Yesterday I closed on my new (to me) A36. It's a 78 model with the D'Shannon IO-550 upgrade. It came out of annual/pre-buy early this week, and I went to Kansas yesterday to get an insurance checkout and bring it home.

Until I saw the plane yesterday for the first time, I had never sat in a Bonanza, much less flown one. That's a lot of commitment, or stupidity, but I digress.

Bright and early this morning after an evening of sifting through the BPPP materials I found, I met my instructor at the FBO. We went over some ground discussion of various systems and traits particular to the A36 before heading to the hangar for a thorough post-annual pre-flight inspection. Finally, it came time to get airborne.

My CFI graciously agreed to handle ATC communications so I could focus on the airplane. We spent a good hour doing air work--stalls, dive demo, slow flight, steep turns, etc. He made me crank the gear down, which will certainly result in a visit to the chiropractor. Then we headed back to the airport for some landings. Wind was 70* crosswind at 13G18, so it was going to be thrilling. Three landings and we were finished. After a quick lunch, we said farewell, and I took my Bonanza southward toward Texas. That gave me almost three hours to figure out what I like and don't like, and come up with a wish and needs list for the new bird.

I thought I would share my first impressions, having only read about Bonanza flying qualities. First, as disclosed by many, roll stability is minimal. I kind of expected that. What I didn't know to expect was the heavy pitch force. We were no where near gross. I was using pitch trim constantly. The site picture is also very different from my experience in Mooneys. Steep turns looked like steep dives when I did them right. Landing the Bo was an exercise in relaxation. Figured out the power settings needed and once I had that nailed the rest was easy.

My absolute favorite part was the incredible performance from the Continental IO-550B. The climb rate was exceptional (again, not at gross), and I marveled at the cruise performance on the way home. It exceeded my expectations, which were already high. I'd love to see what an MT propeller would do for performance.

I have a long list of things I need to sort out. The STEC 60-2 held heading okay, but altitude hold was like having a drunk student pilot at the controls. The WX8 is pretty worthless. There is an Argus 5000 right in front of my face that belongs in a museum. The radar altimeter might work, but I was too busy flying to play with it much. The EDM 700 lacks fuel flow, and the display is so small. And I definitely need to study up on how XM works with the 530W. I found the page for it, but couldn't get much out of it since there were no radar returns. I couldn't figure out how to get METARs.

Finally, I got to use WingX with the Clarity SV. It worked okay, but I made a list of things I need to learn that were not intuitively obvious in flight. It was cool to see ADS-B traffic (every now and then). I'll need a safety pilot in order to spend meaningful time playing with the app. I also ran the Garmin Pilot app on a trial basis, and it was pretty neat. I think I like the interface just a bit more. But SV isn't available in split screen yet.

Now the real work begins. Time to get an IPC and really learn the airplane's capabilities.

Nice write up and congrats on your new Bo , not sure what you mean by "roll stability is minimal" ?

+1

And.....pictures please.
I'd be glad to help with any Wing X Pro and Clarity SV questions (or any other operational questions for that matter)

Scott

Thanks.

I mean it feels like it's pretty close to neutral roll stability. Look down, take your hand off the yoke, look back up and you're on altitude but rolling left or right. This is something Eckalbar mentions in his book IIRC.

Tony,

It looks like you made a wonderful purchase and got a beautiful Bo!

You won't get much in the way of Wx information on the 530 unless you also have a GDL69. That may be the issue.

Congrats, I do miss my A36 great airplane. With an IO550 it is an awesome plane! XM and 530 is almost worthless. Add a -96 with XM and you will be set....

Congrats !

I hope you didn't pay too much extra for that Trimble 2000 Someone clearly went all out on an avionics upgrade.....15 years ago.

Get the stec looked at by someone who knows whqt they are doing. I never considered the A36 heavy in pitch. Add to that the sloppy pitch on AP I wonder whether your servo binds.

Would you suggest going to Mineral Wells (since I'm in Texas). Will the factory service customer planes directly?

No they will not, take it to someone like Abilene Aero....they will send it in.

Great looking machine, if your check out pilot took you through the stalls, one thing I might point out with the 3 bladed prop and full power on stalls there is a great deal of p-factor and TQ so be ready for heavy right rudder and power reduction than reapplication.
IP - WBarry@Aerospacesandt.com.

Tony -

Cool plane, great writeup, and fun pics to boot - nice thread.

Though my dad had Bonanzas, mooneys, and other planes, I also had never actually even been inside a 36 model before my trip across the country to pickup my plane - that was nearly 15 years ago now, seems like yesterday.

My favorite thing about the 36/58 models - the huge barn doors in the back and the configurable seating ... I love it.

Enjoy.

-MO

Tony, I think you'll love it when you get a few things sorted out. I've been flying A-36's continuous since 1974 and do fly mostly alone for the past ten years. It has a great CG but when alone it requires a lot of nose up trim while landing. I carry about fifty pounds in the rear baggage area to help balance it out.

S-Tec should be able to fix the altitude hold, my 55 works solid. Where in central TX are you based? Great looking bird, enjoy.