The Upgrade List

The work is now under way! Under the now somewhat skeptical eyes of my wife, we prepared a "safety-related" list of mandatory upgrades.

• Two Garmin GPS units - the GNS 530W and the GNS 430W. I obviously need to know where I am at all times.
• A Garmin GTX 330 transponder with new Extended Squitter. No point in having a transponder that wasn't up to the latest proposed standards.
  
• A Garmin GMA 347 Audio Panel. Obviously I need to be able to select each of these pieces of sophisticated audio equipment!
• The Garmin GMX 200 multi-function moving map display. Great for positional awareness.
  
• Two Garmin GI 106A ILS indicators.
  
• Guardian 553 CO Monitor. Carbon monoxide is odorless and deadly, and can be fatal if not detected.
• The very latest in glass panel retrofit technology, Aspen Avionics, for certified aircraft. Garmin promised this for 3 years and couldn't deliver. Aspen did.
• I really need to know how far above the ground the airplane is - hence the requirement for a Radar Altimeter.
• All this equipment needs a new instrument panel. Fortunately, Aviation Research is one of the only companies with an approved panel!
• And of course, a quality S-TEC autopilot is asolutely mandatory for safe flight operations.
• Even with all the essential glass panel state of the art electronics, nothing adds more safety than extra fuel. So we add the Osborne Tip Tanks for an additional 40 gallons useable!

So with this impressive list of equipment, off we go to get this project underway. Our target for new paint and interior is March, 2008. It is now early December, 2007. Seems do-able...

Heart Surgery

In August 2007 I underwent ablation surgery for atrial fibrillation. The procedure, known as the Wolf Mini-Maze, was successful. Now free of the annoying arrhythmia, I waited patiently the FAA required 90 days before applying for a new flight medical. My wife convinced me that the wait to do any work on the airplane made sense, since without a medical I would be unable fly anything!

In November 2007 the FAA Medical Examiner issued me a current flight medical. Three days later, I ferried N666JS from Eugene to Sandy River, Oregon (03S). I selected Aviation Research Systems, Inc. to do the work, after carefully reviewing several options. Aviation Research is recognized as the premier shop for Bonanza work, and the owners, Jerry and Felicia Forston, seemed like wonderful people. It is to their credit that I still feel that way over a year later!

Flying the new engine

After nearly a year in the shop, the engine upgrade is complete! And what a delight. Early flights showed nearly 2,000 FPM in climb from sea level, and cruise speeds at 8,000 feet of over 165 knots. We were delighted. Unfortunately, during the year that the engine was installed, trouble arrived for the partners. One partner was forced to bow out due to difficulties with his restaurant business, and the other partner chose to spend more quality time with his ill wife. The end result was that I was now the sole owner of this airplane.

And as the sole owner, I was interested in upgrading the avionics. I made the case to my trusting wife that these expenses I was proposing to incur were all in the interest of having a safer airplane. After all, who could argue with safety when it comes to general aviation? So one thing lead to another (hence the original blog title of "As Long As...").

And then more bad news. Like many males over the age of 50, I found myself plagued with more and more frequent episodes of a heart arrhythmia known as Atrial Fibrillation. This arrhythmia became more serious, and ultimately jeopardized my flight medical. All work on the airplane stopped.

The New Engine

The B35 Bonanza came from the Beechcraft factory in 1950 with a 196-hp engine with a pressure carburetor and an electric propeller. Over the years, the engine in N666JS was upgraded, most recently to a Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) E225-8 producing 225 horsepower. Additionally, the electric prop was replaced with a more modern hydraulic prop. To control this propeller, a Rube Goldberg sort of device known as a T-Drive was developed. The T-drive utilized engine oil to adjust the pitch of the propeller. Although the T-Drive works well most of the time, it can be problematic and is prone to leak oil.

Faced with the prospect of a complete tear-down of the existing engine in order to return it to service, we (my partners and I) elected to explore other options for a powerplant. After extensive research, we settled on the TCM IO-470N Series. This engine is fuel injected and develops 260 horsepower at 2,650 RPM, providing significantly improved climb performance. At the same time, we elected to go with a new McCully 3-blade propeller. This also improves the climb at the expense of a slight speed reduction at cruise compared to a 2-blade propeller.

Although it would seem that the increase in horsepower would result in an increase in cruise speeds, adding power is a very inefficient way to add speed. Since the drag goes up with the square of the speed increase, adding the 64 horsepower could be expected to add perhaps 8 knots at cruise. The real benefit comes in using the extra horsepower at low speeds to improve short field performance, reduce takeoff roll and increase climb performance.

As Long As...

This blog has been inspired by my passion for general aviation. In a two-year long labor of love, I have combined the amazing engineering of the classic 1950 B35 Beechcraft Bonanza with state of the art glass-panel avionics and accessories to create what I believe is one of the finest general aviation aircraft available.

The B35 Bonanza is recognized as one of the finest examples of aviation engineering. Now nearly 60 years old, this V-tailed airplane carries more weight out of shorter airstrips and flies at higher cruise speeds than most similarly configured aircraft made today. Nearly 200 MPH on 12 GPH. And like all technology from the last century, there were significant issues with the electronics (avionics) and accessories.

It all started in early 2006, when one of my partners in N666JS (the original N-number of the airplane) had a minor incident. The propeller tips touched the runway during takeoff, and we were faced with the need to rebuild the engine.