Beechcraft Bonanza

The Beechcraft Bonanza is one of the most important civil aircraft in aviation history. First produced in 1945 by the The Beech Aircraft Corporation it is still in production as of 2004. Before 1982 the Bonanza (model 35) had a signature V-tail. However, the V-tail had a fatal in-flight failure rate 24 times that of the conventional-tailed variant, the Debonair. The Bonanza was essentially dropped from production and the Debonair was renamed Bonanza model 36. The twin-engine variant of the Bonanza is called the Baron whereas the Twin Bonanza is a completely different aircraft.

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Development

At the end of World War II two aircraft emerged that were hoped to launch a major postwar civil aviation industry. These were the Cessna 195 and the Beechcraft Bonanza. The Cessna 195, with its seven cylinder radial engine and fixed undercarriage, was little more than a continuation of prewar technology. the Beechcraft Bonanza, however, with its more powerful, more manageable, horizontally-opposed six cylinder engine, streamlined shape, retractable undercarriage and low-wing configuration, was more like the the great fighters developed during the war. The Cessna was unable to compete with the more-advanced Bonanza (although it was the progenitor of the highly successful Cessna 172 and its variants). The Bonanza became one of the most popular civil aircraft ever and is, superficially, little-changed today.

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