Hello, I am new to this site and very excited for my new (1948) A35. I started flying in 1987 and it took me a little while to finish my license due to finances. I flew in the back seat of the S3B Viking for two cruises with the VS-28 Gamblers so I was getting my fix. Once I got out I finished my license which from start to finish only took a mere 22 years. Now I am the very proud owner of a Bonanza. I had to put in 10 hours with an instructor for my insurance then 10 hours by myself before I could take passengers up. On my very first flight by myself I was initiated in to the club of the landing gear popping the circuit breaker and not going down. A little more excitement than a lower time guy needs on his very first flight alone in his new plane but thanks to just doing the EP for it with my instructor on a previous flight all went well. Anyway, hope to have the plane for many more hours and can hardly wait to get up again.


Jim

Congrats on your airplane You will enjoy it.
Be careful with weather and do some flying. 50 hrs per year is the bare minimum :-)
Fly it for awhile before you decide what to change.
Thank you for your service also.

Jim,

What part of the country are you? Those of us flying the antiques need to stick together.

We have had an A-35 in the family for 20'odd years. If we can assist, no problem.

I live in Minnesota and fly out of Princeton. The only thing I am changing off the get go is to add an Airwolf air/oil separator. The bottom of the plane gets pretty oily and it drips out quite a bit after landing. I do wish I had more fuel capacity with only 34 gallons it doesn't give me very long legs. I will fly it to Montana at least once per year to visit family, I have made that trip twice in the last 3 years but have yet to make it in my new plane.

Oh, and thanks to all for the welcoming responses!

Ok, Jim - you are new, so you will get away with it this time BUT

WHERE ARE THE PICS! THEY ARE REQUIRED - ESPECIALLY FOR A '48

Don't make me bring out pics of my '48 on your thread


PS - Join ABS and get Lew Gage's book. That will help you understand the reality of oil on our airplanes. I might just have one of the few E series engines that doesn't leak very much.

[img]IMG_20140930_131555_474%20(2)[/img] I hope this worked.

I love the paint - semi-modern, but still a flavor of the older styles too ...

Nice looking airplane, Welcome!

Jim, don't jump to the conclusion that an Oil/air separator will cure all of your oil leaking ills. First you should do a compression test. You will be looking for a cylinder or two that are not quite up to the others in contained pressure, and the culprit may be piston ring end gap alignment. This sounds like a good thing... but not. Rings freely rotate, unlike automotive piston rings, and when all of the end gaps align, blowby results, and will quickly coat the bottom of the plane with oil. Other things too ,can cause blowby, but this is one that is common, yet not commonly diagnosed. The cure can be a tear down and clean up, new rings. You can also try to dissolve the gunk which causes the rings to stick in place. Search out posts by Don Lawrenz, MMO hydraulic lock.

Will do, thanks Larry.

I am slightly biased towards the A models myslef.

Beautiful plane

I don't know about the E-series engines, but my 520 likes 9.5 quarts. It will stay at 9.5 quarts for hours and hours. If I put in 10.5 quarts, a quart ends up on the belly. Some engines just don't like to have the sump completely full. An air/oil separator will help this malady, but why have the complication if you don't need it.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the E-series can pipe up and let you know what a "safe" lower range is. I'd have to look back at my notes, but I think I remember someone telling me that it was ok to get as low as 8.5 quarts on the 520, so I was happy when mine settled in at 9.5.

Now, all of that said, the prior owner only flew 225 hours (since FREMAN) in the 7 years before I bought her. I changed the oil at 40 hours (arrived at quickly between B2OSH and a few family trips - 4 months to be precise) and mistakenly put 10.5 quarts in. Well, 25 hours later, and I'm still barely below 10.25 quarts. So, Larry might be on to something with the rings. Perhaps mine settled in after I got the engine "broken in" again.

I guess my rambling point is, find out why the oil is blowing out before you "cover up the cause" with an air/oil separator.

Welcome to the club!!