Some thoughts... not exactly in line with the Introductions guidelines, but that's water under the bridge now.

Good luck to Brian, I suspect he's fine after a yank on his leash by management. After another project or two, memories will fade.

Had I joined Cisco Systems a few years before I did, and had managed to sell my options at the right time, I might have been in the market for a new Beech. However, since I didn't, I bought one that had nearly 4000 hours on it, for a veritable song. I'd say the vast majority of Beechtalk owners own their planes for similar reasons, many of them cheap SOB's like me because we want to fly great airplanes but don't have a large fraction of a million bucks to throw at an acquisition.

I was chatting with a nouveau riche Silicon Valley SR-22 owner at the airport at a cultural crossroads (Ashland, in southern Oregon, has a nice little airport and a renowned Shakespeare festival within flying distance of San Jose) and he liked Bonanzas, but he really liked that he had a parachute and no landing gear to mess with. His lady seemed less impressed hearing a used Bonanza does everything his new Cirrus can do for a fraction of the price. That wealthy SR-22 owner made his buy decision with a completely different set of requirements than I did when I bought my V35A. The cool factor was one of the biggest for him... it's today's plastic tailed doctor killer. I cut my teeth on C172's and PA-28's, and, if I won the lottery of life with a big payout, would probably be looking at a nice new (or at least newer) 36 or Baron, with known ice; if a really big payout, with a plan to move towards a King Air or MU-2. As it was, I changed from looking at PA-28/PA-28R aircraft to Bonanzas after realizing the acquisition prices of nice late 60's 35's wasn't much beyond what a late 70's vintage Cherokee Archer would go for a few years earlier. Cool had NOTHING to do with it.

What was important to me when I bought it 5 years ago? Low, low acquisition cost, fuel economy, useful load, range, service ceiling, . Also the fact that virtually every part on my Bonanza is one of many thousands made, over many decades. Failure modes are well known and accounted for in the list of AD's.

What is important to me now? The same list, plus It's so bloody well harmonized and easy to fly, not to mention well supported by a great type club, the ABS, and lots of greybeards who have been caring for them for years. And the BPPP.

I believe Olive Ann once said something like, "We're not in business to make airplanes, we're in business to make money." That's a healthy attitude. Beech sells me parts as my V35A is in continuous restoration but I buy as few of these as is practical while keeping the aircraft airworthy and reliable, and Beech needs to make money on these parts in order to show a profit. However, they also compete with the boneyards who have (with luck) serviceable used parts as an alternative.

I hope Beechcraft can continue to make great airplanes under the type certificates we all know and love, keeping costs under control with a mix of the old and the new, and can keep supporting the aircraft that left the factory decades ago. And I hope they can design and manufacture exciting new aircraft that are as well designed as the old ones that can be sold for a profit at a competitive price in the niches they target.

The most disturbing video I've ever seen was an Arizona SR-22 that had spun out of the pattern and crashed in a parking lot with a surveillance camera. The shattering of the wings, full of fuel which then vaporized and ignited, was horrific. There isn't a airplane made that can't be coaxed into stalling (let's forget about Ercoupes, most people have) in the pattern but Cirri seem better at it than most, and there is hidden safety value to aluminum wings with fuel bladders that imho beats that parachute.

Having to put the gear down is both not that hard to remember with good procedures, nor likely to cause damage to flesh if it isn't though it isn't inevitable. Great pilots have gone lifetimes never forgetting; I hope to follow their example. Ditched in water, there's even a big plus to have gear that can be left up on porpoise. Beechcraft, there's money to be made selling to the Cirrus customer pool. Accentuate the positives and don't forget the negatives.

-Greg

Wow, did you get lucky!

Wow, did you get lucky!

Nope - that isn't luck - that is a good pre-buy.
I read an article a while back about Murphy's Law. I was used to the usual definition of "if anything can go wrong, it will". This article re-phrased it as "anything left to chance will fail". My take away from the article was I won't leave anything important to chance - check everything. A good pre-buy leaves very little to chance.

Nope - that isn't luck - that is a good pre-buy.
I read an article a while back about Murphy's Law. I was used to the usual definition of "if anything can go wrong, it will". This article re-phrased it as "anything left to chance will fail". My take away from the article was I won't leave anything important to chance - check everything. A good pre-buy leaves very little to chance.