AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2013 - 69

airstrip. The turbocharger gave the airplane
a 25,000-foot service ceiling, meaning that
it could haul “a ton and a half five miles up.”
Hart most likely would still be flying the
206 today if the recession had not delayed
the power plant’s construction, ending the
aerial photography contract. Hart sold the
206—and got $140,000 for it. Even taking into account the $30,000 he spent in
upgrades, he realized a profit on the sale.

ON THE

WEB

RESOURCES

SPEC SHEET

Bonanza S35
Engines |

Continental IO-520
285 horsepower

Seats | up to 6 passengers
Fuel capacity | 44 gal (usable)

A BONANZA IN THE BACKCOUNTRY. The

first airplane Scott Newpower bought
was a Cessna 182, which suited him well
for the backcountry airstrips he visits in
Montana. When the 182’s engine reached
TBO, he began thinking about moving up. A
Bonanza hadn’t been on his radar until he
heard about a 1964 S35 for sale in Helena.
“I only knew what everybody else knows
[about Bonanzas, which] is that they go
fast,” he said. He bought the airplane in
2005 for $88,000.
Newpower enjoys taking the airplane,
a load of camping gear, and one or two
passengers into the same backcountry
airstrips he would visit in the 182. To do
this, he keeps the Bonanza lean and mean.
“Ninety-eight percent of the time I’m flying with just two seats in,” he says. “On the
various annuals, if it ain’t nailed down I’m
taking it out.” He has removed an old avionics shelf on the firewall, swapped out
Goodyear tires for McCleerys, and replaced
the propeller with a three-blade MT composite prop. “Everything I do has an eye
toward ‘What does that weigh?’” he says.
Takeoff and landing numbers are foremost on Newpower’s mind. Flying without
passengers, with 40 gallons of fuel, and
at 5,000 feet density altitude, he says, the
Bonanza can get off the ground in about 500
feet and can land in about 550. “It doesn’t
need hardly any more runway than a 182
with the same load,” he says. When flying at
lean-of-peak mixtures, he will see fuel burns
of about 12 to 12.5 gallons per hour and true
airspeeds of about 167 to 168 knots. AOPA

For more detailed information
about the makes and models
discussed, see AOPA’s aircraft
reviews (www.aopa.org.
Pilot-Resources/
Aircraft-Ownership)
Bonanza A36, S35
www.bonanza.org
Cessna 205/206
www.cessna.org
Piper Saratoga
www.piperowner.org

EMAIL jill.tallman@aopa.org

He enjoys taking the airplane, a load of camping
gear, and passengers into backcountry airstrips.
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 69

http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Aircraft-Ownership http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Aircraft-Ownership http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Aircraft-Ownership http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/Aircraft-Ownership http://www.bonanza.org http://www.cessna.org http://www.piperowner.org http://www.aopa.org/pilot

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2013

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