Greetings and Salutations BT.

I have been lurking here for a time, gleaning bits of knowledge and getting a feel for the BT community. I can confidently say that it is this community that finally determined the brand that I bought.

I have recently purchased a 1979 V35B at the end of a long decision making process. The choice was not always so clear……I crave speed and the Mooney 252 or Bravo had my eye for a time. The Mooney is fast and efficient, no question; however, the level of comfort was not the same….for me. At 6’2” I could not be comfortable putting my feet on the floor. Stretching your legs out towards the rudder pedals is comfortable, but I like having the choice as to the seating position.

The vertical seating position of the Beech coupled with the copious amounts of glass lead to a feeling of spaciousness that for me exceeded the Mooney. While these and other factors had me leaning towards the Beech, they did not seal the deal. The Mooney is a capable performer and I want a plane that goes fast. The Mooney may represent a better value for the speed; even in this market the Beech product maintains a pricing premium.

It was in fact the Beech community that makes the difference. Mooney has a great following and many of their supports are avid about the brand. Mooneyiacs need to apologize for nothing, but their community is not as large or involved as “ours.” With a plethora of well supported after market modifications, a quality owners group (even through the latest “issues”), and a forum (BT) that freely exchanges information there is no better choice for me. Knowledge and experience have value, and to have so much available on practically every issue is amazing. Having read nearly every thread on BT (this took awhile) I find that I would like to be a part of the conversation. I look forward to the frequently offered assistance on the spending of my AMUs.

My selected steed was chosen primarily because I have lusted for a V-tail for many years. My mission is only three people (wife and son) and I will be able to easily live within the W&B. Knowing that it is in my nature to continue to modify my “projects,” and not wanting to make a good plane for someone else, I searched for my last un-pressurized piston single first. I like making decisions and setting things up exactly the way that I want. I was looking for a corrosion free late model Bonanza (80gal / 28V / Large Baggage door) that had a decent auto-pilot.

I found exactly what I wanted, a 1979 V35B that has been in Santa Fe NM since 84’. The engine is runout and the avionics are of the period (dated….no original sounds nicer); however, the airframe looks factory new and a KFC-200 was installed. This platform represented a good starting place for a laundry list of investments (IO-550, TAT, the next Garmin thing).

To make sure this was a good starting point, I enlisted the services of one Paul McCracken. I can not say enough good things about this decision. Paul’s name comes up repeatedly through many different threads and his (dare I say soon to be legendary) reputation is well deserved.

Paul worked me over to make sure that I was getting the aircraft that I wanted. Paul’s insights were (and are) invaluable. He must do this work for the personnel satisfaction that he gets, because the retainer does not begin to cover his time. The pre-buy evaluation is excellent, even the FBO were I had the pre-buy done commented that “this guy hit the ground running and went through everything.” My A&P is working through an extensive annual and was heard to say that the report was well done. I have not been surprised by anything.

This post is starting to get a little long, so I will just close with my excitement at owning a V-tail and becoming part of the community.

I will add that for Max……I have put in my location

Glenn: Glad to hear she is home with you and getting that thorough annual.

Keep us advised!

Regards,

Paul

Oh yeah....no one will believe you unless you include pictures. Just warnin' ya!



PMC

Glenn,
That's a great entrance to BeechTalk! Welcome!

Now, if you've read all the threads here, you know that the next thing someone will type is:

.....PICTURES !

Your gonna love it !

PHOTOS !

Hi Glen,

Where are you located?

I went through the same delimma as I wanted speed, too. My FBO is at 5800', and my routes routinely take me over 14,000 ft Mtns. I put a Western Skyways Turbo Normalizer on my 78 V35, and will challenge most Mooneys out there....!

Welcome!



PICTURES PLEASE

Wow - fat-thumbed it in pink using the iPad

Glenn,

First of all, welcome. 'Glad to have you speak up and introduce yourself.

You have made a lot of good choices. Buying a late Vee model, using Paul M., etc. Putting your location up was certainly a good move.

You will love flying that plane (Buying 24V batteries won't be a lot of fun though.).

Enjoy and keep us posted with photographs and reports on upgrades.

Well done Glenn. And great introductory post. Nice to have another Houston area BT'er participating.

Glenn,

Welcome, congrats and ditto what Tyler said.

Drew

Welcome!

Seriously, we NEED pictures (commonly called "plane porn").

Tyler, are you in Tulsa?

Daring not show my face around here without producing some pictures, I have located a few.

Mostly I have been reading the POH and playing with the new 696. It is an odd sense of pride to turn the aged pages (delicately) of my own manual. No longer will I need to suffer the crisp binding of yet another purchased operating manual for a to be rented Cessna or Piper. This book has history; previous hand written notes and gentle bends that facilitate a comfortable fit in the glove box. I can’t wait until I can take it aloft for another journey.

I have seen a few folks in the general Houston area; I look forward to running into some fellow BTers in the not too distant future. First I need to finish getting a few things sorted out with the plane, but so far the 24V battery has been good. At the first sign of trouble I will be putting a Concorde in. I’m just waiting to see the laundry list of items that the annual produces so I can start working down the list.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Now if I can work this here internets tubes I will see if I can get a picture or two in.

Welcome Glenn,

Looks like it is in Joy Bowden's Hangar, is Jerry Parker doing your inspection?

Joe Sasser