quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

Originally posted by Lou:

By the way, the F model looks great. I've got about 150 hours in Bonanzas. I sold about 6 or 8 of them over the years. Everything from a straight '47 to a 1978 whatever model (I'd have to look it up by now!) I remember the A.D.s on the ruddervators, the delicate pins on the nosegear so you don't exceed the turn radius, the 'throw-over wheel' on the older models, but most of all, the performance. Great airplane.

Thanks! Charley had the stiffened tail feathers of the G/H models, and the high-speed gear doors of the F, a constant-speed prop, and the internal aux tanks. The only incident I had was that right after complying with the AD on the landing gear uplocks (they were reported to freeze and not unlock the gear for extension), I took it around the patch, got three greens. On touchdown, the right main seemed soft, so I eased it over into the tall grass. The uplock had frozen and bet the operating rod, so the gear showed locked, but it was only down and not locked. $25 damage from the landing; the FBO ate the repair to the gear. About 18 mpg at 23 squared, 185 true.

I used to ferry Beechcrafts around the SE - I used to do sales and demos for the dealer.