Page 26 - October 23

IN HISTORY
The Best Bonanza Ever?
Starting with the Model E33A, in 1968 Beech Aircraft engineers dug deep into their airframe “cookbook” to create the company’s most popular and versatile Bonanza – the Model 36 series
by Edward Phillips
“The biggest, most versatile Bonanza ever built.” That was how Beech Aircraft Corporation described the new Model 36 Bonanza when it was certified in May 1968. Introduced to company dealers and distributors June 18, by the end of the year, sales of the six-place Beechcraft had soared to more
1 than $3.5 million. Standard equipped price was $40,650.
Introduced in mid-1968, the utilitarian Model 36 had evolved into the improved A36 for the 1970 model year and featured cabin and interior appointments that were equal in quality and appearance to that of the Bonanza V35B. (Wichita State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives)
During those months, the production line was kept busy as orders for Model 36 poured in from Beechcraft’s global sales organization. When workers went home to celebrate the 1968 Christmas season, they had built 105 airplanes. In addition, increasing demand for the new multi-mission Bonanza would keep Beechcrafters busy throughout 1969.
24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
From the beginning of the Model 36 design and development program, the airplane was aimed directly at three markets: air taxi, light cargo and private aviation, with an emphasis on the first two. Unlike some of its siblings such as the twin-engine Model 55 Baron, the latest Beechcraft was not answering competition from Cessna Aircraft Company or Piper Aircraft Corporation
OCTOBER 2023