Beechcraft Bonanza

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Beechcraft. Model: A-36, B-36, etc. Nickname: Bonanza
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane single engine land
> Engine Description: single piston

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/4/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 64
> Number of Times Flown: 32
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: V-tail, etc (see Wikipedia)

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 66
> Date First Flown: 3/3/1990
> Location First Flown: Unknown
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Unknown (probably USNTPS Qual Eval)

Recollections: Sometimes my logbook fails me.  In the case of my first flight in the venerable Beechcraft Bonanza, I have a flight logged with no detail…no location or who I flew with.  I suspect it was a Qualitative Evaluation at USNTPS, based on the timing.

My second flight in a Bonanza, a whopping 12 years after my first flight, was on a project with the FAA.  I was a Test Pilot in the FAA’s Wichita Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) and was assigned to fly an A36 Bonanza on a series of flights to qualify a Known Icing system, utilizing TKS fluid.  This project, conducted with a company called AS&T and flown with Dave Henry, was a very interesting experience and marked my first exposure to testing and projects associated with “known ice certification”.  We flew thru some pretty bad ice and the TKS system did an excellent job. Over the course of my FAA career, the theory and practice behind icing certification (which is much more than just flying in icing) became one of my very favorite technical disciplines.

I was able to fly the Bonanza on a number of other projects and always enjoyed this sold Beechcraft design which, like the Baron, has continued in production to this day.