I picked one up today for a buddy. It's a nice airplane that flies great. Seemed to fly about 175kts LOP at 15 GPH or 184kts ROP at 18 GPH. Approach speeds over the fence were 80kts; about 10kts slower than my IV-P. My friend that bought it has been flying an A36 for 700 hours. We worked on the glass cockpit and transitioning to the speed. This will be a pretty big transition for him. He plans on selling the Bonanza soon. I guess another 5-10 hours of training before he is ready. Insurance is pretty cheap; less than the A36. Much better baggage space than the IV as there's no pressure bulkhead. Easier to get into it as there's an entry step.

The ES is a tamer IV-P but I'm not trading my bird anytime soon on one. I really don't see the claim that the ES is any safer than a IV-P as the approach speeds aren't significantly different to justify going 70kts slower in cruise.

Fun day flying a neat airplane.

Picture

I've got friends who have an ES for sale that they built to be a show winner. I got to fly it back from Oshkosh a couple of years ago. I agree wholeheartedly with the above.

Picture sorry for the inversion

What's the stall speed of ES vs. IV-P?

Just beautiful

I stall clean at 73kts and flaps down at 64kts

Cruise at 185-215KTAS LOP

I haven't seen my bird in almost 4 months due to its recent upgrades so my memory might be off by a kt or two but MY IV-P approaches at 85-90kts over the fence depending on weight. Clean stall is around 80kts and dirty stall is in the mid 60s.

I flight plan 260kts LOP at 17.5 GPH at 17.5K. It will go 280kts and go a lot higher but the fuel burn and temps are not so happy.

Mike

I think the ES is a much more functional than the IV. For the penalty in speed, you gain so much usefulness with the baggage compartment.

AGREED. The ES is a much better 4 person airplane. It's a Porsche Cayenne. The IV-P is a Porsche 911; a great 2 person plane with the occasional need to carry 1-2 more people with minimal stuff. The rear seats have the same legroom but the ES has much much greater cargo capacity. The ES is an actual 4 person go somewhere plane in great comfort at reasonable speed.

They IV and the ES fly very similarly though with regards to stall with the ES giving you a little more leeway if you're not accurate on your low end airspeeds.

Good comparison, I unload my cayenne into my ES weekly!

Well we have something in common at least, the Cayenne is a great car. The new Panamera will be even greater.

Pick your poison

Ok, is a ES just a IV with fixed gear?

If so how is the IV so much faster?

The IV they're talking about is the IV-P (as in pressurized). In addition to the retract, it goes way high and is of course turbocharged. End result is a muy fast plane that is muy sexy.