Hello everyone and thanks for the add! I'm Jeff Leatherwood from Texas (Hoping to Base out of 60R). After a lifelong love affair with Airplanes, I am finally at a place where I simultaneously have the time and money for this hobby. As of 2/25/22, I am still a student Pilot with only 40-50 hours but with the unavailability of flight school planes in my area and the overall goal to have and fly my own Bonanza out of my own Hangar at 60R, I have decided to pursue buying The Bonanza I intend to keep for a very long time and finishing my flight school and IFR training in said Bonanza (The plane I'm ultimately going to be flying all over the country in).
In identifying local Bonanza Specialists for both Pre-Purchase inspections and Flight training, It became clear that this forum is "The Place" for Beechcraft info.
I am here humbling seeking your knowledge and expertise and hope to someday contribute to what seems like an amazing Community.

Couldn't be more excited for this lifelong adventure!
Jeff

Welcome Jeff!

Lovely family. You have an exciting journey ahead of you. You also have the opportunity to spotlight and possibly generate interest in aviation for your family. My son is now a pilot and working on his IR. I feel so proud when we fly together.

As for the Bo, you've come to the right place here in BT. You may also want to consider joining the American Bonanza Society and making a list of the various training sessions that are conducted in person and online concerning your aircraft of choice. You may even want to look into getting a BT Mentor. There is a lot to learn. I came from Cessna high-wings and while that was like getting a high school diploma, feeling proficient in a Bo will be more like graduating college.

As for me, the advice I received here on BT has led me to focus on my instrument rating and a minimum of 400 - 500 hours total time before I should feel comfortable flying without an instructor or safety pilot - and definitely before carrying passengers in my A36. That might sound excessive to you, but these are high performance aircraft. Interestingly, that requirement would be lower if it were a Diamond or Cirrus.

Vic.

You know, I looked hard at Diamond and Cirrus. I don't know what I don't know; but the Beechcrafts seem to have a charm and timelessness to them and I hear the right plane with the right setup flies like heaven....

Nice crew!

The first thing you want to do is join the American Bonanza Society. With membership you can download the AFMs and look at the differences in the airplane as it developed. The next is buy a copy of Larry Ball's book "Those Incredible Bonanzas" for a year by year description of the changes. That said, Bonanza's tend to get modified in various ways because the airframe is very durable and given the similarity between models, modification kits are 'relatively' easy to develop for a wide market appeal.

The Bonanza A36 came in several flavors over the years, the first with the fifth and sixth seats right up against the rear upholstery. E-1371 serials and after have an extended baggage area behind those seats. Truth be told, I rarely flew them with the rearmost seats. Earliest models did not have club seating, that developed later as well, but they were developed as convertible seats, so they can face forward. That's handy with little kids.

The engine was an IO-520-B(BB) 285 hp initially, with the single throw over control wheel, for training on instruments your instructor may deem that acceptable, as long as you are eligible to act as PIC, but if not, you will need the dual control wheel single column. Eventually, the aircraft was equipped with dual controls, levers instead of push pull knobs, and IO-550-B 300 hp engine. Externally you can tell these aircraft because of the large vortex generator attached to the leading edge of the wing. They came with a 50 lb GWI to 3650 take off. Needed because over time the factory started stuffing too much stuff in the airframes. Air conditioning can be added via STC, or you may find a factory model. I prefer the Seamech system (same as installed in the G36) at 41 lbs, as the factory system had a condenser that was lowered into the airstream for use and weighed 75 lbs.

You might find an early model with a IO-550, and the baggage compartment behind the rearmost seats won't be important right away.

Note, I was flying an A36 when I was 24 years old with less than 100 hours total time, VFR only, with the wife and kids on board. It turned out OK. I also got my instrument and commercial in them.

Good luck hunting,
Dave

Welcome Jeff, and you’re already getting started on the right foot with wanting to buy your last airplane first. We’re probably all biased, but the Bo is a great platform. You could certainly do a lot worse.

Not sure if you’ll be in the Dallas area in a couple of weeks, but my wife and I will be at GKY the week of 3/14. We’ll have our 1968 VTail with us.

Hi Jeff, great intro, welcome to BT!

Enjoy the aircraft shopping. It can be discouraging sometimes but you will find the right one and it is worth holding out for.