I only miss turbo normalizing and TKS …well ….but then I would better off with a P210 maybe…
Okay, now I have to join too. I also made my mind about installing the tip tanks. Finally I decided not to do so, because I have enough range with the available 74 gallons to reach most of the places without thinking about fuel problems. You have to do a bit of advance planing, but it works out fine. I will install them definitely when I may decide to fly to the US. But within Europe I feel comfortable with the actual status.
Vref wrote:
Bonanza are awesome…did I say that already today:-))?
They are, they’re almost as fast and as good as the Comanche… almost :-)
(I’ll go now :-))
W.
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
They are, they’re almost as fast and as good as the Comanche… almost :-)
It was only a matter of time before the P word was brought up
BeechBaby wrote:
It was only a matter of time before the P word was brought up
Well you mentioned speed and tip-tanks, I could not resist from mentioning the better plane :-)
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
I could not resist from mentioning the better plane :-)
Nice one…..
Back specifically to the Debonair (which this thread was about… )
With my limited insight, I would say that if you are looking at buying one, you should try find 1965-1967 model (the problem is that these are fairly rare in Europe, and even rather rare globally). These reasons being:
In general, there are a lot of things which were NOT standard in these aircraft those days. Many aircraft have been extensively upgraded over the years, but others less so. So keep an eye on all these things. Otherwise, it might cost you a fortune to bring the aircraft up to a decent standard. Some examples:
I‘m not sure why you say 1965-67 and not i.e. later ? Retrofitting an airplane with modern avionics is never cheap. So why not an 80ies or 90ies model ?
That is primarily because of the mogas thing. That is a major money-saver in Germany, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
Most of the later ones are IO-520 equipped and there are no IO-520 mogas STCs for the Debonair/Bonanza.
A second (smaller) factor is MTOW. Pre 1968s are sub 1.4 tons. Most if the later models are over 1.5 tons. This makes a noticeable difference in landing fees in some countries. In Germany, the 1.4 ton threshold is often relevant. In the UK, the 1.5 ton threshold is often very relevant.
Finally, this was specifically about the Debonair (despite Peter having added “Bonanza” to the thread title…). And well, the Debonair ceased to exist after 1968…
I reverted the thread to “Beech 33”