Unfortunately (for me) it is time to sell my 1965 S35 Bonanza. I bought this to restore it for myself, however priorities have shifted and I need to sell her. The airplane is mid way through a full restoration, and includes an extensive and expensive list of components. This aircraft was completely assembled when I purchased it, and is missing nothing. The aircraft has 7,560 hrs TTSN, and the registration and airworthiness certificate are current and valid, and airframe and engine logbooks complete and organized back to day 1. Both ruddervators were reskinned in 2010 and have been inspected inside and out and still look brand new. At this point it is ready for paint and reassembly. This aircraft is for sale with the stipulation that the work will be completed by our shop (Blackwell Aviation) to be finished out in better than new condition in every way. We have completed many award winning Bonanza and T-34 restorations, and this S35 is on track to be the nicest V-tail out there today. A huge amount of work is already done!

Aircraft current condition:

• All flight controls are prepped for primer/paint
• Fuselage is stripped and ready for primer/paint
• Fuselage has been gutted of all old avionics wiring and components, and is cleaned and ready for reassembly
• AD 94-20-04 R2 Empennage Inspection performed, stabilizer reinforcement kit installed
• AD 95-04-03 Wing Spar Carry Thru inspection completed, no cracks found
• AD 2019-23-10 Aileron Cables inspected and passed
• Nose wheel well partially reassembled
• Engine mount legs and hot air mixing valve reinstalled
• The following items have been stripped, inspected, primed and painted:
o Engine compartment
o Engine mount legs
o Hot air mixing valve
o Dual yoke crossbar
o Nose and main gear wells
o Main and nose v-braces, drag links, and gear door link rods
o Nose steering and retract components
o Wing tips and light openings
o Battery box

Included with the aircraft:

• RESKINNED RUDDERVATORS!!!
• IO550 conversion STC paperwork
• 1 owner IO550B, 1st run 1,000hr TTSN, needs top overhaul
• Fresh overhauled McCauley C409 propeller
• Optional GPU receptacle installed
• Door Steward co-pilot door strut
• Excellent condition clear non-tinted glass, frameless pilot window
• D’Shannon Speed Slope 3/8” 1-piece windshield
• Fresh completely overhauled nose and main landing gear
• Fresh overhauled landing gear transmission
• Cleveland 8” wheels and brakes
• RNL heavy duty main gear retract rods
• Fully overhauled landing gear transmission
• Brand new Goodyear Flight Custom III tires and tubes
• Jet-Hot coated full exhaust system
• Restored dual yokes with chrome control wheels
• Saf-Air fuel drains
• Brand new in the box EDM930 engine analyzer kit
• Brand new in the box Aspen EFD2000 MAX system
• Brand new in the box S-TEC 30 autopilot system
• GMA340 audio panel
• Brand new SRS 1 piece instrument panel
• Did I mention the RESKINNED RUDDERVATORS?

My intent was to finish it out in a late 1960’s muscle car theme, in all over 1970 Chevrolet Astro Blue, Super Sport stripe gloss black cowling glareshield, gloss black original S35 style side window area paint, full white leather interior with black carpet, and dark woodgrain hydro-dipped instrument panel, with little muscle car inspired details throughout. However nothing has been topcoated yet so the paint and interior are the buyer’s choice. Pick up where I left off and finish out your dream airplane!

$135,000 for everything mentioned above. Please call me at 724-379-8628 I'd be happy to send any additional pictures.

Great work Bob. You mentioned a stipulation of your shop finishing? Is your price including that?

No, if I could completely restore a Bonanza for $135k I’d be building more airplanes than Cessna!

Hi Bob what an impressive thorough re build. Am considering a paint strip and re paint on my zinc chromate Bonanza in a couple of years (currently on it’s second paint scheme) and using this advertisement which helpfully lists some engineering prep items to consider.

Awesome project. Is there an estimate of the work to be completed if the buyer continued down the same path you have planned? Is there any open accounts receivable with Blackwell that would transfer to the buyer?

The completed airplane would be approx $450k. That is the project price and parts and labor to finish.

The terms here are unusual, if I understand them. Is this right?

1) Seller is the owner of Blackwell Aviation.
2) Buyer would pay $135,000 now but Blackwell Aviation retains possession of the airframe
3) Buyer must pay an additional $315,000 later when the airplane is ready, for a total of $450,000 total, before taking possession of the aircraft.
4) So the total "out the door" price before the airplane leaves the Blackwell Aviation premises is $450,000.

If I am incorrect please correct me in the comments below -

Appears to be correct.
Looks like they (OP) just doesn't want to do the initial outlay of funds to do the restore and sell but still plans to make their money in shop fees.

Nothing wrong with having them complete the resto but the "stipulation" that it *must* be completed by them is going to turn a lot of potential buyers off. I know I wouldn't touch it with that in a contract.

Either give a turn key price with buyer funding the remainder, or sell the project as is with the option to have them get you to complete it but not use that as a binding term in an agreement IMO.

Looks like excellent work so far!

I guess I shouldn't have used "stipulation" but instead preference that we complete the project to the buyer's specs on a parts/labor basis. I just assume that the buyer would have us finish it out since it's already here, we did all the work so far, have all the tools, venders, parts, knowledge, and resources to get it done. We are a restoration and maintenance shop that specializes in Bonanzas, Barons, and T-34s, and routinely do work of this magnitude. There are very very few individuals that can put an airplane back together like this. Sure, everyone thinks they can, but then I see them 10 years later when it's still not close to being finished. If you want to trailer this project out of here as is and complete it yourself then that is fine too! It would be in as-is condition. I haven't had any issues or concerns with this process from the people who were actually serious about projects or have purchased projects from us in the past.

Very interesting and good luck with the sale!!!

Very interesting and good luck with the sale!!!

I think it was just a poor choice of words/read too strongly on our end.
Like I said before, beautiful work thus far and I hope a BTer buys it so we can watch the progress finishing it up!

The folks that’ll spend that much are relatively few, but they are out there. We recently finished a Cessna 170B (it’s so altered I call it the 170C), for close to the same price. Customer wanted a brand new 170, so we completely de-riveted the entire airframe. Replaced everything that shouldn’t be reinstalled, then epoxy primer to everything before reassembly. 100% new skins.

The OPs price is about what I’d expect for a “new” S35.

A full top of the line restoration on an A36 or T-34 is above $700k easy. That's definitely a lot of money, but you get what you pay for. This project is significantly cheaper as I was able to put an already nice airframe together with good parts that I already had. Consider how much a new Bo (or any new aircraft for that matter) costs and you can see the savings. Plus pick your own colors, interior, details, etc. and make it unique and what you want, not just another Matterhorn white with stripes airplane. And yes, I would paint it Matterhorn white with stripes if desired! Just like old cars, some people are content with a decent driver, and some people want the full frame-off Concourse restoration. It feels a lot better when you know the airplane has been completely overhauled, rather than always fearing when the next 60 year old part might fail hoping that it won't be something serious.

This would be like having bitchin’ rides (Kindig-it Design) or a comparable high end hot rod shop build you a custom hot rod, except it’s a Bonanza! There is a market for it. See this article. Outta my range, but very cool!

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all ... te-bonanza

I’d love to see the before and after photos!