V-Tails must be one of the nicest looking tricycle aircraft about. One day perhaps
Tip tanks, upgraded panel, it should be a serious touring machine.
Definitely! It is gorgeous and flies wonderfully.
Unfortunately, no other „regulars“ here flying V-tail Bonanzas, it seems…
boscomantico wrote:
Unfortunately, no other „regulars“ here flying V-tail Bonanzas, it seems…
I was very close buying a 1955 C model at some stage. I loved the airplane, it was well equipped and the price was at the time right for me.
What stopped me was the absymal range, as this airplane had no aux or tip tanks whatsoever, so it had something like 36 USG usable. And I was told at the time, that this plane would absolutely need a hangar due to it’s magnesium covered control surfaces. At the time, a hangar was impossible with waiting times of up to 10 years.
I looked at several others before I bought my Mooney but they were all in a price range which reflects their utility. Had I come across something like this or Jan’s Bonnie at the time, I might well be called Bonnie Driver now. They are wonderful airplanes. I also remember fondly John Deakin writing about his V35B.
A 1955 won‘t be a „C. Cs are 1951-1952. Here.. HB-EGB is a 1951.
A nice modernized panel though.
Yes you are right, it is 1951. My memory for the model was better than for the year. Well, this was 11 years ago when I was looking for my airplane still.
Yes, the panel was nice, it had an autopilot too and was in fantastic shape. Asking price was some 50k CHF at the time. It got sold eventually and changed to N-reg. No idea what happened to it. I wonder if it could have been retrofitted with tip tanks.
A few more performance runs from yesterday, at FL65, with very warm temperatures aloft (16°C), so at about 8000 feet DA.
Here is a go-fast setting (full throtte and RPM), ROP, at 14.0 GPH. 141 KIAS = 159 KTAS. High CHT on no. 3.
And here is the same setting, but after moving the mixture lever to ever so slightly LOP (and letting the speed stabilize again), to 12.7 GPH. 135 KIAS = 152 KTAS. Slightly lower CHT.
So, looks like one could likely go to 11 GPH and get 145 KTAS. That would give almost 1400NM of range…
There is still room for improvement though. The aircraft desparately needs a wax job and we still need to get the ball to center in cruise flight (no rudder trim in the cockpit), which requires a ground adjustment on the tail feathers (a little tricky). In the end, I guess it will be very similar to TB20 and slightly better than Commander 114 numbers (both also 250HP). Not bad for a 1959 machine.
boscomantico wrote:
(no rudder trim in the cockpit), which requires a ground adjustment on the tail feathers (a little tricky).
You may find that the aircraft is out of rig. To correctly rig the V tail you require a rigging jig. This can be hired from the American Bonanza Society. The hire is free to members, but you will go on waiting list. There is a guy on Beechtalk who has essentially copied the jig and he hires it out. PM me if you want his detail.
Most mechs have no clue how to rig this aeroplane properly and at annuals or maintenance do it with no guidance/reference to the jig. I would ask around your shops and see who has the experience to do this. It will make a big difference as to how she flies.
I will not let anyone near the setting because it took me years to find someone who could do it.
Thanks BB. Being in Europe, I would think it‘s difficult to get hold of such ultra-rare rig…
But the guy taking care of this aircraft’s maintenance has previously been involved with the EBS service clinics, so likely not clueless about this topic.
boscomantico wrote:
I would think it‘s difficult to get hold of such ultra-rare rig…
When I reached the end of the waiting list they shipped it over, at my expense. They also insure it!!
Great if you have an experienced guy who looks after it. Check the rig settings and adjust where necessary. It took us a few goes before I was happy with the setting and she still pulls slightly to the right, but I am a taildragger pilot and like the feel of a bit of rudder 
boscomantico wrote:
Unfortunately, no other „regulars“ here flying V-tail Bonanzas, it seems…
I have a V35B with 2 × 40 wing tanks and 2 × 20 Osborne tip tanks giving a 120 gallons total. I can relate to the description above about fuel management. Prior to recently getting CIES fuel senders I knew exactly what my remaining fuel was (EDM830) but only a rough idea where it was located as the return fuel from the tips goes to the left main. I was keeping track of how much was in each of the 4 tanks by recording the delta of remaining fuel from the EDM at each tank change on a little knee-mounted spreadsheet. This was taking too much head space. It’s much simpler and safer with a reliable digital readout from each tank; carefully-timed tank changes however seem to always coincide with some ATC calls or other distractions. I’m currently working on a power settings/weight/altitude etc spreadsheet for cruise altitude selection.
To fully make use of the tip tanks’ fuel I really need a 3+ hours flight as my sequence is left main use 10 gals – right tip 45 mins – left main 30 mins – left tip 45 mins – then descent phase.
