AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2017 - 58

"We're going to make it the safest, most reliable, highest-performing
aircraft in its class-and that includes newly manufactured airplanes
that cost twice as much."
-Dan Blackwell
it. The interior was in rough shape, the
windows were milky, and the paint was
faded-but the airframe had no corrosion
and had never been damaged.
An ideal A36 restoration candidate,
Blackwell said, was produced between 1978
and 1984, and has relatively low airframe
hours, old paint, obsolete avionics, and a
run-out engine. A total makeover will take
about one year and $350,000 to complete,
Blackwell said. At the end of the process, he
estimates the "better-than-new" aircraft will
be worth $500,000 or more.
"This is the aircraft Textron should be
building," he said. "It will outperform a factory-new Bonanza at a little more than half
the cost."
SMART IMPROVEMENTS

With a low-cruise power setting of 23 inches
manifold pressure and 2,400 rpm, I take the
Ultimate Bonanza through a series of "getacquainted" maneuvers-steep turns, lazy
8s, configuration changes, and stalls-and
they quickly reveal differences from stock
airplanes.
First, with all-new control linkages,
pulleys, and cables, and expert rigging, this
airplane restored just 60 flight hours ago
is exceptionally well balanced. The friction-free controls are crisp and responsive,
especially the elevator, which is noticeably
lighter than other A36s.
Lots of piston airplanes claim to be "turbine smooth," but this one is exceptionally
so, and quiet. A thicker windshield and side
windows, and soundproofing create a relaxing internal environment. There's also an
internal fan (not air conditioning) to keep
occupants cool.

A YEAR OF MILESTONES

The Bonanza marks its seventieth year of continuous production in the 2017, the longest of any
aircraft in history.
Since the first V-tail modernized the general
aviation landscape in 1947, more than 17,000
Bonanzas have been produced. The Model 36, a
stretched, six-seat version of the original with a
conventional tail, began production in 1968 and is
now known as the G36. This is a big year for Beech
milestones: It's the eighty-fifth anniversary of the
legendary Beech Staggerwing biplane, the eightieth for the classic Beech 18 twin, and the fiftieth
for the American Bonanza Society.
58 | AOPA PILOT August 2017

During steep turns, the modified, flat-top
cowl is easy to align with the horizon, and
sneaking a peek at the flight path marker on
the Aspen 1000 primary flight display makes
it easy to keep from gaining or losing altitude
during 60-degree bank turns. Lazy 8s show
that control pressures remain light and linear throughout the airplane's normal range
of speeds and bank angles.
Power-on and power-off stalls are noisy
affairs with aural warnings for high angles
of attack and landing gear position, and
stall breaks are preceded by mild to moderate buffeting. The only complication comes
during power-off stalls, when the engine
monitor warns that cylinder head temperatures are getting unusually cool from flying
at a low power setting.
The Ultimate Bonanza incorporates a
modern instrument panel layout with smart
human-factors improvements. Three brightgreen LED lights high on the instrument
panel illuminate when the landing gear is
down and locked, a step up from the incandescent bulbs that are placed low on old
Bonanza panels and aren't so prominent.
Two highly accurate Aerospace Logic resistive fuel gauges are a major improvement
over the notoriously inaccurate float gauges
from decades past. A cluster of annunciator
lights is given prime panel real estate to get
the pilot's attention in case of system failures.
Even though this is a normally aspirated (nonturbocharged) engine, it does
well in terms of speed and fuel efficiency
above 10,000 feet, so the Ultimate Bonanza
has a built-in oxygen system with a large,
76-cubic-foot tank. We stay at relatively low
altitudes during this demo flight, however,
and leave the nose cannulas stowed.
Returning to Rostraver Airport, I appreciate the A36's relatively high landing gear
extension speed (154 KIAS). Unlike earlier
Bonanzas in which a tiny flap position indicator measures flap settings, the Ultimate
Bonanza's flap switch has two detents for
approach (half ) and landing (full) positions.
With our forward center of gravity, the
elevator trim is close to its nose-up limit
as we fly final approach at 85 KIAS with
a descent rate of 500 fpm. The landing
flare is normal, and the light and authoritative elevator makes it easy to keep the

nosewheel off the pavement as the airplane
decelerates. The oversized Baron tires
make the rollout exceptionally smooth and
braking highly effective.
TIMELESS AIRFRAMES

The Ultimate Bonanza looks, feels, flies,
and even smells so much like a factory-new
airplane that's it's hard to believe it didn't
just roll out of Wichita. Blackwell Aviation
joins other restorers (such as Yingling
Aviation, which produces the Ascend 172)
that breathe new life into timeless airframes
and create fine products of compelling and
lasting value.
The only problem with the Ultimate
Bonanza is that Blackwell is a boutique firm
that can only rebuild them in small batches.
Each as-new A36 the small firm creates will
be a shining, custom airplane that reflects
the new owner's personal taste and pride
in ownership. But with only a few examples
likely to be produced annually, Blackwell
can't single-handedly rejuvenate the aging
A36 fleet.
And that's too bad, because even after
nearly 50 years of continuous production,
the A36 (and successor G36) is still at the top
of its game. Few, if any, other FAA-certified
single-engine aircraft can travel as far, as fast,
and as stylishly as this six-seat marvel.
Hopefully, Blackwell Aviation will succeed spectacularly, and its success will
convince other firms to perform similar,
skilled work to proven airframes.
Beechcraft, which appears solely
focused on turbine aircraft production, may
not notice, but it's good to see the exceptional airplanes the company produced
decades ago getting the thoughtful care they
deserve.
AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

DAN BLACKWELL started flying T-34s, and

he built his business upgrading and overhauling them before expanding to include
Bonanzas and Barons. The Ultimate
Bonanza features his favorite STCs,
including a pneumatic door stop (top
right) and LED lights. The engine conversion gives the cowl a distinctive bump
shape (lower left) that allows for exceptionally efficient cylinder cooling.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2017