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Why do Beech Bonanzas have such a strong following?

Good evening,
My wife and I simply fell in love with the 33 when we were right in the middle of the PPL and bought it right away. Flying a Cessna 172 and than sitting in a Beech was like night and day. Passing PPL we took the Beech and flew around europe. 2 halfwits (beginners) with a plane that we could hardly handle. But it gave us such a reliable and solid feeling, regardless if in the alps, heat of croatia, dust in hungary, or lousy,bumpy,wet runways in poland, short field landing of barely 180 meters on Heligoland. Sure, it is in lots of aspects old fashion and lacks the economy of modern SEP’s (I simply don’t look twice at the Avgas bill). It starts when you turn the starter and the engine roars and the panel is vibrating. There is something to the Beech and it’s interior that let you feel that there is more to flying than just turning the AP knop and fly a 100% perfect holding. Speak with a Harley Davidson enthusiast and try to convince him to buy a modern japanese bike which is cheaper, quicker, modern and more economical.
regards
detlev

PS: Each to it’s own, but positive emotions are priceless

EDHE

It starts when you turn the starter and the engine roars and the panel is vibrating. There is something to the Beech and it’s interior that let you feel that there is more to flying than just turning the AP knop and fly a 100% perfect holding. Speak with a Harley Davidson enthusiast and try to convince him to buy a modern japanese bike which is cheaper, quicker, modern and more economical.

As an ex full-time biker (Yamaha!) I am not sure I would like to compare a plane with a Harley whose most notable feature is the awesome vibration level

The Conti IO550 engine on the Bonanza is supposed to be a lot smoother than the Lyco IO540.

I am surprised they used magnesium sheet. I use magnesium myself for various machined parts and even the ingots I have stored under the bench at home eat themselves alive. No amount of even the very best epoxy paint is going to stop corrosion in the long term because you need only the tiniest nick in the paint and the component will be shot.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Magnesium was all the rage in the 40s.

My motorcycle analogy for the Bonana would be longitudinal crank BMW K1200RS, massive but a good practical performer. And delicate when you compare it with the Staggerwing it replaced.

Timelessness is its own virtue.

VW boxer engine used to be magnesium

EBST

I am surprised they used magnesium sheet. I use magnesium myself for various machined parts and even the ingots I have stored under the bench at home eat themselves alive.

Magnesium must cover an almost infinite number of alloys. Isn’t magnesium alloy used for alloy car wheels, with their exposure to salt and water?

Maoraigh
EGPE, United Kingdom

In spite of poor maintenance where the wing bolt or the bathtub fitting is corroded, there still haven’t been any reported failures in the entire fleet. The upper wing bolts sit in what is called a bathtub fitting and have a drain hole to let an water that gets in there drain out. These wing bolt covers are supposed to be removed at the annual and the bolt and fitting inspected. To get as corroded as the picture, takes years of lack of attention. At each annual, I inspect my own and pour water into the fitting and verify it all drains out as it is supposed to. I then dry and spray some corrosion X on the area. The small drain hole should never be probed with a piece of safety wire as it is specially coated to prevent corrosion, and this will scrape it off. A small coffee plastic stirrer or spray tube from Corrosion X makes for a good cleaning tool.

My airplane was built in Dec 1967 and still has the original wing bolts and they have no corrosion what so ever. If I ever did anything, I would remove the bolts, inspect them, replace the crush washer, coat the bolt, re-torque using the wet bolt torque values, and never ever touch them again with an exception of the 100 hour re-torque after replacement.

KUZA, United States

Also, the upper wing bolt is not under much stress unless you are pulling negative Gs

And one rarely pulls genuinely negative Gs, even in strong turbulence.

The lower wing bolts are under tension, in normal flight.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Magnesium is used primarily on the tail control surfaces. Balance is critical with the V tail and weight behind the hinge point almost mandates use of magnesium. My plane was last painted in 1994 and still looks new because it is hangered. Painting the ruddervators requires a very dry environment and the controls have to be baked in an oven to remove all moisture. Some paint shops can do it, others not so much.

When I inspect a Bonanza, one of the things I verify is there are no repairs to the ruddervators and that there are no indications of spot painting or painting without removal. The latter shows up as paint on the control cables. This means the control surface is not likely to have been balanced and is dangerous to fly.

KUZA, United States

Magnesium must cover an almost infinite number of alloys. Isn’t magnesium alloy used for alloy car wheels, with their exposure to salt and water?

Only limited life racing wheels are in general made in magnesium for cars and motorcycles, but magnesium is used quite a bit for aircraft wheels. I have a friend who designs, manufacturers and sells aircraft wheels and brakes including magnesium wheels, but I’d have to ask him the alloy used.

Corrosion is not such an issue with bulk material because a little hole won’t weaken the part much.

A magnesium alloy will never get anywhere near a suitably strong aluminium allow (which can almost approach mild steel) but there are many applications where you can throw in quite a bit of bulk of magnesium which will give it enough strength and there is still a weight saving over aluminium. Car wheels is one example but I can well believe Silvaire that nobody bothers with them now. The aluminium wheels on a Toyota Celica I had many years ago got half eaten within a couple of years and mag ones would be worse.

But also thick-section parts can be effectively powder coated which is a very durable paint finish; much more so than spray painting.

None of these options are available on control surface sheet material. But clearly Beech solved this well enough.

Last Edited by Peter at 08 Jun 21:31
Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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