An icon of general aviation, the legendary Beechcraft Bonanza was introduced in 1947 – the very same year this particular example was manufactured. Sporting a gleaming polished aluminum and bright red exterior that will turn heads everywhere it goes and the early Bonanza’s trademark V-tail, the classic aesthetics are unmistakable and legendary.

• READ MORE: Garmin Introduces Budget-Conscious Nav/Com Radios for Light Planes

While priced toward the upper end of the expected price range for early Bonanzas, this one justifies the premium with a long list of upgrades, inspections, overhauls, and STCs that demonstrate the current owner’s meticulous attention to detail regarding maintenance and care. From a new exhaust system to an overhauled landing gear motor and gearbox to a fully disassembled and inspected engine, virtually every component of this Bonanza has been gone through and refreshed, setting the new owner up for years of worry-free flying.

Inside, the new owner is welcomed by classic, art-deco style in the form of polished aluminum “piano key” switches and a throwover yoke that creates ample space for the front passenger. The current owner wisely modernized the panel with round gauges and instruments that maintain the original aesthetic. The GPS, radios, and transponder are positioned up high on the panel, making them easy to read and reach.

Photos reveal an engine compartment clean and sorted enough to win awards at virtually any airshow or fly-in, with the seller accurately describing it as “Oshkosh ready.” For any buyer interested in avoiding the restoration and sorting process entirely and skipping right to the part where they enjoy a museum-quality machine, this Bonanza provides a one-way ticket to vintage fun.

• READ MORE: Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 2000 Micco SP-20

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance and quickly calculate your monthly payment using the airplane finance calculator. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com

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Pilots interested in a classic cross-country machine with vintage style should consider this 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza, which is available for $64,500 on AircraftForSale.

With the classic V-tail and the small triangular third cabin window, this Bonanza is unmistakably one of the early models but has been updated with a more contemporary paint scheme. Claimed to have always been hangared in a dry climate, the presence of corrosion is less likely than in other examples. To remove any doubt, the seller will provide a fresh annual inspection to the new buyer when the sale is complete.

The VFR panel is relatively basic in function, but what it lacks in IFR capability, it makes up for in retro style. Both the panel and glareshield are color-matched to the exterior paint, and the classic polished piano keys have been retained to maintain the airplane’s original, authentic aesthetic. While the radio stack is modest by modern standards, the radios and transponder are arranged in a neat stack that is more straightforward to update compared with other aircraft types. 

Under the cowl, this Bonanza’s 6-cylinder Continental has been updated with a 60-amp alternator to handle the addition of future electrical equipment or accessories. The engine has 925 hours since major overhaul, and the original propeller has been replaced with a hydraulic Hartzell, making future maintenance and parts sourcing far easier.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

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The fully equipped GFC 500 autopilot offers a straightforward, lightweight, and cost-effective upgrade path for a wide range of existing GA aircraft. With solid-state attitude and robust self-monitoring capabilities, the GFC 500 provides superior autopilot performance, enhanced reliability, and safety tools similar to those found in the popular GFC 700 autopilot.

• READ MORE: Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1958 Beechcraft J35 Bonanza

Featuring a user-friendly autopilot mode controller with large, dedicated keys and knobs, as well as a control wheel for easy adjustments to aircraft pitch, airspeed, and vertical speed, the GFC 500 stands out with its Level Mode. This feature returns the aircraft to straight-and-level flight with the push of a dedicated button. Additionally, GFC 500-equipped aircraft may benefit from Garmin Smart Glide, an innovative safety tool automating tasks to reduce pilot workload in the event of engine power loss.

In addition to traditional autopilot features such as altitude hold, vertical speed, and heading modes, the GFC 500 includes advanced capabilities like altitude preselect, VNAV2, underspeed and overspeed protection, allowing pilots to execute various coupled instrument approaches, including LPV, GPS, ILS, VOR, and missed approaches when paired with a compatible Garmin GPS navigator.

As a standard feature, the GFC 500 comes with Garmin Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP), functioning independently of the autopilot. ESP assists the pilot in maintaining a stable flight condition by subtly nudging the aircraft to avoid inadvertent flight attitudes or bank angles while hand-flying.

The GFC 500 autopilot seamlessly integrates with Garmin’s GI 275 or G5 electronic flight instruments. It offers versatility by combining with either a standby GI 275 or G5 electronic flight instrument interfaced to a G500 TXi flight display or a G3X Touch flight display.

Garmin continues to expand its aircraft compatibility list for the GFC 500 autopilot.

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1958 Beechcraft J35 Bonanza

It’s easy to drop a lot of change on one of the most popular single-engine models ever built, but every once in a while an early version of the Beech Bonanza comes up on the market.

This 1958 J35 model has the striking V-tail, with an average amount of total time on the airframe (4,821) for its age. The insight into the price? A relatively high-time Continental IO-470 engine, with 1,747 hours since last overhaul, and an annual due in June. 

But for $52,900, you can budget a certain amount for the future engine update, as well as a few items picked up during the annual or pre-buy inspection.

READ MORE: Plane Facts: Beech Bonanzas

Interested in more deals like this? Check out AircraftForSale.com and our new PlanePrice feature that gives you a window into the opportunities that are out there.

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My son is reading The Great Gatsby in his 10th grade English class—the same school year when I first read it—and chatting with him about the story’s setting got me thinking about New York’s Long Island and how I have wanted for years to fly to Montauk on its eastern tip.

Yes, it’s a long way from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gold Coast and quieter than Jay Gatsby’s party-hearty haunts. But like the novel’s North Shore setting, Montauk gives visitors the feeling that they have truly arrived. As I found out, that feeling is especially strong for pilots.

My wife and I recently ended the long wait with a flight to the popular summer destination known for beautiful beaches, great food, hiking trails, and other outdoor activities. We wanted to get a sense of the place before the busy season really gets going. Over the years, we have spent weekends with friends and attended weddings in the Hamptons, of which Montauk is part, but never drove far enough east to see the hamlet. Now, once again, flying has opened the door.

Getting There

Montauk Airport (KMTP) is 122 nm from our home airport at Sussex, New Jersey (KFWN), a distance “Annie,” our Commander 114B, can cover in about 50 minutes. By road the distance is 171 miles and close to four hours or longer on a summer weekend. Flying there is a joy. Scenery includes the New York skyline, Long Island Sound, the Connecticut coast and dozens of interesting islands. There are also airports to spot along the way, many of which, like East Hampton, (KJPX), Groton, Connecticut (KGON), and Fishers Island, New York (0B8), may inspire future flights.

The airport is not where you would expect to find it. As you fly east over the Sound, Long Island dwindles, getting narrower. Just as it appears to melt into the Atlantic, the runway appears, peeking out from a swath of thick vegetation edged with sand. The field sits in a largely undeveloped area that includes Montauk County Park and Montauk Point State Park. There is an inlet and a harbor between the airport and the village, giving the former a remote feel.

The Airport Environment

On the day we visited, the winds favored Runway 24, which necessitates an overwater approach into a right-hand traffic pattern. Descending over water always feels strange to me, but you cannot avoid it when the runway threshold abuts the beach. It is best to focus on flying a precise pattern while enjoying striking views of the harbor, village, and shoreline. I tried not to fixate on the ocean’s expanse.

On short final, we could see people gathered and strolling on the beach. Several looked up as we passed over; a few waved. I still get such a kick out of being that person in the airplane after decades of looking up at others flying past.

The runway is 3,246 feet long, so light piston aircraft make up most of the traffic, though turboprops also show up. We shared the ramp with a Daher TBM, a Beechcraft Bonanza, and two Cirrus SR22s. There is a small airport office that is attended sometimes but not the Sunday afternoon in early May when we stopped in. I understand there is more of a reception for arriving aircraft during the summer, when traffic increases and the vacation rhythm picks up. Still, Montauk is known as a quiet place compared with the rest of the Hamptons.

Getting Around

This is an ideal destination for flying in for lunch and a walk along the shore. The Gin Beach Cafe is across the street from the ramp, really just steps away. We took a 10-minute walk up the road north of the airport to the Inlet Seafood Restaurant, which is a classic seaside spot where you can watch boats coming into the harbor while enjoying a menu full of delicious options.

Walk a little farther, and you are on the county park beach, which we flew over earlier. One pilot friend who encouraged us to visit Montauk flies there regularly on summer evenings after work just to swim and relax on the beach near the runway.

But there is more to Montauk than the airport, and while hiking is among the area’s popular activities, you will need a set of wheels if you are planning a longer stay and want to explore. Shuttles, taxis, and rental cars are available for getting back and forth to points of interest, but this also seems like the perfect place for lightweight, folding bicycles.

The latest generation of folding bikes includes many that close up into a package compact enough to fit easily in an aircraft baggage compartment—and these include some electric or e-bikes as well. On the road, they handle and perform like high-end touring bikes, allowing you to cover lots of ground quickly. In locations like the Hamptons, where summer car traffic can be unbelievably thick, a bicycle is often the quickest, most efficient way to get around. I plan to test a few of these bikes soon.

Things To Do

The parks around the airport are good places to start if you enjoy hiking and communing with nature. Before heading to the village you might also visit the Montauk Point Lighthouse, which, according to the Montauk Historical Society, George Washington commissioned as president in 1792. It was the first lighthouse built in New York and ranks as the fourth-oldest working lighthouse in the U.S. The lighthouse is also a museum that delves into the area’s history.

Camp Hero State Park, which includes a former coastal defense station, is another historic site at the eastern tip of town. Concrete bunkers housed gun batteries here during World War II, but today the area is better known for its diverse landscape, long beachfront, and trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Deep Hollow Ranch, about 3 miles south of the airport, includes an extensive stable and offers trail and beach rides.

There is a lot of history in Montauk and the rest of the Hamptons, from wartime military activities to the area’s development over the last 100 years or so into a popular escape for New York City dwellers. Visitors can learn a lot in the area’s museums by taking tours of historic homes or casually studying local architecture. From Colonial to Revival to mid-20th century kitsch, you can find it all in Montauk.

Where To Stay

You can also experience a range of styles in the town’s accommodations, whether you are interested in outsize resorts like the Montauk Manor, understated bed and breakfasts, or classic throwback motels Haven Montauk, Montauk Blue, and Daunt’s Albatross. Indeed the classic motel, once an endangered species, has made a comeback here as vacationers from Generations X and Y express nostalgia for time spent in similar digs during family road trips from the 1970s through the ’90s.  You probably will find the ideal combination of balconies, sliding glass doors, flat roofs, and decoratively shaped swimming pools.

If you prefer to camp, you can check out the waterfront sites at the scenic Hither Hills State Park or along the Paumanok Path, a long-distance hiking trail that runs about 125 miles from Rocky Point through the towns of Brookhaven, Riverhead, and East Hampton, ending at the Montauk lighthouse.

I plan to visit Montauk again soon, but for the whole weekend at least—not just lunch. Between now and then, I will have to decide on where to stay. But there is no longer a decision about whether or not to go.

In the old days before I acquired my pilot certificate, I never quite got around to visiting the eastern extreme of Long Island. It always seemed a bit too far, requiring more hours than I had to spare. Now, the ability to get there in less than an hour has extended my reach and transformed my outlook.

Landing at Montauk—having avoided the snarled weekend traffic—instantly makes a strong case for general aviation and the notion that there are still a few forms of real freedom out there. KMTP had been on my GA destinations list since I began flight training, and while it took more than 10 years to get there, I can say with conviction that it was worth the wait. 

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine. 

The post The Scenic Route appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The straight-tailed Bonanza is one of every aviator’s favorite airplanes. Bonanzas offer a certain smoothness of response, an almost indefinable coherence between pilot and airframe rather than simply tactile communication with stick and rudder.

The first Beech model 33s premiered in 1960 with a standard, three-member tail, a 225 hp Continental under the cowl and the model designation of Debonair. Initially billed as an economy version of the V-tail, model 33 was virtually identical to Beechcraft’s model 35 V-tail Bonanza from the firewall aft and the tail forward. In fact, Beech offered the Debonair as an alternative to the controversial V-tail model.

Pilots eager to own a Bonanza now had a substitute for the model 35 that had suffered 250 inflight breakups at a rate that turned out to be 24 times higher than that of the straight-tail model.

In fairness, the butterfly-tailed Bonanza’s tail separation problems were finally addressed with an emergency AD note in 1987, and I know of only-two tail failures since then (see the NASA/University of Texas study of V-tail Bonanzas).

Beech upgraded the Debonair to the same 285 hp engine as the model 35 in 1966 and eventually granted the straight-tail airplane the status of Bonanza. The company also grudgingly acknowledged that there were no real performance differences between the V-tail and straight-tail models.

The E/F33A were introduced in the mid-1960s, and like the V-tail, cruised at 172  knots following a climb at nearly 1,200 fpm. Beech’s E/F33A cruised most efficiently at 6,000 to 9,000 feet, though they did suffer from short range because of their 74-gallon fuel capacity. Four hours was the airplane’s typical endurance at max cruise, worth 700 nm between fuel stops.

The last V35B was discontinued in 1982, and the F33A, last of the four-seat Bonanzas, was dropped from the line in 1994, leaving only the six-place A36 Bonanza in production. The A36 is a great machine, but you do pay for every bucket that’s installed, no matter how many are occupied.

Owners of F33As complain about high-maintenance costs and parts prices, but Beech still supports the airplane and parts are usually available. The F33A nevertheless represents an excellent buy for the pilot with some dough to spend.

The prices of high-performance singles, unlike any other segment, has been influenced by stratospheric sticker prices of new singles, most notably from Cirrus Aircraft. So Bonanzas, which are, at least performance wise, strong rivals to the Cirrus magic, have increased substantially. The low end of the market for these planes still sounds reasonable, with early model V-tails going for less than $100,000 in many instances, though remember that you’re getting a 70-year-old airplane at that price, and one that lacks much of the performance capability and sophistication of later Bonanzas. Later model straight tail Bonanzas are far from cheap, but we think they represent an excellent value when weighed against late model composite singles. Spending $250,000 for an F-33 with a good motor and upgraded flat-panel avionics might sound like a lot, but for what you’re getting, it’s a bargain. 

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