BeechTalk - BT - Kids getting older = need more useful load

Username Protected · **Posted:** 12 Apr 2020, 15:41

Username Protected wrote:

C55 was just the ticket for my people. 200 mph cruise speed with nearly 2,000# useful load. My family goes 6’5, 6’4, 5’10” and 5’6”...and 775# of people. With full fuel of 142 gallons (136 useful) we can still carry 400+ pounds of luggage...or friends.

Plus you can't beat the nose baggage compartment for eliminating the usual CG issues that plague many Bonanzas.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 12 Apr 2020, 21:02

I'm considering listing my '68 Bonanza 36 this year. We're moving to Idaho at the end of the year and I'd like to get something more back country friendly.

1470 UL, tips, 550, WAAS, ADSB.

PM me if you want to talk. Good luck in your hunt, 36 is a great bird!

Username Protected · **Posted:** 13 Apr 2020, 00:13

Username Protected wrote:

I'm considering listing my '68 Bonanza 36 this year. We're moving to Idaho at the end of the year and I'd like to get something more back country friendly.

1470 UL, tips, 550, WAAS, ADSB.

PM me if you want to talk. Good luck in your hunt, 36 is a great bird!

Unless you're planning to land on sand bars, a BE36 makes a great "back country" airplane, especially if you stay a couple hundred pounds below the original MGW.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 13 Apr 2020, 09:29

This is kind of thread drifting but.. In my (limited) experience the B55 with 2 blade props is a little too low to the ground for my comfort for off-pavement ops unless it's a maintained grass strip that has been recently cut.

I'd swap for some 3 blades to get a little extra clearance but 1) the prices are eye-watering (as is everything in aviation) and 2) it adds a fair amount of weight - something like 50 pounds IIRC. The good news is the Baron has lots of useful load to spare...but that leaves me back at #1. List price on the 3 blade conversion is 28k. I'd probably take an immediate bath on at least 20k of that 28k, so it's not worth it to me. I have more interesting ways to light a bonfire of 20k.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 13 Apr 2020, 21:05

Username Protected wrote:

Unless you're planning to land on sand bars, a BE36 makes a great "back country" airplane, especially if you stay a couple hundred pounds below the original MGW.

I took a backcountry flying course a few years ago and had a blast. I want to learn more. The thing I took away from it wasn't that the Bo lacked the performance, it was that it would get the crap beat out of it. I can't imagine how many rock dings the flaps would end up with, not to mention the tail. The 182 we were using was beating up the leading edge of the tail with rocks - the Bo would be so much worse. I don't want to do that to the airplane. Soft grass? Absolutely. Dirt and rocks, nah.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 13 Apr 2020, 21:17

Username Protected wrote:

This is kind of thread drifting but.. In my (limited) experience the B55 with 2 blade props is a little too low to the ground for my comfort for off-pavement ops unless it's a maintained grass strip that has been recently cut.

I'd swap for some 3 blades to get a little extra clearance but 1) the prices are eye-watering (as is everything in aviation) and 2) it adds a fair amount of weight - something like 50 pounds IIRC. The good news is the Baron has lots of useful load to spare...but that leaves me back at #1. List price on the 3 blade conversion is 28k. I'd probably take an immediate bath on at least 20k of that 28k, so it's not worth it to me. I have more interesting ways to light a bonfire of 20k.

I've landed, taken off, and taxied in some rather tall grass and the only issue was that the prop tips were stained green.