charming old plane and fun to fly.

The first airplane I ever owned was a B55 Baron that I kind of bought by accident. But that got me hooked on both Beechcraft and Barons, so there was no question what we would be flying when the choice came up the second time around. The answer is the Baron 58 that is this month’s cover model.

When someone is born with the chromosome of flight, his destiny is sealed. Airplanes will always represent an important part of life. This is what happened to me, and my life has been always directly connected with flight: radio-controlled models followed by 20 years of hang-gliding, followed by eight years of ultralights and Light Sport. In 2015, at the age of 50, I decided it was the right time to look for something that was able to transport my family. I passed through several aircraft models, all disregarded for low performance or bad appeal.

When I was 11 years old growing up in Westbury, Long Island (just east of New York City), I went for my first airplane ride in the front seat of a Piper J-3 Cub. Mr. Edward A. Gibbs, a friend of my dad who lived across the street from us, had been a flight instructor in the Tuskegee Airmen program during WWII. He was then teaching my dad and a number of other African American men in our neighborhood to fly. On this day, my dad invited me to come along with him to Zahn’s Field (now closed), where their Stick and Rudder Club was based. Mr. Gibbs agreed graciously to take me up and give me my first lesson in flying. He introduced me to the controls and showed me how to do turns, climbs, and descents. He even let me think I landed the plane. On that calm, sunny day on Long Island, New York, I became hooked on flying for life.

As aviation enthusiasts, we likely all grew up loving everything related to the sight and sound of airplanes. But whether that passion developed early or later in life, if it had wings we were looking in the general direction of the silhouette that caught our eye with an impressively big smile. I caught the aviation bug early in life, before I could legally drive.

Phoenix pilot Bob Colabianchi had a problem. After getting his Private certificate in 2015 and buying a 1975 V35B, N315AB one year later, he installed an Avidyne IFD 540 and Aspen Pro, and connected them to the existing Century IV autopilot. Unfortunately, they never worked well together. Since he’s averaging 220 VFR hours annually and was about to get his IFR ticket, he wanted to be confident when flying his wife and two sons around the country.

The 25th of November 2019 has become one of the most memorable dates in my life.

It all started on a warm July day in 2011. My wife and I had just departed from Springfield, Missouri (KSGF), in our G36. After filling the wing and tip tanks, the hot day took its toll on the normally aspirated IO-550’s climb to 11,000 feet on our annual trek to Oshkosh. After takeoff, I set the GFC700 autopilot to “Flight Level Change” to maintain 120 knots in climb. Approximately 45 minutes later we leveled off. The long, bumpy climb on that muggy day started turning my mind’s wheels toward turbochargers and turbines. I love the numerous amenities of the G36, but there had to be a better powerplant for those hot and heavy days (which are many in the South).

Redlands lay twelve o’clock and two miles. I toggled down the wheel-shaped knob and heard the now-familiar thunk of the landing gear locking into place. With treasured friends Wayne Reid and Billy DeSilva, I was completing a middle-of-winter, 14-hour, 1,920-mile flight from Buffalo, New York. Wayne, an expert flight instructor, coached my actions in the freshly purchased Beechcraft Bonanza. What an adventure the three of us had experienced to get this wonderful airplane!

My dad, Richard Barnes, was a Navy flyer during World War II and got his Private Pilot’s license using the GI Bill when he mustered out of the service. He became the John Deere implement dealer for Wheatland and Torrington, Wyoming, in the late 1960s, which afforded him the opportunity to purchase his own airplane. He owned four in his lifetime, with the first being a Piper Cherokee Arrow: white and blue with retractable landing gear. Before too long he traded the Cherokee for a late ’50s Beechcraft Bonanza that previously belonged to Wyoming Congressman Teno Roncalio. It was painted in University of Wyoming colors (gold and brown over white). I’m not sure how many years my dad flew this airplane, but I do know he traded it for a 1963 Bonanza in 1975. His goal in trading up was to obtain an airplane that he could train in for an Instrument rating.

I remember as a child being fascinated with airplanes. I would wonder how something as heavy as an airplane could possibly get airborne. I also remember riding in the back seat of the family car with my hand out the window and seeing what the wind did to my hand as I pointed my fingers to the sky or the ground. I am sure some of you remember doing the same thing.

After suffering a serious knee injury requiring surgery at age 51, I faced a summer of boring rehab. My pilot friends Brian and Lisa McCarthy suggested I take a flying lesson in their Cessna 182 at Sound Aviation in East Hampton, New York. I was reminded of my childhood hobbies with model airplanes, Estes model rockets, and books on the Wright brothers. I was a pretender with Popular Mechanics magazine. I wrote my senior college thesis on the Lindbergh kidnapping. These memories, distant and buried by the urgencies of the real world, began bubbling to the surface like Texas tea in Uncle Jed’s field. With these memories activated, I was hooked on the real thing: flying an airplane.

Turbine helicopters to a Turbo Bonanza! I love the smell of compressed air in the morning!

Mommy why is there smoke coming out of that airplane? Why not that one? What kind of airplane is that? How fast do airplanes go? How high in the air? When can we go on an airplane, mommy? I want to go! I want go soon! Take me to the airport please! I want to be a pilot! I want to fly!”

Owners of Beechcraft’s legendary Bonanzas and Barons are exceptionally proud of their airplanes. After all, these truly aspirational airplanes have been pinnacles of private aviation for a long, long time. But few have done as much to promote the capabilities and pure joy of flying a Baron as Kristoffer Patasnik on his popular Baron Pilot YouTube channel.

I am writing this on Father’s Day 2019, thinking about my Dad, Joe, whose identity was synonymous with aviation. We seemed to always have an airplane in the family, from a 1948 Stinson Voyager to a Bonanza V35. Fond memories of breaking the surly bonds of earth in whatever we could find to fly always put a big grin on my face. So, it was no surprise that after 23 years of owning a Piper Turbo Lance II, I decided to “trade down” to a Beechcraft V35B. That notion speaks profoundly about my lack of knowledge of the Beechcraft type, but I like to learn new things.

Growing up during World War II, my friends and I were well aware of the newly developed fighter aircraft at the time. Some of my friends were fans of the F4U Corsair, but my favorite was always the P-51 Mustang. When I started flying back in 1977 I became comfortable with the Cessna 150 and 172, however, these planes had their wings on top of the fuselage. I aspired to buy a Piper Cherokee 180, because the wings were on the bottom where they should be, like a fighter’s. Finally, I purchased one for $17,500. That was my fighter for the time being, until one of my fellow pilots, flying a 1955 Beechcraft Bonanza, would appear at my four o’clock and speed away from me and my little Cherokee. After many occurrences I was fed up with these gorgeous planes leaving me in their dust.

I obtained my Private certificate in 1969. However, it was 20 years before I realized the joy and satisfaction of owning a Beechcraft product.

The Debonair is a solid airframe with classic Beechcraft engineering and craftmanship. I was lucky enough to find N8927M in August of 2017. Purchased from a fine airline captain, it is a great aircraft for the travel missions I need. The Debonair has a respectful useful load (about 1,000 pounds), and a cruise speed that will get me from here to there in a timely manner. Its 74-gallon fuel capacity allows cross-country flights with adequate reserves and without the need to stop to add more of the precious liquid for most of my flights. I use Foreflight with a Stratus portable unit to feed data to my iPad, as many pilots now do for charts and situational awareness. My Debonair is based in Pulaski, Tennessee (KGZS), the birthplace of Walter H. Beech, founder of Beech Aircraft, and a short distance from the Beech Heritage Museum in Tullahoma.

It was August 2010. My wife Lisa and I had just bought a beautiful 1966 V35 Bonanza, N113X. My safety pilot in the right seat was an airline captain who also owns a Bonanza. We were on our way from a Phoenix suburb to home, Bourland Field (50F) just southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. We were just past Sweetwater, Texas, in an enroute descent to 7,500 feet to stay VMC, when all of the sudden… BANG! There was extreme vibration, a blue cloud of smoke in the cockpit, pieces of engine crankcase coming through the heat and vent ducts, and oil all over the windshield. The engine had spun a bearing, which blocked an oil passage and threw a connecting rod on cylinder #2. The rod came through the engine case under the left magneto and knocked the mag completely off the engine.

In 1969, my wife Margie and I purchased N5610S, a 1966 V35 Bonanza along with co-owner Buzz Tupman. The price was $24,000 and there were 480 total hours on the airframe and engine. Buzz and I flew the Bonanza for 10 years without making any changes. In 1979 I bought Buzz’s half because I was moving to Lake Tahoe. Before moving I upgraded the panel to a Mini-King radio package with a King autopilot and flight director, and other improvements. The work was done by Larry Olson and the instruments are still functioning well, with very few maintenance problems for 40 years in service.

I have always wanted to fly. When I used to watch “Superman” on TV (in black and white), flying was the coolest thing. I wasn’t thinking airplane. I really wanted to fly, like Superman! Fast forward 50 years: marriage, three kids, a law practice, and all that life usually entails. Still not able to fly like Superman.

Many years before I ever dreamed of owning N972Q, I assisted in its annual inspections to help my friend Clint Rule, the Bonanza’s former owner for over 40 years. Little did I know I’d own this bird one day.

This A36 Bonanza is my fourth airplane and may as well be my last. I am not about to the kick the bucket, mind you, but I just have a hard time rationalizing an upgrade from this Swiss army-knife-of-an-airplane. The A36 is everything anyone could ask for in an all-purpose aircraft: fast, roomy, and well-built. Where else can one have an airplane that combines the hauling capability of an SUV with the performance and handling of a sports car?

My wife Carolyn and I have owned and flown Baron N984BC for over a decade. As the Baron’s 40th birthday approached, we decided it was time to invest in the next decade. After replacing the air conditioning unit with an engine-driven air conditioning system at A/C Services, LLC, in Savannah, Tennessee, I brought the plane home to Signature TECHNICAir at Greensboro, North Carolina (KGSO), where I worked closely with its team of specialists to outline a comprehensive plan.

Having three older brothers who were significantly older than me, it was easy to idolize each of them. I dreamed of nothing more than to follow in their footsteps. It was a tall order to be sure since they were a National Park Service ranger, a fireman, and a Navy pilot. At age nine, little did I know that I would to some degree accomplish just that: follow in each of their footsteps. Thanks to an Air Explorer program in the 1970s, I learned to fly gliders, airplanes, and eventually helicopters. Years later I would find myself dropping water on wildland fires and doing aerial support work for several national parks in the Pacific Northwest.

Most corporate leaders come to use aviation in their businesses, while others seem to bring their businesses to aviation. My interests turned toward aviation and made it my life’s pursuit when I was 11 years old. In 1961, my grandfather started taking me on business trips in a C310B. The early days learning about flight were enhanced through the Civil Air Patrol in Milwaukee, WI in 1967 in a Piper Cub, a C150 and eventually, a Beechcraft T-34 Mentor. No need to ask which of them is my favorite.

One of my earliest memories is a Saturday morning sitting in front of the TV to watch reruns of Sky King. I grew up watching planes fly overhead and would dream about owning one someday. When my dad returned from business trips we went as a family to pick him up at the airport. I sat at the window mesmerized by what the pilots were doing in the cockpit. I knew then that being an airline pilot was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I grew up on a farm in Iowa. In 1964 I moved to Chicago to finish my schooling. A few days after my wife and six-month-old daughter moved into our apartment, a neighbor told me he had just gotten his pilot’s license and asked if I would like to go for a ride. I said, “Sure.” I had never really thought much about airplanes before, but after that one-hour ride I was hooked. I took my first lesson the next day, and despite being married, working full time, and going to school full time, I got my private pilot certificate six weeks later with the minimum, at the time, 35 hours of flight time.

Being European and living along the German border in the Alsace Region of France, finding the airplane I was looking for presented challenges not seen in the USA. It was in July 2013, when I visited the ABS tent in Oshkosh with my wife Valentina, that we decided to start looking for a Bonanza. For three years I regularly checked the market, both in the U.S. and Europe, for the right V-tail. One of my requirements was that our aircraft must meet the IFR requirements for Europe. I also wanted good range and, of course, it needed to be within our financial limits. Most important: I required that the aircraft would be certified for unleaded fuel.

I have always dreamed of becoming a commercial or military pilot. Many different circumstances and less-than-perfect eyesight hampered my aviation dreams, and I pursued a career in health care. While working through professional school I had an opportunity to learn to fly, and was fortunate enough to buy my first Beechcraft at the tender age of 22 years old. I was spoiled for life before I knew it!

This tale, or tail, began many years ago. I grew up in upstate New York and left in 1977 to attend The Citadel in South Carolina. The Air Force offered me an ROTC scholarship to be a civil engineer. That plan changed in the summer of 1980 when I was given a flight in a T-37B at Reese AFB, Texas, during my ROTC training. When I returned to the Citadel that fall, I inquired if it would be possible to pursue flying instead of engineering. Fortunately, the Air Force agreed that I might be a good fit for aviation. Prior to that T-37 flight, flying jets had never really crossed my mind.

Bonanza CE-887 is a 1980 F33A registered as N78HF to the FAA, but it’s known as “Bruce” to just about everyone else. When I pick up my plane from its annual, shop owner Jim Finefield will call out, “Henry’s here to pick up Bruce!” and his employee Paul may reply, “I put Bruce in Hangar 4 for the night.” I’m not sure if anyone actually knows Bruce’s real tail number, except for billing purposes.

In 1984, when I was 12 years old, Ferrari built a car called the 288 GTO. I had a poster of it on my bedroom wall. I knew everything about that car. I could speak easily about its origins, lineage, performance capabilities. And I did. To anyone who’d listen. I was obsessed. It was the first machine I ever lusted after. I understand why the 12-year-old me loved that car. It was fast, beautiful, and did not suffer fools. Sound familiar?

Twenty-six years ago, Bonanza N4244B graced the cover of the ABS

My story is a bit different than most. I was introduced to aviation at the age of eight. I was fascinated with any airplane or helicopter that flew over our home in San Diego, California. Helicopters were generally the Bell 47 and used by law enforcement, and as I entered my teens and they were circling somewhere nearby, I was on my skateboard in a flash and on my way to watch them fly. This went on for years! Once I reached 14 years old, my mother (who was and still is very supportive of my adventures) allowed me to go to the local FBO and ask for any type of work to be close to airplanes. I did this multiple times at the same FBO until finally I wore them down and they said yes. They allowed me to pull weeds and keep the ramp area clean, and for this I was able to have one hour a month of dual instruction. This was heaven to me: 14 years old and flying an airplane!

The love affair began only a few days after the Twin Towers fell in early September 2001. The Debonair that I usually rented for company business travel from SABRIS Aviation in Wichita was unavailable when I needed to make an urgent flight to Marana, Arizona. “Take 378T, it’s available,” said SABRIS President Dave Dewhirst. “But I have never flown a V-tail, Dave,” I responded. “You are checked out and current in the Debonair and that’s all that is required,” he replied. “You will like it. Get in and get to work.”

My Bonanza obsession began in 2013. I was working toward my CFI, flying a rented Mooney, and had the opportunity to fly an A36 owned by a doctor who needed a pilot. Having grown up in Cherokees and flying all of the new-production Cessnas, and having plenty of time training in Mooneys, the A36 was the first single that really impressed me. The control synergy, responsiveness, and power were unlike anything I had previously flown. Yet the airplane was stable and smooth. Clearly, everything I had heard about Beech airplanes being the finest built and best flying was spot on.

The Wheels Up Aviation partnership was conceived in 2014 and incorporated in 2015. It was formed to purchase and operate N727BV, a 1970 A36 Bonanza.

The best part of my office is defined in square miles, not square feet. My executive chair is the left seat in my 1988 A36, N3121C (“Charlie” for short), and my desk is the panel.

It has been a long time since I had a Beechcraft on the cover of ABS Magazine. Back in December 1994, my V35B over the Golden Gate was a pretty awesome sight. I wanted to have something special to compare to that photo, so Lake Tahoe in Northern California/Nevada after a winter snow seemed a good choice for the Baron I now own. What do you think? The shots required pretty close formation work for several miles. My friend Tim O’Brien took the pictures over Emerald Bay while Keith Thomassen flew the camera ship, his Cessna 210.

My story is typical of many other young pilots except that I keep my Bonanza in a shop on my family farm, which I help operate with my father and younger brother in central South Dakota. About six miles west of the small town of Agar, I have a private grass strip that is roughly 2,700 feet long by 90 feet wide. When I feel the need to fly I open the 40-foot-wide shop door, hook up the converted John Deere lawn mower tug, and pull out N4578V, my 1948 “straight” 35 Bonanza, serial number D-1244. It’s usually necessary to carefully dodge any agriculture equipment we’re working on. The taxiway to the runway is the driveway around my parents’ house located on the west end. If that route is blocked by truck and tractor traffic, I taxi on the gravel road.

I learned to fly during my freshman year at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. Upon graduation I had earned Commercial, Instrument, CFII, and Multiengine certificates and ratings. Two years later I was hired at American Airlines and have remained a pilot there ever since. I am now a captain on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying to Europe and Asia.

Hello, fellow members of the American Bonanza Society. I am the proud owner and pilot of the July “Beechcraft of the Month,” which will also be the ABS 50th Anniversary Display Airplane at Oshkosh. Every time I open the hangar door and discover a Bonanza inside, I’m a little surprised. I get to fly this amazing machine. And, I own it! It is, literally, a dream come true.

There stood a Bonanza A35: white with faded red lines, a flat nose tire, deflated nose oleo, and a flat right main tire. During five business trips to Winnipeg, Manitoba over two years it was in the same tie-down spot. Five business cards were left in the door, each gone. A year later during supper, a man on the phone says, “I own a fishing lodge that just burned and have a Bonanza that I don’t want.” “How much?” I asked. The price of $5,000 got me a 1949 A35 Bonanza in 1970. Many enjoyable flights were had. Here are some.

They were the longest running general aviation tenants at San Francisco International. They flew together practically every week since they first joined up in 1977. They survived a heart attack in 1980, and a couple years later flew from California to Scotland. Their final flight together was in May 2013, which brought to an end a quiet little era of piston general aviation at SFO. We’re talking here about David “Scotty” Morris and his beloved 1964 B55 Baron, N704CC. This is their story, with a look at how “Charlie-Charlie” evolved over the years.

I started flying Bonanzas at the tender age of 17 as a new Private Pilot, and over the years have flown various models of the Bonanza and Debonair series. I’m now 69 years old so I have been flying these great airplanes, off and on, for over 52 years. I say off and on as I’ve owned six different aircraft during that time including, a number of years ago, a Bonanza. My last airplane was a Cessna 310 (I know, brand “X”). Unfortunately, it was destroyed in 2008 when Hurricane Ike sent a 10-foot water surge through its hangar in Galveston, Texas, totally destroying the aircraft. So the hunt began for a replacement. After much leg work, my search ended in 2009 when I purchased the Debonair. It has proven to be a remarkably reliable airplane that I fly over 200 hours a year to all corners of the country.

I was born on April 23, 1968, in Wichita, Kansas. I am the third of my siblings so they named me E-3. I had an IO-520B Continental with a McCauley prop. I was covered with Matterhorn white, yellow lemon, and antique gold, and labeled N6222V.

My love affair with the Bonanza started in 1948 when I was still a kid in high school. A factory new Bonanza crashed into the mountain that rose above my hometown. The pilot wasn’t hurt but the Bonanza was damaged from hitting the trees. When we kids found out about it, we hiked up to the wreck.

The year 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Bonanza Society. This is an outstanding achievement for all who have been a part of ABS since Dr. B.J. McClanahan and Henry Schlossberg mailed the letter seen on this month’s cover to 200 Beechcraft Bonanza owners “for the purpose of exchanging ideas, experiences, modifications, and other matters specifically pertaining to the Beechcraft Bonanza.” In the years since ABS has created a worldwide support network for pilots and owners of Beech Bonanzas, Barons, Debonairs, and Travel Airs.

I started flying in 1975. Cessna had a program at the time where if you paid $100/month for 12 months, you were guaranteed your license. This covered the airplane and gas, instructor, and all training materials. My wife Mary and I were recent college graduates, had been married about two years, and quite poor. But she was supportive and we scraped together the money for flight training. I trained at Tri-State Aero at Evansville, Indiana Regional Airport (KEVV) and got my Private Pilot certificate in 37.5 hours. With my license in hand, some flying experience, and being in my mid-20s, I wanted to fly jets. I tried to enlist, but this was right after Vietnam and the military didn’t want pilots. So I missed out on flying jets.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech I landed a job with Chaparral Beechcraft in Addison, Texas, as a flight instructor. In addition to instructing (CFI, CFII, and MEI) I also ferried airplanes between the company’s four locations in Texas. I had the fortunate opportunity to visit the Beech factory twice during my tenure with Chaparral, picking up new airplanes for two of my students. Both were 1984 models: one an A36 and the other a Baron 58. Both had the new turbine-style instrumentation and dual yoke design introduced in that model year. I absolutely fell in love with Beechcraft airplanes during my time at Chaparral, but I never in my wildest imagination thought that I would ever be able to afford to own one personally.

N11GG was not always N11GG. Born as a 1960 M35 Bonanza, serial number D-6184, N11GG was originally N696Q and sent from the factory to Robert Graf Inc., a Beechcraft distributor in Omaha, Nebraska. Twenty-one different owners have called D-6184 their own. It has been extensively modified, maintained, and operated since its birth 56 years ago. Pouring through the logbooks was similar to opening a time capsule. The data that lives therein tells a compelling story not just of an airplane, but a long history of passionate owners. As the latest set of owners, my family and I like to continue that tradition that has flown through the generations.

This story is about 30,000 miles of sky-tripping in our 1947 Model 35 Bonanza. That is, this is a “highway” article. In highway stories you should feel the trip more than the destination. In a highway story, the trip is the destination.

Ever since I was born I’ve loved airplanes. My dad pointed them out to me in the sky as he carried me out of the hospital where I was born. By the time I was one, I pointed out every one that flew overhead. “Cessna” and “Southwest” were two of the first words I learned to say. My dad used to be in a Cessna 172 partnership but sold out soon after I was born for lack of time. However, his partner would take us up from time to time.

Within antique/classic circles, it’s easy to forget that not every airplane needs to be stripped down to its data plate and brought back up a rivet or rib stitch at a time. We forget that it’s possible to take an airplane that’s more or less flying, and keep it flying while doing a “progressive restoration.” You periodically put it down, fix or restore a small part of it, then get it back into the air before yielding to the temptation to go deeper… which always, always grounds it for much longer than expected. We went the progressive restoration route with our 1949 A35 Bonanza. Of course, it helped immensely that we started out with a classic found-in-a-barn airplane.

Having undergone no major upgrades or refurbishments, N505TT, a well-maintained A36, appears unchanged from the day it left the factory.

My Beechcraft roots go back many years. My father owned three Bonanzas, starting back before I was born. I grew up flying with my father and family in Bonanzas. There was a short stint, right around the time I received my pilot’s license, that we did not own a Beech. That lasted for a few short years, before my father purchased a 1976 Pressurized Baron right after I graduated college. By that time, I had all my ratings except a Commercial certificate, so I racked up a good amount of time in the P-Baron over several years. N60520, a 1979 B55 Baron, replaced our 58P in 2007. Some would say that it was a downgrade, but we argue the contrary.

In 2011, while on a business trip, I decided to stop at the Oxnard airport to look at a 1963 P35 Bonanza for sale. I was compelled to look at it because, among other things, it had such low time on the airframe – less than 1,200 hours. What I found was not only a beautifully preserved airplane, but an owner who had a very interesting story to tell about how he found it.

The love affair began a little over five years ago when I purchased N366HP after a yearlong search for just the right low-time, no damage history, well-sorted A36. In weighing between 12-volt and 24-volt, useful load, periods of high factory build quality, maintenance history, engine horsepower, etc., the useful load became a significant factor to enable my family of four to travel cross-country with luggage and full fuel. Larry Ball’s book They Called Me Mr. Bonanza (purchased at the ABS tent at Oshkosh) proved an indispensable pre-purchase read, so I narrowed the search to a mid-to-late 1970s model starting with serial number E-632 (introduction of the long seat track) with exceptionally documented maintenance, leather interior, nice paint, upgraded avionics, and an IO-550B engine.

I can’t remember not being around airplanes. I vividly remember, at an early age, flying with my father often. My father, Lincoln Ragsdale Sr., PhD, was a Tuskegee Airman. In 1945, after graduating from the aviation program in Tuskegee, Alabama, and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces, he was transferred to Luke Army Air Force Base near Phoenix for advanced gunnery training in the P-51 Mustang.

I am the proud owner of a 1982 Bonanza V35B, serial number D-10385, one of only 21 50th Anniversary Edition V35B models manufactured. Beechcraft discontinued manufacturing the V35B model after 1982. Only 17 V-tail Bonanzas rolled off of the Wichita assembly line after D-10385.

N434MC is B55 Baron serial number TC-969 that rolled off the assembly line when America was a very different place culturally and politically. After nearly five decades of service the iconic design, well interpreted in this serial number, continues to enhance the lives of its owners with cost-effective, high-performance, flexible travel. This proves that the airframe technology of "then" is still the best available today.

As a neophyte pilot I found myself at the crossroads of not having an aircraft to fly. As with most pilots, I preferred to fly the airplane in which I had earned my license. After all, it was a known commodity. I had taken instruction in a Piper PA-28 Cherokee from a U.S. Air Force instructor pilot whose mantra was SAFETY, which later would guide me in much of my aircraft rental, leasing and ultimately ownership.

Owning a Bonanza was a lifelong dream, and when I became an owner it was one of the best days I can remember. I've owned my V35 since 1993 and had been maintaining it in my shop, Southern Aero Services in Griffin, Georgia, for two customers before that. So my name is in the logs back to 1986. I had owned two Cessna 172 aircraft before the Bonanza, and I also own a Cessna 150 I use as a courtesy aircraft for my customers in the Atlanta area.

Some couples travel to an exotic place for their 50th wedding anniversary. Others enjoy a beach or mountain condo. For our golden anniversary present from us to us, my wife Kathryn and I bought a Baron. Our 1980 B55 is also the first Beechcraft in our 35 years of aircraft ownership.

For several years now my wife and I have been vacationing in the Bahamas along with various other couples from the Austin, Texas, area. We all own Bonanzas. In June or July, when our summer schedules line up, we load the airplanes and head east. This year our flight consisted of John Harlan's 1968 V35A, Glenn Watson's 1975 A36, and my 1977 V35B.

This past March I picked up my new G36 Bonanza (N20VP) at the Beech factory in Wichita. If you ever get the opportunity to go to the Beechcraft Delivery Center and do this, it's a great day. I spent a couple of afternoons flying with Tom Turner as part of my BPPP training, followed by three days of simulator training at FlightSafety at Beech Field. I feel with FlightSafety and the time I spent with Tom in the right seat that I had the best of both worlds when it comes to training.

It was the summer after my 5th grade year when I first saw the inside of a small airplane, a Piper Cherokee, when my sister's father-in-law took my brother John and me to Hartford-Brainard airport in Connecticut. I was hooked on aviation from that point on. I got my A&P certificate and my pilot's license in New York in 1978. I learned to fly at Long Island's Islip MacArthur airport, a very big controlled airport with multiple runways.

The Bonanza is an iconic airplane. It has tremendous ramp appeal. It turns heads regardless of it being an early V-tail, a 33 series, or the latest G36. Everyone who knows airplanes knows the Bonanza.

The Hackler family connection with Bonanzas goes back to Russ Sr.'s first flight back in the late sixties while in veterinarian school in Missouri. He was invited by a classmate to fly to Montana during summer break in his classmate's father's plane. After grabbing a piece of chocolate cake and a warm coke, Russ jumped in the back for an uncomfortable but life-changing flight. Despite hanging on to his stomach on the hot and bouncy afternoon flight, he was hooked on flying… in a Bonanza.

I am one of the fortunate few who know some of those answers, at least as pertains to EA-120, a 1980 A36TC Beechcraft Bonanza. The dignity and integrity of a machine that offers purpose and protection from harm is worthy of a pilot's attention. Before the airplane story, I should explain that I am lucky enough to have a third-class medical certificate after a medical crisis nearly put the kibosh on my flying. My aviation experience began over 40 years ago with the purchase of a $4,000 1967 C150, N3881J. My beginnings saw me safely through an additional eight airplanes, singles and twins, until 2007. No accidents, incidents, violations, or reprimands, just cancer, my nemesis. I'm now again grateful for the left seat.

During the summer of 1964, my mom was growing weary of the hours spent perusing that yellow newspaper we all know so well in search of a good aircraft. On the drive to go see one particular airplane, my mother nonchalantly said to my father, "If it's red, buy it." I am sure angels could be heard singing and a warm glow emanated from behind that V-tail as the hangar doors slid open to reveal – in all its redness – what would become a member of the family for 50 years.

Just to the north of where brand-new Beechcraft King Airs, Barons, and Bonanzas roll off the assembly line at Beech Field (KBEC) is the home to one of the country's oldest and most historic flying clubs.

This month's featured Beechcraft is a special airplane in many ways. First of all, it has a passionate owner, Mike Burris of Victoria, Texas. Mr. Burris first soloed at the tender age of 13. Of course he repeated this act once he reached the legal age of 16. His father was a Piper man, so Mike's solo flight was in a Tri-Pacer before he moved into a Comanche. Along the way, as a student pilot he flew his first Beech, which happened to be a Staggerwing.

Over the years I have owned several Bonanza models (V35B, F33A, A36, and 35) and a Staggerwing Beech. My current Bonanza is a 1947 model, the first year they were manufactured. This aircraft has been a learning experience. I can understand why the Bonanza was a good replacement for the executive-hauling Staggerwing. It is cheaper to operate and is all metal, no wood and fabric like the Staggerwing. In 1989 I traded the Staggerwing for an F33A. The F33A was a better airplane for my wife to fly and was a joy to fly.

Beechcraft is well known for quality. I would add ruggedness and efficiency in occasional extreme conditions - including severe turbulence over the Pacific and landing at the North Pole.

It was a beautiful day in Puget Sound, with sunlit mountains, puffy clouds, and sparkling waters…at least that's what they said. You couldn't have proven it by me – all I saw was the lead aircraft. From the time we rolled onto the runway until the time we rolled off 40 minutes later, I never took my eyes off of Jim's plane. Specifically, I never took my eyes off the cowling/flap gap alignment to the point where I missed some hand signals from the cockpit, but more of that later.

If you have been flying as a VFR only pilot, we have a lot in common. While 33 years of VFR flying has been a lot of fun, from the time I earned my Private pilot certificate in 1980 through just recently when I bought my first airplane, I now embark on a new endeavor: getting my instrument ticket.

Some 10 years ago my partner and I owned a Mooney M20M. We loved the fuel economy but hardly loved the space. Anybody who flies a Mooney will tell you if you don't know the person sitting next to you well, you'll know them after even the shortest flight. No elbow room whatsoever.

Who knows why some people seek out flight and others fear the experience? I have a picture of myself at six years old in a shirt and tie, with a red airplane on the tie. By the age of eight, after endlessly begging my parents for a ride in an airplane, I finally found myself on a DC-3 at Midway Airport, Chicago, heading for Billy Mitchell Field in Milwaukee where my grandparents awaited my arrival. Over 60 years later, I finally have the plane of my dreams, and I still feel the thrill of that eight-year-old boy each time I leave the ground. I feel so fortunate to have a beautiful machine at my whim and a beautiful country to fly it in.

My start in flying was fairly late in life, but my interest had begun many, many years earlier as a child. My uncle had been a bomber pilot in World War II. After the war ended he went to work flying for Delta Air Lines. Every time I saw him he would talk to me about flying. He would tell me about where he flew, the people he would meet, and technical things about flying. You could easily tell he truly loved his job and wanted to share everything about aviation with anyone who would listen.

There is nothing like flying a Beechcraft, especially when you have the opportunity to fly all over the country for business. Yes, there is also an occasional golf trip to Myrtle Beach, several excursions to the Bahamas, or a family trip to Ohio and Virginia.

My love affair with Bonanzas began where I learned to fly in the heartland of aviation –New Philadelphia, Ohio (KPHD). After a four-year hitch in the USAF working on B-52 weapons systems, I returned home to begin my college education, which included aviation flight technology. I completed my Private Pilot certificate during 1971-'72. During this period, I regularly saw beautiful V-tail Bonanzas come and go at KPHD.

Shortly after the start of WWII, my father, Charles, enlisted in the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. After his commission, he made it through flight school and spent his tour of duty flying the B-25 Mitchell twin-engine medium bomber. He logged his last flight in June 1945, just after V-E Day, and never flew again. The Army pilot wings on my panel just below the VSI were his, so I feel as though he's with me wherever I fly.

The thrill of riding in the doors-off cargo bay of a Huey UH-1 made up for many of the hardships experienced during Uncle Sam's expenses-paid tour of Southeast Asia as far as I was concerned. After visiting with numerous pilots of those wonderful aircraft, I was convinced that flying was for me. However, by the time I had an opportunity to be accepted into Army helicopter flight school my tour was nearly over and civilian life was calling.

It was an hour interview. Two members of the seller's family, and two of their lawyers, occupied the room. I thought we were buying an airplane, not interviewing to adopt one. I was wrong. The children of the deceased owner of N9171Q, a 1970 V35B, were determined to give the plane a new home that would be better than the one their father had given her. They had too many fond memories of the Bonanza to let it go to someone for "training" or to someone that wanted her for parts. A leap of faith by the family and its new prospective owners, Tim and Steve, sealed the fate of N9171Q. Bonanza Associates was allowed to purchase the plane. The complete story of the purchase and formation of the partnership was published in ABS Magazine in January 2005.

I am a latecomer to aviation. My first airplane ride was in 1978 at the age of 22 in a Lockheed 1011. My first general aviation flight was in a Cessna 190 at age 27. Even with that I didn't catch the aviation bug. What drove me to become a pilot was that my job often took me away from home, and I would miss my daughter's activities while away on business. So to shorten my business travel time I learned to fly. This permitted me to build a business and still allowed time to be a father.

Throughout over 35 years as an airline pilot for United Airlines I was involved in general aviation, first through flying clubs and then through ownership. I discovered long ago that I like airplane partnerships. The partnership arrangement has made it possible for me to fly better and more expensive airplanes than I could afford on my own. N1BF is the third Beechcraft twin I have owned in the last 21 years, and all were partnerships with one, two, or three other pilots.

Since my friend Juan Carlos Parini some years ago let me fly his 1959 V-tail Bonanza on a 150 nautical mile trip from Bella Vista to Asuncion in our country Paraguay, I knew a Bonanza should be the plane to have. I enjoyed that flight so much that right away I started to seek for a V-tail in the many Internet pages that offer planes for sale. Charmed all my life with the beautiful lines of this wonderful airplane, plus that unforgettable flight, I made a quick decision.

My first flight was November 1, 1986. We had recently purchased a home (a fixer upper) next to a small community airport, Millard (KMLE), on the southwest side of Omaha. My wife Judy says I could not mow a straight line because I was always watching the planes in the pattern. The FBO had a sign advertising a quick introductory flight, and Judy purchased one for me. As they say, that's how it all started.

My love affair with the V-tail started in 2009. For many years I was the perennial renter of airplanes. It wasn't until I met my partner that I decided to finally purchase a plane… although it initially wasn't with my partner Andy Reinach, and it wasn't a Bonanza.

I am an avid reader of ABS Magazine and a Beechcraft owner. Every month I read the story about the plane on the front cover, and I often think, "I've got a better story than that."

I first became acquainted with a Bonanza in 1958. I was working as a line boy at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, at an FBO that provided flight training in Aeronca Champs ("Airknockers"). Another line boy and I were instructed to get the gunk off the cowling of a doctor's new Bonanza. The other line boy mixed up something and I began spraying it on the Bonanza's cowling. I immediately saw large flakes of paint coming off the nose of the Bonanza.

My fascination with flying did not develop until my senior year at Texas A&M University, when I went out to Easterwood Airport, located in College Station Texas, and took a $10 introductory ride. It was then I knew flying was something I had to master. After graduation, and with the financial help from mom and dad, I finished my private license and enrolled in a fast-track school at Dallas Love Field for my commercial, instrument, and flight instructor ratings. I went on to obtain airframe and powerplant ratings, an ATP (my rating ride was in a Beech 18), and eventually an airline career with a major airline with type ratings in the DC-9 and Boeing 777.

In 1961, as a 14-year-old son of a truck driver in the tiny town of Decatur, Arkansas, the life of an aviator and a career as an Air Force pilot were beyond comprehension. Then something happened that would set the course for the rest of my years. My adult brother Lex was taking flying lessons and invited me to experience my first airplane ride with his instructor. It was only a couple of trips around the pattern at a grass strip in neighboring Siloam Springs, but it instilled in me a voracious passion for flying that still drives me to this day. Soon my oldest brother, Verl, was also bitten by the flying bug, and he eventually partnered with Lex to purchase an A35 Bonanza. They repainted, reupholstered, renovated, and upgraded the plane until it was absolutely pristine. That experience started Verl on a life-long hobby of restoring old airplanes and cars.

The story of my Bonanza begins in my childhood. I was born the year that man landed on the moon. I grew up with the human awakening to technology, the Concord, the 747 Jumbo, communications, video, Internet, etc. Like many children, I dreamed of being a pilot and flying to unknown horizons. In my imagination I saw myself in a uniform and flying a big plane; economics wouldn't matter, I just knew I had to do it.

Since my early years, I have been interested in airplanes. Before the age of 10 I read in the old World Book Encyclopedia about how flight controls work, and dreamed of flying myself. Since nobody in my immediate family had an airplane, and the financial resources of an unemployed student did not allow pursuit of aviation dreams independently, I remained earthbound. My first ride in an airplane occurred at age 13 when I scraped together the 10 dollars required to get a short ride in a floatplane at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. It left a lasting and very favorable impression.

In the late ’80s at Hanscom Field (KBED) near Boston, Massachusetts, general aviation was alive and well. At that time I was a line boy at my parents’ flight school – fueling, cleaning, and servicing small airplanes. It seemed our planes were always in the air teaching the next generation of aviators. Due to its location just west of Boston, Hanscom was not only home to our buzzing flight school, but also the home base for many bizjets. Even in today’s economy (almost 30 years later), the airport is still a hub of activity for general aviation.

As a proud Bonanza owner, I must say that although N4254B is not the typical “show plane” that you normally see featured in this magazine, she does belong to me, cruises at 158 mph indicated on about 11 gph, gets compliments everywhere we go, and completes me.

Ever since I was five years old I wanted to fly. My dream in life was to own an airplane and a home with a runway. In 1962, at the age of 15, I started living the dream and took flying lessons in a 1941 Aeronca Chief. My father was an A&P mechanic who worked part time at Huron County Memorial Airport in Bad Axe, Michigan, and I worked with him from the age of nine. I basically spent all of my free time at the airport, and I somehow convinced the school principal to let me ride the school bus to the airport each day.

I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, when the runway was a dirt strip and the Great Silver Fleet came once each day. What excitement it was to just go out to the airport with my dad and watch this beautiful silver DC-3 come to pick up a few passengers and go off into the night.

When the April 2010 ABS Magazine arrived, I was pleased to see it featured a series of articles about the early model Barons in commemoration of 50 years of Baron production. One of those articles described N77MW, the first Baron that I encountered way back in 1970. Sander Friedman recounted the history of that fine aircraft, including a note about the former owner of N77MW, John Serrell. John was the gracious and generous father of my college buddy Skip Serrell, and I was their guest on a Spring Break trip to the Caribbean in N77MW. It was then and there that I was bitten by the Baron bug.

My wife, Sue, and I live in Bishop, California. Bishop is located in the Owens Valley – the deepest valley in the lower 48 states – on the east side of the great eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada. Bishop is south of Mono Lake, which is on the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. Our county – Inyo County – is larger than the state of Vermont, and has 18,000 people. Both the highest and lowest points in the lower 48 states are located in Inyo County: Mt. Whitney and Death Valley.

The first time I ever saw “Shopdog” was when I was asked by a friend and neighbor to perform an out-of-state, pre-purchase inspection on a 1964 B33 Debonair found in a colored picture ad. The picture itself would have been enough to deter most prospective buyers – an overall white and dark red airplane with untrimmed black tip tanks and large 12-inch “N” numbers above a black stripe on the fuselage. It was far from attractive.

It was a perfect summer day at Council Bluffs, Iowa, back in 1973. The annual air show gave eight-year-old me my first close-up look at airplanes, and hooked me for the rest of my life. After an amazing performance in a bright red Pitts, the pilot shut off the engine and spun her around while he stood up and waved to everyone. I never met the pilot, but to me he was a hero and I wanted to be like him. It would be many years before I realized my dream of becoming a pilot and airplane owner.

My dad, Earl Smith, grew up on what was known as Blytheville Air Force Base. Located in Blytheville, Arkansas, the base was later renamed Eaker Air Force Base in honor of General Ira Eaker, an air pioneer and second commander of the Eighth Air Force during World War II.

In the spring of 1982, I found myself completing four years of medical school and five years of medical residency, having worked over a hundred hours per week for most of that time. I had purchased a Skyhawk four years before, but going into medical practice I calculated that I finally had the ability to reward myself for my hard work and own a high-performance airplane (furniture for the living room could wait). I had never even considered a Bonanza, figuring it was way out of my league. Instead, I had my heart set on a Cessna Skylane RG.

The story of my Bonanza begins in my childhood. I was born the year that man landed on the moon. I grew up with the human awakening to technology, the Concord, the 747 Jumbo, communications, video, Internet, etc. Like many children, I dreamed of being a pilot and flying to unknown horizons. In my imagination I saw myself in a uniform and flying a big plane; economics wouldn’t matter, I just knew I had to do it.

I was very lucky to have been raised by a pilot/father who instilled the passion of flying and love of airplanes in me during my younger years. This led to the desire to earn my pilot’s license and own a plane. During those early years, hanging out at the Lamesa, Texas, airport, I noticed the V-tail Beechcraft Bonanza and how fantastic they looked on the ramp and during flight. What a plane!

My love affair with flying began as a young boy when I'd sit in the dismantled T-6 aircraft bodies across from the original home of the CAF (then-Confederate Air Force) in my hometown of Mercedes, Texas. Coming from a poor family, flying seemed so far in the distance, I thought that's all it would ever be.

While in college in 1973, I rented a Piper J3 Cub and took a friend air camping in northern California. On the way home to San Jose, we landed at Woodland Watts airport to wait for the summer fog to clear from the coast. Soon, a brand new Baron B55 landed and taxied to Woodland Beechcraft, the engines barking seductively. The paint glistened in the sun as the pilot shut down and climbed out, greeting his mechanic. I looked inside and smelled the new interior, heard the tinkle of the cooling cylinders. This left a lasting impression on me: the sound, the quality, the beauty, and style. I thought if any material thing in this world says you have arrived, it is a Baron.

Owning a Bonanza has been a goal of mine since my first ride in my uncle’s 1966 V35, back in 1982. I was infatuated with aviation even before that flight, but that experience was the one that, even at a young age, made me realize the outstanding performance and quality of a Bonanza.

I learned to fly in 1996. I had owned a Cessna 182 for seven years, and the engine was getting to be high time and starting to leak a little oil. I was considering my options. Meanwhile, we continued to do what we have been doing for 10 years, flying to the backcountry strips of Montana and Idaho.

When I was 9 years old I frequently rode my bicycle out to the Fresno Air Terminal to watch the California Air National Guard F-86s. I hung on the chain-link fence for hours dreaming about flying one of those neat looking airplanes.

I vividly remember the first time I saw the 1968 Model 36 Bonanza, S/N E-70. It was 1990 and I had flown to Oxnard Airport on the central coast of California responding to a classified ad in the Los Angeles Times. When I got there, Joe Sullivan, the seller (an airline captain) opened the hangar doors and there it was: a gleaming, gorgeous Model 36 Bonanza looking like it had just come off the assembly line!

I was fortunate to begin flying a Bonanza at a very early age, which helped me eventually fulfill my dream of becoming an airline pilot. A majority of my early instrument and cross-country time was logged in my father’s 1951 Bonanza C35, which is still known as N5808C (D-2760). Complete with all the comforts of a Lear Orienter ADF, MK V and MK16 Narco navcoms, along with the way-cool electric prop, the Bonanza left little else to desire in a personal plane.

During my 20 years as a pilot, I have always owned and flown a Beechcraft. I worked my way up the Beech line and in 2007 purchased and flew a King Air 200. I loved the challenge of learning the King Air and really enjoyed its performance and capabilities. My spouse enjoyed its quiet ride, luxurious cabin and comfortable air conditioning. Unfortunately, I quickly “learned the hard way” how expensive turboprops are to operate and maintain. Maintenance costs were consistently shocking and burning 110 gph wasn’t fun either. The costs were so high that it started to ruin the fun for me. So I decided to look for a new airplane with King Air-like capabilities but without the crippling costs.

My initial training for the private ticket was sponsored by my father when I was barely out of high school. Around 1980 Piper products ruled the ramp at KNEW (Lakefront, New Orleans), so early logbook entries show “Traumahawk” and Cherokee time. Funds, or lack thereof, kept the entries thin for the next 14 years. In 1994 postgraduate interviews led me to, of all places, Wichita and my priorities again shifted to include flying.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that any other airplane could be better than my completely restored 260-hp ultimate Debonair, with leather seats, a Jaguar paint scheme and a panel full of avionics. Then, one mid-summer 2005 Florida day while the Debonair was in the shop, my friend Lou Martelli provided me with shuttle service in his 1990 air-conditioned 300-hp Bonanza F33A.

One of the biggest blessings guiding my life has been aviation. I was fortunate to be placed in the front seats of general aviation aircraft since age 2 and a Bonanza or Baron since age 5. Throughout my early life my father owned a 1973 V35B, a 1964 B55, a 1980 A36TC and lastly a 1982 B58P. I flew 2,500 hours or so of PIC time on the last two.

My wife Allison and I decided our Piper Cherokee was no longer fulfilling our mission requirements. I wanted more speed and range; Allison desired more room and a greater useful load. A detailed study of the performance specifications of numerous used aircraft revealed, at least on paper, that a Beech Bonanza would more than meet our needs. At that time, we were not terribly familiar with the Bonanza, although I had always admired the V-tail design of the 35 series. They simply are beautiful aircraft. But I never flew one nor had I even flown in one.

Having been in the Air Wing in the Marine Corps in North Carolina and in Vietnam, the plan had been to muster out, get a college degree and a private pilot’s certificate and go back in as a fighter pilot. However, getting the private ticket in 1970 was enough to let me know I was never going to be a fighter pilot. When the GI Bill flying money ran out in 1970, the cash to fly was gone, but the dream never died. I remained a Trade-A-Plane reader and an AOPA member.

Digging ditches for my father’s construction company enabled me to pay for flying lessons at Pacific States Aviation in Concord, California, in 1962. My father was a wise man who realized my passion for flying would motivate me to finish high school and college. He also realized a strong desire to keep my medical and pilot certificate would put healthy limits on my behavior.

My love affair with Beech airplanes began in 1965 when I joined Hangar One, the largest Beech distributor in the Southeast United States. I started as a salesman in their Musketeer program, but before long advanced to the Debonair and Bonanza, and later moved up to the Baron program. Along the way I had the pleasure of selling the first Model 36 Bonanza in the Southeast.

I can’t remember when I started to like airplanes. But I do recall the drawings of them I used to do during my class breaks at school as well as some of the trips in my dad’s beautiful white and gold 1971 V35B. I was always in the right seat, side by side with the pilot, trying to figure out all those dials and switches.

I was just 15 when my passion for aviation came into full bloom. All I wanted was to be around airplanes. To do so, I took my first job loading baggage for Catalina Seaplanes, an airline that flew Grumman Goose airplanes 26 miles off the coast of California—from Long Beach to Catalina Island.

In May 2004 as I was standing on the ramp at KCPS (St. Louis Downtown Airport, across the river from St. Louis, MO) awaiting the arrival of N1545S for its obligatory prebuy inspection, I knew she would be “the one” destined to become an important part of my life. After months of searching for a Debonair—and a few failed prebuys along the way—my dream of becoming not only an aircraft owner, but a Beechcraft owner, was about to become a reality.

I caught the flying bug in 1985 after making several trips to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with a friend who had a Bellanca Super Viking. I found an airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a fleet of Piper Tomahawks, or ‘Traumahawks’ as they are affectionately called, and decided to begin my training there. With my 6’5” frame, I had a problem trying to fit into a Cessna 152, but the low-wing design of the Tomahawk was much easier.

Without a doubt I must be the luckiest aviator in the country because I became interested in flying when I was a child in post-war Germany. This happened after listening to stories by a family friend who flew ME109s and 262s during the war. Of course, it would have been nice if I could have learned to fly right there and right then, in which case this story would be very short and have little to do with luck. But at the time and in that place, flying was out of reach for me as well as many others, so my dream stayed on hold until much later.

My father instilled in me the love of machinery and mechanics as I was growing up on a small farm in southern Illinois. Scott Air Force Base was nearby, so aircraft seemed always to be flying over at low altitudes. It was near the end of World War II and I watched for hours as AT-6s and P-51s practiced dog-fighting tactics.

The best things about my 2003 Bonanza A36 is the freedom it gives me and the places it takes me—and that’s everywhere all the time. As president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), I spend a lot of time flying around the country, talking to various groups, meeting with members and attending events.

Like many with a passion for aviation, my addiction began as one of my earliest memories: I was a 3-year-old tyke sitting on my father’s lap, tiny hands clasped on the yoke of a 1959 Bonanza V-tail when our family was flying from Nashville, Tennessee, to Florida. My mother was sitting copilot and my brothers were strapped in the back—one of the few moments as the youngest of three brothers that I had an advantage because the cg envelope of the Bonanza precluded me from riding in the back. There I was, holding straight and level, with my father providing a gentle nudge on the yoke and a light touch on the rudders for his baby-boy future aviator, sealing forever my love affair with the Bonanza.

We have always been a flying family. We bought a Cessna 172 in 1994 and traveled extensively with her. When our son Wesley was born in 1999, he was soon introduced and is growing up with flying as the preferred mode of this family’s transportation.

Fifteen years ago, I was a Mooney man through and through. Our Mooney 231 had taken us faithfully all around the United Kingdom and Ireland and throughout Europe. Yes, it was small and cramped, but we kept ourselves and children lean and enjoyed the speed and touring potential.

I learned to fly shortly after serving a three-year hitch in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. After discharge, I joined my father in his construction company. While my head was in my work, my heart was stuck on being a pilot—a dream that had been with me since I was eight years old and wanted to be a fighter pilot.

I soloed in 1979 as part of the Air Force Flight Instruction Program in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. During 24 years in the Air Force I had the opportunity to fly 64 different types of aircraft, most of them as an experimental test pilot and very few of them general-aviation types.

My interest in aviation came naturally: I was born and grew up in Wichita, Kansas—Air Capital of the World! The sky was always full of jet bombers from Boeing, trainers from Cessna and classy business airplanes from Beech. A relative, Jimmy Yarnell, was chief photographer at Beech, so my bedroom walls were covered with photos of Beechcraft.

I soloed on my 16th birthday and have been involved with airplanes ever since. My son Mike also soloed on his 16th birthday, and my dad has had an A35 since I was a child. My first Bonanza was a D35 I purchased in 1984 and flew it everywhere from home in Muncie to Arizona, Oregon, Florida and many states in between. Since all three of our children went to colleges more than 200 miles away, all of them—and some of their friends—made good use of Bonanza rides to and from school several times a year. These days, our young grandkids get Bonanza rides as well. They point and shout, “Papa’s airplane!” whenever they see any plane in the sky. It was a hard decision to sell a plane I flew for 20 years, but when my brother Tim bought a G35, I felt it was time to “keep up with family.” I had also been following Lew Gage’s articles in the ABS Magazine. So when a customer’s beautiful G was up for sale, I put my D on the market and, thanks to the appreciation factor, sold it for four times what I paid for it. When I bought…