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34-618: Production of the Saratoga was discontinued in 2009. The Saratoga competed for sales with the Beechcraft Bonanza , Mooney M20 , Cirrus SR22 , Cessna 210 , and Cessna 350 . Until 1972, when the assembly line was destroyed in a flood, the Comanche was Piper's luxury, high-performance single. Afterwards, Piper began modifying its heavy-lifting single engined PA-32 Cherokee Six , adding retractable landing gear and designating

68-403: A counter-rotating configuration to further increase performance and single-engine safety. At 5,400 lb (2,400 kg) gross weight the aircraft had a weight to power ratio of 7.71 lb (3.50 kg) per horsepower. This resulted in a cruising speed of 260 knots (480 km/h; 300 mph) at 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and a 3,000 ft/min (15 m/s) rate of climb. The Cessna 310

102-527: A supplemental type certificate . Despite these issues, many Bonanza 35 owners insist that the aircraft is reasonably safe, and its reputation has resulted in reduced purchase costs for budget-conscious buyers. The conventional-tail Model 33 continued in production until 1995. Still built today is the Model 36 Bonanza, a longer-bodied, straight-tail variant of the original design, introduced in 1968. No Bonanzas were delivered in 2021, but on April 10, 2022, it

136-420: A cable failure just prior to takeoff, and resulting concerns about the age of the cables in fleet aircraft of this age. At the time of the grounding, some Bonanzas had reached 64 years in service. Aircraft with frayed cables were grounded until the cables were replaced, and those that passed inspection were required to have their cables replaced within 60 days regardless. The AD affected only Australian aircraft and

170-450: A civilian test pilot killed. Twenty-seven QU-22Bs (Model 1079) were modified, 13 in 1969 and 14 in 1970, with six lost in combat. Two Air Force pilots were killed in action. All the losses were due to engine failures or effects of turbulence. A large cowl bump above the spinner was faired-in for an AC current generator, and a higher weight set of Baron wings and spars were used to handle the 236-US-gallon (890 L) fuel load. The Bonanza

204-661: A redesigned rear cabin featuring a skylight window, and the final 310R and T310R, identifiable by a lengthened nose containing a baggage compartment. Production ended in 1980. Over the years there were several modifications to the 310 to improve performance. Aircraft engineer Jack Riley produced two variants, The Riley Rocket 310 and the Riley Turbostream 310. Riley replaced the standard Continental 310 hp (230 kW) engines with 350 hp (261 kW) Lycoming TIO-540 engines. These turbocharged intercooled engines were installed with three-blade Hartzell propellers in

238-470: Is a substantially wider and heavier aircraft that is mostly dissimilar to the single-engined Bonanza; the only major shared parts are the front fuselage sides, windows, and main cabin door. However, the Twin Bonanza had trouble competing with the similarly capable but substantially lighter Cessna 310 and Piper PA-23 , so Beechcraft used the basic Bonanza fuselage and many other Bonanza parts to create

272-482: Is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the second twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production; the first was the Cessna T-50 . The 310 first flew on January 3, 1953, with deliveries starting in late 1954. The sleek modern lines of the new twin were backed up by innovative features such as engine exhaust thrust augmenter tubes and

306-698: Is popular with air charter companies, and is operated by private individuals and companies. In 1949, Turner Airlines (later renamed Lake Central Airlines ) commenced operations using three V-tail Bonanzas. That same year, Central Airlines began operations using eight Bonanzas, later adding three more to the fleet before starting to phase them out in 1950 in favor of the Douglas DC-3 . Data from Hawker Beechcraft General characteristics Performance Avionics Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Cessna 310 The Cessna 310

340-471: Is still produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous production longer than any other aircraft in history. More than 17,000 Bonanzas of all variants have been built, produced in both distinctive V-tail and conventional tail configurations; early conventional-tail versions were marketed as the Debonair . At the end of World War II , two all-metal light aircraft emerged, the Model 35 Bonanza and

374-534: The Cessna 195 , that represented very different approaches to the premium end of the postwar civil-aviation market. With its high-wing, seven-cylinder radial engine , fixed tailwheel undercarriage , and roll-down side windows, the Cessna 195 was a continuation of prewar technology. The Bonanza, however, featured an easier-to-manage, horizontally opposed, six-cylinder engine, retractable tricycle undercarriage (although

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408-496: The anodic properties of the magnesium used for the V-tail ruddervator skins, they tend to corrode, often resulting in permanent grounding of affected aircraft because the problem can only be fixed by complete replacement of the skins or the entire empennage , and the required parts are no longer available. The American Bonanza Society has issued a reward of $ 500,000 to encourage the development of aftermarket replacement skins under

442-507: The 310D featured swept-back vertical tail surfaces. An extra cabin window was added with the 310F. The turbocharged 320 Skyknight was developed from the 310F. Equipped with TSIO-470-B engines and featuring an extra cabin window on each side, it was in production between 1961 and 1969 (the 320E was named the Executive Skyknight), when it was replaced by the similar Turbo 310. The 310G was certified in 1961 and introduced

476-608: The 6X and 6XT (fixed-gear versions of the Saratoga), leaving the turbocharged Saratoga II TC as the only production model in the PA-32 line. Production of all PA-32 models ended in 2009. Data from Cherokee Lance Information Manual General characteristics Performance Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas . The six-seater, single-engined aircraft

510-544: The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and the type continued in United States military service into the mid-1970s. On December 19, 1992, Cuban defector Major Orestes Lorenzo Pérez returned to Cuba in a 1961 Cessna 310 to retrieve his wife and two sons. Flying without lights, at low speed and very low altitude to avoid Cuban radar, Pérez picked up his family by landing on the coastal highway of Varadero beach, Matanzas Province , 93 mi (150 km) east of Havana and managed

544-495: The United States between 1982 and 1989 found that the Bonanza had a slightly lower accident rate than other types in the study. Pilot error was cited in 73% of V-tail crashes and 83% of conventional-tail crashes, with aircraft-related causes accounting for 15% and 11% of crashes respectively. However, the study noted that the aircraft had an unusually high incidence of gear-up landings and inadvertent landing gear retractions on

578-409: The canted wingtip fuel tanks found on the majority of the Cessna twin-engine product line, marketed as "stabila-tip" tanks by Cessna, because they were meant to aid stability in flight. A single side window replaced the rear two windows on the 310K (certified in late 1965), with optional three-blade propellers being introduced as well. Subsequent developments included the 310Q and turbocharged T310Q with

612-458: The ground, which were attributed to a non-standard gear-retraction switch on early models that is easily confused with the switch that operates the flaps . Models starting in 1984 use a more distinctive relocated landing-gear switch, augmented by "squat switches" in the landing gear that prevent its operation while compressed by the aircraft's weight, and a throttle position switch that prevents gear retraction at low engine power settings. In 1982,

646-648: The more powerful 260 hp (194 kW) engines and can be identified by their extra cabin windows, longer nose and swept vertical fin. A USAF study after one year of operational service found the U-3A had direct operating costs of less than $ 12 an hour. The U-3 saw active service in a support role when the USAF deployed aircraft to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War , where they were used on courier flights between air bases . Some USAF aircraft were later transferred to

680-565: The more prestigious V-tail Bonanza. However, most Bonanza features were available as factory options on the Debonair, and by the mid 1960s, most Debonair buyers were ordering most or all of these options. Realizing this, Beechcraft dropped the Debonair name and most of the basic and seldom-ordered standard features with the introduction of the E33 in 1968. Despite its name, the Twin Bonanza

714-499: The nosewheel initially was not steerable, but castering) and low-wing configuration. Designed by a team led by Ralph Harmon , the model 35 Bonanza was a relatively fast, low-wing, all-aluminum design, at a time when most light aircraft were still made of wood and fabric. The Model 35 featured retractable landing gear , and its signature V-tail (equipped with combination elevator-rudders called "ruddervators"). The prototype 35 Bonanza made its first flight on December 22, 1945, with

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748-577: The production of the V-tail Model 35 ended. In the late 1980s, repeated V-tail structural failures prompted the United States Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct extensive wind tunnel and flight tests, which proved that the V-tail did not meet type certification standards under certain conditions; the effort culminated with the issuance of an airworthiness directive to strengthen

782-609: The project name "Pave Eagle" for the United States Air Force . An AiResearch turbocharged, reduction-geared Continental GTSIO-520-G engine was used to reduce its noise signature, much like the later Army-Lockheed YO-3A . These aircraft were intended to be used as unmanned drones to monitor seismic and acoustic sensors dropped along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and report troop and supply movements. When

816-662: The project was put into operation in 1968, however, the aircraft were all flown by pilots of the 554th Reconnaissance Squadron Detachment 1, call sign "Vampire". A separate operation "Compass Flag" monitored the General Directorate of Rear Services along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, linking to the 6908th security squadron. Six YQU-22A prototypes (Model 1074, modifications of the Beech 33 Debonair) were combat-tested in 1968, and two were lost during operations, with

850-459: The same 45 years. Most V-tail failures involved flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions , flight into thunderstorms , or airframe icing . In addition to the structural issues, the Bonanza 35 has a relatively narrow center of gravity envelope, and the tail design is intolerant of imbalances caused by damage, improper maintenance, or repainting. Such imbalances may induce dangerous aeroelastic flutter . Due to

884-614: The same time carrying a large useful load of 2,000 lb (910 kg). or more, at speeds that were high for a twin engine piston aircraft. In 1957, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected the Cessna 310 for service as a light utility aircraft for transport and administrative support. The USAF purchased 160 unmodified 310A aircraft with the designation L-27A and unofficially nicknamed Blue Canoe , later changed to U-3A in 1962. An additional 36 upgraded 310 designated L-27B (later U-3B ) were delivered in 1960–61; these aircraft were essentially military 310Fs and as such equipped with

918-498: The storage of all fuel in tip tanks in early models. In 1964, the engine exhaust was changed to flow under the wing instead of the augmenter tubes, which were considered to be noisy. Typical of Cessna model naming conventions, a letter was added after the model number to identify changes to the original design over the years. The first significant upgrade to the 310 series was the 310C in 1959, which introduced more powerful 260 hp (194 kW) Continental IO-470-D engines. In 1960

952-488: The tail, which significantly reduced the incidence of in-flight breakups. Despite this, Beech has long contended that most V-tail failures involve operations well beyond the aircraft's intended flight envelope . Subsequent analysis of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident records between 1962 and 2007 revealed an average of three V-tail structural failures per year, while the conventional-tailed Bonanza 33 and 36 suffered only eleven such failures in total during

986-614: The twin-engined Travel Air , which was later developed into the Baron . The V-tail design gained a reputation as the "forked-tail doctor killer", due to crashes by overconfident wealthy amateur pilots, fatal accidents, and in-flight breakups. "Doctor killer" has sometimes been used to describe the conventional-tailed version, as well. However, a detailed analysis by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of accident records for common single-engine retractable-gear airplanes in

1020-777: The type as the "PA-32R". The PA-32R was built under license by Embraer in Brazil as the Embraer EMB-721 Sertanejo . Kits for the PA-32R-300 (six supplied), PA-32RT-300 (16) and PA-32RT-300T (two) were supplied to Chincul in Argentina for completion. They were designated the PA-A-32R and PA-A-32RT. For the 2008 model year, the Saratoga II HP (normally aspirated) model was eliminated, along with

1054-491: The type receiving an airworthiness certificate on March 25, 1947. Production began that year. The first 30–40 Bonanzas produced had fabric-covered flaps and ailerons, after which those surfaces were covered with magnesium alloy sheet. The Bonanza family eventually comprised three major variants: The Model 33 Debonair was introduced in 1960 as a lower-priced model with more austere standard instrumentation, exterior equipment, paint schemes, and interior fabrics and trim than

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1088-541: Was a common charter aircraft for the many air taxi firms that sprang up in the general aviation boom that followed World War II. The advantages of the Cessna 310 over its contemporaries, such as the Piper PA-23 , were its speed, operating costs and aftermarket modifications, such as the Robertson STOL kits that made it popular worldwide for its bush flying characteristics. It could use short runways, while at

1122-679: Was announced that production of the Bonanza G36 had restarted. In January 2012, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued an airworthiness directive grounding all Bonanzas, Twin Bonanzas, and Debonairs equipped with a single pole-style yoke and that have forwarded elevator control cables that are more than 15 years old until they could be inspected. The AD was issued based on two aircraft found to have frayed cables, one of which suffered

1156-530: Was not adopted by the airworthiness authority responsible for the type certificate , the US Federal Aviation Administration . The FAA instead opted to issue a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin requesting that the elevator control cables be inspected during the annual inspection. The QU-22 was a Beech 36/A36 Bonanza modified during the Vietnam War to be an electronic monitoring signal relay aircraft, developed under

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