18 Apr 2024, 00:17 [ UTC - 5; DST ]
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Post subject: Greetings and Salutations Posted: 12 Nov 2010, 14:57 |
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Joined: 08/21/10 Posts: 433 Post Likes: +212 Location: Sugar Land, TX
Aircraft: V35B TN
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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
_________________ Aviation Weather Theory; If they understood how it worked, it would be Aviation Weather Fact.
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Post subject: Re: Greetings and Salutations Posted: 12 Nov 2010, 15:06 |
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Joined: 02/24/08 Posts: 2841 Post Likes: +76 Location: Southern California
Aircraft: Beech
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Oh yeah....no one will believe you unless you include pictures. Just warnin' ya! PMC
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Post subject: Re: Greetings and Salutations Posted: 12 Nov 2010, 17:59 |
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Joined: 09/16/10 Posts: 56 Location: Albuquerque, NM
Aircraft: B60 Duke, F1 Rocket
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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....!
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Post subject: Re: Greetings and Salutations Posted: 12 Nov 2010, 18:32 |
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Joined: 12/12/07 Posts: 10873 Post Likes: +2232 Company: MBG Properties Location: Knoxville, TN (KDKX)
Aircraft: 1972 Bonanza V35B
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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.
_________________ Max Grogan
Come fly with me.
My photos: https://photos.google.com/albums
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Post subject: Re: Greetings and Salutations Posted: 12 Nov 2010, 22:57 |
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Joined: 11/26/08 Posts: 1667 Post Likes: +14 Location: KJSO Jacksonville,Tx
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Username Protected wrote: Well done Glenn. And great introductory post. Nice to have another Houston area BT'er participating. Tyler, are you in Tulsa?
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