Just wanted to introduce myself. I am based in Nashville, TN and fly out of John C Tune (JWN). I just purchased by first airplane, a low time (1800 hr) 1954 bonanza V35E. The plane is being delivered this saturday, so I am excited to get started down the path of plane ownership and give up the rental plane rut I have been in. Any recommendations or advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Chris,
Welcome to BeechTalk.

The FIRST thing you must do is to post some photos here of that new plane!

Welcome aboard Chris. Lots of advice here on Beech Talk, but pics of your low time Bo must come first.

Welcome Chris

Psst: a piece of free advice, watch out for that Jeff Carneal character at JWN, I hear that he's nothing but trouble.

Here you go. I think this link will work:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/albu ... 1921784114

Yes he is. I am trying to twist his arm to go with me to pick the plane up on saturday. I need him to get me certified in high performance and complex so I can enjoy it without his company!

here are a couple of photos if the link doesnt work:

Chris, are those the Demears wing tips on your green hornet?

Greg,

Yes, they are the Demear droop tips. The gentleman that I bought the plane from said it was one of the best investments he made in how it help the plane stabilize in turns and landings. I cant wait til Saturday so I can try it out!

Chris, I had those on my Super III years ago, they helped at landing/slow speeds, didn't do anything at cruise.

I have no idea. Never flown with them on a plane. He just said that the plane tended to float a bit more at landing, less crosswind effect, and he noticed that during steep turns, he tended to lose less altitude/adjusting attitude, etc during steep turns.

Floating too far on landing only means one thing...you were too fast.

ok, now that the pics are posted (Bill, Arlen, etal)...any advice to pass on to a first time, first plane owner? One thing that I do want to add is a gps, whether panel mounted or yoke mounted. I know this may open the flood gates, but is there a good gps for the money to look at? I am currently only VFR, so at this time I dont think I need WAAS. And if there is a panel mount, which one seems to best fit in an older bonanza? You can see from the pic above how the panel is currently configured with the radios off to the left of the yoke. Secondly, is there a good place to purchase a dual yoke? Since Jeff Carneal will be riding with me til i get my high performance and complex rating (and eventually my IFR) I should probably invest in one

Scott,

Those are some great pics, looks like a great place to take the family camping!

On the GPS issue, I think, VFR, your most economical option is to purchase either a PDA-based combination moving map + XM weather that you can either panel-mount or park somewhere in easy view. Example of the former would be the Anywheremap system, Garmin Aera or 396/496 for the latter.

Having on-board weather is a huge safety item. If you want to keep the cost down, get the XM Aviator Lite option, $35/mo. That gives you METARS, TAFS, and Nexrad radar.

If you buy a used 3/496, be aware that there is a tiny internal battery that eventually dies. If you know how to handle a soldering iron and have steady hands, you can fix it for $5 using Mike Caban's CSOB instructions; otherwise Garmin will be happy to do it for you for $400.