Beechcraft Bonanza [what's with the V Tail? Is it Safe, is it really a Doctor Killer?]

Let’s take a quick look at the The Beechcraft Bonanza. I’m going to cover some of the peculiarities about this aircraft. One is obvious of course, the v-tail. I'll also cover safety and price. There are 7 interesting facts about this aircraft from production numbers to its infamous name of "forked tail doctor killer".

Three major variants of the Bonanza family are:
Model 35 Bonanza (1947–1982; V-tail)
Model 33 Debonair or Bonanza (1960–1995; conventional tail)
Model 36 Bonanza (1968–present; a stretched Model 33)

All Bonanzas share this unusual feature: The yoke and rudder pedals are interconnected by a system of springs or bungee if you like, that assist in keeping the airplane in coordinated flight during turns.

The pilot can make a coordinated trun using the yoke alone during the cruise.

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Interesting other videos on the Bonanza

Matt Guthmiller - Solo around the world

Mojo Grip's walk around

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[NH]

Former Model 36 owner here.
First, there was another all-metal general aviation airplane produced postwar, and it looked much more "like a sleek WW2 fighter" than the Bonanza: the Navion, built by North American Aviation and intended from the very beginning to look like an "Everyman's Mustang." North American, of course, built the real Mustang so they ought to know.
The Bonanza trounced the Navion in the marketplace because it was both cheaper to build and 15-20 knots faster on the same horsepower. The Bonanza wing was derived from a slick and speedy racing aircraft. The Navion wing came from a slow, safe (and aborted) Army Air Corps trainer. The results were inevitable.
Second, all Bonanzas, from the original Model 35 right up to current versions of the 36 share one critical flight characteristic: when you let go the yoke, they tend to fall off on a wing and enter a spiral. This can be subtle, or dramatic. Either way, in a descending spiral the aircraft's nose drops and speed rapidly builds up beyond where the pilot trimmed.
In clear air the pilot naturally levels the wings. With a functioning autopilot, the plane rights itself. But in the hands of an inexperienced pilot, or with an autopilot that's misbehaving (or not turned on), things get dicey fast. Remember, the wing design came from a racer, and the Bonanza gathers speed quickly. It is very easy to exceed speed limits.
When the airplane pops out of the clouds into clear air and the pilot sees the ground rushing up, instinct can command a sharp pull up on the yoke. At above VNE, this leads to structural failure, and is responsible for the 35's somewhat shadowed reputation as a "doctor killer." But really it was that tendency to enter a spiral, and the pilot's inappropriate response to an uncommanded dive that seals the deal.

Flown properly, the Bonanza is quite safe. Flown poorly, it - like any aircraft - can bite, and kill.

[davidmangold]

I’m 69. A year ago I bought a 1947 straight 35 bonanza-the 819th built v tail. In 1976 at age 23, I flew 2 models of 60’s v tails and a brand new 1976 A36. I also flew 55 and 58 barons. Total of 1, 000 hours in the above bonanzas and barons. I got to the airlines at age 25, starting out in DC-9’s. Progressed to the B767. Flew it for 28 years/18, 000 hours, with a total of 40 years as major airline pilot, with 28, 000 total hours. So, my take on v tails; for a seasoned or low time very sharp pilot, they are as safe as a Cessna 172. If you know your airplane, fly it properly and within your own personal limitations, you won’t crash and burn! Bonanzas don’t kill pilots; bonanza pilots kill themselves.

[philipmartin]

Unfortunately, I learned to fly in a Bonanza when I was 14. My father was a test pilot who flew high performance jets and considered the Bonanza nothing more than a beginner plane. It even had a newer larger engine and variable prop which could cruise up to 200 mph at 10, 000 ft. Back in the early 1960s, it was much, much faster than a regular Bonanza. His plan to make me a pilot didn't work. I found the plane so stressful to fly that I refused to get a license or continue to fly. He was disappointed that I didn't follow in his footsteps but I can tell you, test pilots aren't normal men. He considered recreational pilots to be kite flyers and commercial pilots were bus drivers. He was the only one of his original team of nine test pilots that died of old age at 78. The rest of them crashed and didn't make it to 40. Strangely enough, if my father hadn't been a pilot, I probably would have been.

[miltonmiller]

It is also said that "Doctors are the Bonanza killers". hehehe

[RossCallen]

It's funny at 4:20 you show a standard tail crash and say that it's a v-tail crash! You might want to check the video!

[DeereX]

I've flown with a friend who owned a V35B twice to Oshkosh, 1500 mile round trip. His had all the structural upgrades, individual cylinder head temp gauges, and flying lean of peak did an honest 11 gal/hr and 175 kt cruise. With tip tanks, we made it from central NC to central Wisconsin unrefueled. I'd love to own one.

[flagmichael]

In the early '80s, when I was working as an avionics tech in General Aviation, I had a conversation with one of the two plots who survived a torque box failure in a V-tail Bonanza. He had been on final and hit a medium size bump. Instantly the airplane started shaking like a wet dog. The instruments were a blur, the radios were shaking out of their racks. He dropped the landing gear immediately, dropped full flaps, and hoped for the best. At 100 kts it stopped shaking (I doubt he did) and he completed his landing. As he taxied out the controller said there was something wrong with the tail. What was wrong was that it was badly twisted and sitting sideways... his plane had an L tail. According to the pilot the NTSB estimated that if the oscillation had continued one more second it would have parted.

[Gruntos]

I had a V35B for 8 years. One of the last ones off the assembly line. Lovely aircraft. A right bugger in a crosswind take off though. Solid as a rock cruse at 165kts at 13 gal us and often had me up to 15000 ft.

[nicholaswilson]

My dad taught me to fly in a C-35 model. We never brought the flaps up after landing until we were off the runway and taxiing at low speed because of the flap/gear switch setup. He knew a guy who had hit the gear instead of flaps while still rolling down the runway fast enough that the gearlock switches weren't engaged, and the gear came up...

Couple small facts, the V-Tail design was due to the Bonanza's design for speed, and having only 2 instead of 3 tail surfaces gave it some extra mph. Likewise, there is a step to get up to the wing so you can enter/exit the plane. The earlier models retracted the step when the gear went up, sliding the strut into the fuselage until only the step itself (which was teardrop shaped) was still outside the aircraft. I think I read that gave it an extra 3mph airspeed...

[erictaylor]

I worked for an airplane mechanic the summer I was 18. We had a Bonanza owner come in with his V-tail, and the entire tail cone looked like paper that someone had crumpled up then smoother out again.
He asked how much it would cost and my boss said it was not possible to fix, and the airplane was not airworthy any more and the owner was extremely lucky.
The owner didn't really like this but my boss wouldn't let him leave with the plane. My boss showed him a tape (this was in 1988, so no DVDs) of a NASA test where the tail started to flutter then it separated.
Really scary to look at. There is a reason they say "Never exceed speed."
As to the plane being a doctor killer, that can be applied to any airplane that is complex. A lawyer or doctor goes from a Cessna 172 right into a Bonanza and doesn't take enough lessons to fly the more complex aircraft safely can get into real trouble. You see the same problem with light twins. The pilot gets just enough lessons to get the cert, then they fly into IMC and become disoriented or one engine goes out on their twin, then they let the airspeed drop below maneuvering speed, the rudder can no longer counter the asymmetric thrust and the plane stalls and spins.
The Bonanza is just as safe as any complex aircraft (RG, CS prop) but because of it's reputation and higher price, it is more of a status symbol than a Cessna 182RG, so more doctors and lawyers are flying them.

[darwinskeeper]

I had started my career at Cessna working with a stress engineer who occasionally worked as an expert witness in trials working in 210 crashes. He believed that the problem with many high performance singles whas that they were demanding to fly and expensive. The high price meant that the people who could afford to buy one were so involved with their careers that they often couldn't find the time to remain proficient with their high performance airplane. They would then take their plane on a long vacation trip, get in over their heads and crash, this was a particularly huge problem with IFR flight conditions.

[bobgartin]

I've always loved the v tail. Thoroughly enjoyed flying it, although it was only briefly. Very sweet airplane.

[HITMAN]

Also with the V-tails the some of the rudders are made out of magnesium so when painted need to be carful with you paint shop going to make sure they know what they are doing Bc it will cause corrosion under the paint and once those rudders don’t pass inspection they are super rare to find since textron does not manufacture these parts so if you see like an orange peel on the pain of your rudders it’s a sign of corrosion starting taking care of it before it to late. Always take your Beechcraft to Beechcraft mechanics also not all A&Ps know all the tips of these planes especially the landing gear I see a lot of planes with messed up landing gear tensions, gearbox’s incorrectly rigged, worn bushings and bearings there’s a lot always go to the ABS website and look for an ABS shop. I work at Waypoint Aviation Services in Riverside California we specialize in beechcraft and if any questions I would love to answer them.

[rrknl]

Back in the late 70s - early 80s, I flew a V-tail for a local businessman I knew. Not sure but I think it was 1967 model. It had a turbocharged Continental IO520, 285HP and a 3 blade prop.

The owner had a private but no instrument, I had an instrument so about the only time I flew it was when actual IMC was likely. I had about 200 hours in it, quite a bit IMC.

At the same time, I owned and flew Comanche 250. Lycoming O-540, carbureted and no turbo.

The Bonanza was easy to land, the Comanche was a bit more of a challenge. The Bonanza would go about 15 knots faster (depending on who was buying the but it tended to fishtail a bit. Not as bad as a twin but you could feel it.

Both planes, gear up, were pretty slick, easy to overspeed if you weren't paying attention.

Most of my flying was mountains, I lived in Central Oregon at the time. Typical IFR cruise was 12, 000' or so. If you're IMC around there, you're picking up ice. This is the main difference between the two planes, the Comanche handled ice well, the Bonanza didn't.

With just a trace of ice on the Bonanza, it's start flying like a brick. Seriously, if it were not turbo, I doubt if it would maintain 6000' with 1/8" of ice.

The Comanche, on the other hand, did well in ice. Once, I was at 16, 000', in and out of clouds, picking up ice and had about 3/4". Even without a turbo, it still flew pretty much as it did with no ice. A bit slower but it still handled just fine.

If the Bonanza had any ice at all, I'd add about 15 knots to the approach speed, about 5 for the Comanche.

The Bonanza was quieter and more comfortable than the Comanche, a bit faster but both would burn about the same fuel under the same flight conditions.

About the Doctor killer stuff; a Bonanza is more of a status symbol then any other retractable single so a lot of them were flown by Doctors and Businessmen. A lot of these pilots are part-time and don't keep their skills is the Any plane takes a certain amount to piloting but I'd say the Bonanza would get out of hand quicker than most other types.

[tinlizzie]

Like the man says before me, excessive air speed, will teat your wings off. That being said, over stress any other airplane, and see what happens ! I owned and flew my Bonanza 35 (1948) for almost twenty years, . The Bonanza is so quiet, if you don't pay attention, and have the nose down a little, the airspeed runs up pretty quickly towards red line. If you put too much back pressure on the yoke, the wings could come off, or other metal failure. The 35's had the tubular spar in them, that was not as strong as the aluminum box type spar, so would break easier than the box type. Again, any plane that is over stressed will break! I put a spar kit in mine, that took up to 80% of the wing loading, so it was stronger than the box type. A very easy airplane to fly and land, and if I didn't get married, I'd still have it! Bob U.

[robertheinkel]

The V tail was borrowed and used on the air refueling booms for the Air Force. It worked so well on the prototype, it became the standard, and still in use today.

[richardbriscoe]

There is a striking difference between the safety records of the V tail and conventional tail Bonanzas. The typical accident profile of a V tail mishap is a low hour pilot (doctors were able to afford them) in IMC conditions for which the pilot had little experience. Because of the clean design the aircraft would pop through V never exceed with structural failure of the tail. The conventional tail version does not seem to have this problem to the same degree.

[Mike_S_Swift]

Flew a B35 (50’) and fuel management was biggest factor for me. They used a pressurized carburetor and pumped more gas than it burned returning unused fuel to the left tank. So you took off on left tank flew for 45-60 minutes switched to right tank for another 45-60 minutes and the Auxiliary tank all the while watching your fuel level in left tank go back up. Landing on tank with most fuel should be left tank at least that’s the way I was taught. Shorter flights I landed with right tank. Very stable airplane and took me awhile to adjust to increased rate of climb and cockpit controls in the pattern over a Cherokee 140. Things happened much faster but within a few hours you get used to the gear, cowl flaps and constant speed prop. Burned more fuel than the Cherokee per hour but you got there faster and quieter so it was a push on fuel and a quieter smoother ride.

[Tonali]

The model 35 is the greatest single engine GA aircraft ever built. Check out Larry Ball’s books and you’ll see why. Also, the V-tail is safe, but unforgiving of incompetence.

[LearnManagementOnline]

They don't make them like they used to! Love that tail, a real head turner