My first hour in a complex aircraft, the Beech V35B

With the ownership formalities almost complete, today was the first day
of my transition to a complex aircraft, a '73 Beech Bonanza V35B. On
this cold but clear Northeast US afternoon, the instructor and soon-to-
be-previous owner both took turns flying the first leg while I sat in
the back, taking note of the particulars of leaning a turbo-normalized,
Gami-injected engine.

After a short climb, cruse, and descent demonstration, the owner landed
at a sleepy uncontrolled airport, taxied down to the approach end, then
shut it down. We all swapped seats so that the s-t-b-previous owner was
in the back, I was in the left seat, and the instructor was in the right
for the beginning of my instruction.

It was apparent that my 550 hours of experience in a slower, high-wing
aircraft etched a different outside picture than what I was now seeing.
I was not used to all that visibility in the V35 and my first
inclination was to climb steeper on takeoff than was comfortable for the
previous owner (and ultimately, the aircraft's engine). Lower the nose
a bit, gear up, prop back to 2500 RPM, and retrim. 110 kts on the
climb.

At level cruise, I had a tendency to drift up 300 to 500 fpm. Again, at
this attitude the extra visibility fooled me into thinking the aircraft
was in a descent, causing me to subconsciously pitch up.

The instructor requested a few turns, then sent me back to the
uncontrolled airport for my first landing. Slow down before entering
the 45, gear down, which dropped the airspeed from 140 to about 110 kts,
then turn downwind. Wow, are we moving fast on the downwind.

GUMPS check on downwind, turn base, GUMPS check on base, turn final,
GUMPS check on final. Yep, the was gear still down.

My first landing was a bit slow, as I pulled power back too fast on
short final. The stall warning horn went off about a second before
mains touched. The previous owner commented that I was too slow. Did I
mention that I had a different outside approach picture than the one I
was used to?

We pulled off the runway, I cleaned it up, then back to the approach end
for my second takeoff and return to our class C airport. Twilight was
now turning to night, so by the time we reached the class C airport, my
second landing in this aircraft was a night landing.

This time, I slowly pulled power back as we crossed the fence and was
able to maintain a more comfortable airspeed right to a smooth
touchdown. As a few Bonanza owners in this group commented, this
aircraft does appear to land easily.

On the ground and in the warmth of the FBO, the instructor and I had an
informative debriefing. I then scheduled him for several more days over
the next two weeks. This will be a challenging, yet fun transition.

--
Peter







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Pete.. enjoy the Transition... you'll learn to keep trimming nose down for
cruise as the airspeed climbs to cruise.. that was also causing some of the
300ft gains in altitude on level off..

Learn the engine.. and learn the numbers.. an old "Flying by the Numbers"
article in Flying Magazine really hits home with the Bonanza, especially
when you start work on the instrument rating. You will learn what power
setting to use to get the airspeed you want. Set the power, level off at an
altitude and the airspeed will be what you want. It works great coming into
a VFR pattern also, you'll learn what power setting with gear extended or
not will give you the airspeed you want on downwind. That way you can
concentrate more on the outside instead of the inside. Set the power, level
off, and then just a glance at airspeed to confirm.

As for the 3xGUMPS check.. welcome to the club. It pays dividends, My
"Mantra" when ever I roll out on final, and again just over the fence, "On
Final, On Speed (or call the speed and correction you are making), 3 Green
(gear), Flaps (call the position), Prop (hi), Mixture, Cleared to Land"

Also look into the Bonanza Owners Flight Course.

BT
"Peter R." wrote in message
...
With the ownership formalities almost complete, today was the first day
of my transition to a complex aircraft, a '73 Beech Bonanza V35B. On
this cold but clear Northeast US afternoon, the instructor and soon-to-
be-previous owner both took turns flying the first leg while I sat in
the back, taking note of the particulars of leaning a turbo-normalized,
Gami-injected engine.

After a short climb, cruse, and descent demonstration, the owner landed
at a sleepy uncontrolled airport, taxied down to the approach end, then
shut it down. We all swapped seats so that the s-t-b-previous owner was
in the back, I was in the left seat, and the instructor was in the right
for the beginning of my instruction.

It was apparent that my 550 hours of experience in a slower, high-wing
aircraft etched a different outside picture than what I was now seeing.
I was not used to all that visibility in the V35 and my first
inclination was to climb steeper on takeoff than was comfortable for the
previous owner (and ultimately, the aircraft's engine). Lower the nose
a bit, gear up, prop back to 2500 RPM, and retrim. 110 kts on the
climb.

At level cruise, I had a tendency to drift up 300 to 500 fpm. Again, at
this attitude the extra visibility fooled me into thinking the aircraft
was in a descent, causing me to subconsciously pitch up.

The instructor requested a few turns, then sent me back to the
uncontrolled airport for my first landing. Slow down before entering
the 45, gear down, which dropped the airspeed from 140 to about 110 kts,
then turn downwind. Wow, are we moving fast on the downwind.

GUMPS check on downwind, turn base, GUMPS check on base, turn final,
GUMPS check on final. Yep, the was gear still down.

My first landing was a bit slow, as I pulled power back too fast on
short final. The stall warning horn went off about a second before
mains touched. The previous owner commented that I was too slow. Did I
mention that I had a different outside approach picture than the one I
was used to?

We pulled off the runway, I cleaned it up, then back to the approach end
for my second takeoff and return to our class C airport. Twilight was
now turning to night, so by the time we reached the class C airport, my
second landing in this aircraft was a night landing.

This time, I slowly pulled power back as we crossed the fence and was
able to maintain a more comfortable airspeed right to a smooth
touchdown. As a few Bonanza owners in this group commented, this
aircraft does appear to land easily.

On the ground and in the warmth of the FBO, the instructor and I had an
informative debriefing. I then scheduled him for several more days over
the next two weeks. This will be a challenging, yet fun transition.

--
Peter







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Peter R. wrote:

Nice timing. Today was my first time in a complex too: a '79 182RG.


The instructor requested a few turns, then sent me back to the
uncontrolled airport for my first landing. Slow down before entering
the 45, gear down, which dropped the airspeed from 140 to about 110 kts,
then turn downwind. Wow, are we moving fast on the downwind.

That was the theme of the trip for me: "wow, are we moving fast". How can
maneuvering speed be so slow if this thing wants to move so quickly?

My first landing was a bit slow, as I pulled power back too fast on
short final. The stall warning horn went off about a second before
mains touched. The previous owner commented that I was too slow. Did I
mention that I had a different outside approach picture than the one I
was used to?

I found myself struggling for the right power setting. What's the right
setting for a 500' descent? What's the right setting for downwind? What's
the right setting for...anything?

All that I found easy were climb and cruise, since those are well documented
in the POH.

The difference in the controls was also an issue. The throttle on the 172s
I've flown has been simple push/pull. I can control it with a fair amount
of precision w/o even looking. The 182 had a verner throttle. I could
twist, or I could hold the button and push/pull. But neither was really
"working" for me.

I know that this'll come...but it was frustrating to have to hunt for the
setting I wanted.

I found myself landing soft-field style, holding it up with a little extra
power just above the runway. But because the sight-picture was different,
I kept doing this a little high. And I'd bounce between relaxing it too
slowly and too quickly (see throttle differences above).

[...]
On the ground and in the warmth of the FBO, the instructor and I had an
informative debriefing. I then scheduled him for several more days over
the next two weeks. This will be a challenging, yet fun transition.

Lucky you. I have to wait a week for my next chance.

- Andrew

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In article ,
Peter R. wrote:

GUMPS check on downwind, turn base, GUMPS check on base, turn final,
GUMPS check on final. Yep, the was gear still down.

What really got me was when I was used to flying a retract and didn't
spend the last few minutes of each flight obsessing over the gear and
later driving home I'd have this pang of fear because I *couldn't
remember putting the gear down*. This lasts just long enough to realize
that I'd know by now if I hadn't.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Pete, ya did good....
Just a few parenthetical comments to stir the pot... you said the stall
warning horn went off 1 second before touch down and the owner said you were
slow... When would he recommend that you get the stall warning horn to go
off - after touch down? rhetorical question

Full stall landings are what you should be doing... With the wheels 6 inches
off, the nose should be up and the horn sounding when touchdown occurs...
The slower the speed at touchdown the lower the incident of landing
accidents...Now, this does not mean you should drag it onto the field with
the horn blatting from a quarter mile out and drop it from 6 feet up; but
get the plane established level with the runway and the throttle closed,
then keep it off, and keep it off, and keep it off, until the yoke is
against your chest and the horn is blatting before the wheels touch... Your
tires will thank you, the brake pads will thank you, and your pocketbook
will thank you... What the passengers think is not your problem...

No, this will not result in those perfect greasers that make passengers and
many pilots think you are Lindy reincarnated, but perfect greasers are not
perfect landings... I can make a perfect greaser at Vso + 30, every time
or nearly so... Does that make it a perfect landing? assuming I don't
blow a tire, or melt the brakes to avoid going off the end

So, what's the rule, Vso + 5, then 5 additional knots for each child, and 10
for the little wifey, and another 5 just to be sure? -and the FBO has to
use a cannon to shoot me down before I end up in the next county -

Let me relate an incident from ~15 years ago, coming in to my home field in
my Super Viking.... End of a long day, including bouncing through the
thermals for some 600 miles, and I was pooped... Fatigue let me get a bit
fast (about 7 or 8 knots) on approach and as I set up the flare and began to
wait for the stall horn I went sailing past a pair of the locals waiting to
take the runway... I was embarrassed because I knew I was fast long runway,
not a problem and I knew they were judging my landing... The following
Saturday I am in the pilots lounge and they came in and began to regale
everyone with my "perfect greaser"... They were drooling with compliments,
"jeez, you went past with the wheels 3" off the ground for half the runway
and just greased it on. I shoulda hadda movie camera." They were sincere
and they thought it was a compliment... Most of the hangers on in the
lounge also were giving me thumbs up, etc... Except for one old A&P from the
tail dragger era who simply gave me a long look over his glasses as he took
a sip of his coffee... I didn't let on that I was embarrassed about it,
though I could feel my ears get a bit red...

OK, this has been fun and should bring the experts out of their sandbag
bunkers... For getting checked out in your Vee Tailed Doktor Killer, you
follow exactly what your instructor wants you to do... Just keep my comments
in the back of your head and after it is signed off to you, then do some
systematic testing by slowing up by 2 knots each time until you find that
speed that is the best compromise in getting the stall horn before
touching...

denny

"Peter R." wrote in With the ownership
formalities almost complete, today was the first day
of my transition to a complex aircraft, a '73 Beech Bonanza V35B.

Peter,

Congratulations!

I have recently transitioned into an S35 with a 300HP IO-550 . What an
airplane!

These airplanes are real movers, are very slippery, and descents have
to be planned well in advance. It's very easy to get to VNE quickly
when you nose it over. In the airplane I'm flying I've found that once
I get down to TPA or level outside the FAF, 18" and 2400RPM gets me
down to 140kts pretty quickly if altitude is held. Once the gear and 10
degrees of flaps are out it flys like a Cherokee and is easy to land.
I've been told that (at least in the airplane I'm flying) it can take
on some ugly characteritics if you get slow with full flaps, so I've
been taught to delay full flaps until the runway is made.

I envy your ownership of one of these birds...Enjoy it!



In article , Peter
R. wrote:

good post snipped

Okay, a couple more comments in addition to the excellent postings
already made...

- Weight and Balance. The Bonanza, because of it's leading edge fuel
tanks, develops and aft cg as fuel is burned.
ALWAYS calculate a takeoff and a LANDING cg. You may takeoff within
range, but depending on your leg length, the fuel burn will move the cg
aft of the rear limit.

- Emergency gear extension. This is where you want a good autopilot or
someone in the right seat to fly the airplane while you put your seat
all the way back and see just what it feels like to hand crank the gear
down. (50 turns on that little handle.)

- Go to Avweb and download all John Deakin's columns on flying complex
airplanes and leaning.

Closing comments.
The Bonanza is a sturdy, well built airplane. Its clean aerodynamics
will bite you if you don't pay attention. Learn to slow down gradually,
don't come blasting into the pattern at cruise speed and yank the power
off. Have your descents and approaches planned by the time you are 50
miles from your destination so you can implement them in a planned
fashion (reduce 1 inch mp per minute so that you are at landing power on
downwind).

Dennis,

I agree. Many people tend to land the Bo way too fast.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Congrats on getting yourself into a Bo, they are indeed fine airplanes.

I transitioned to mine from cherokees and skyhawks, and there were 2 things
that really took some getting used to, besides the speed and comfort!!

The first is that nose-up tendency when changing from high power climb to
cruise. You need to anticipate the slightly nose down attitude and prepare
to trim aggresively, and it seems like you've already 'got it'.

The second is that the slipperiness (word?) can get you into trouble if the
autopilot is not engaged and you take your hands off the yoke. I was VFR
and flew into some soup and needed a popup IFR clearance. While copying the
route I dropped my clipboard, and in the few seconds it took to recover it,
the plane went into a 30 degree, 800fpm descent!! Yikes!! Now I make sure
the AP is on if I intend to do any significant heads-down time.

Even now, after several hundred hours, I still can't get over how docile and
easy she is to handle once the gear and flaps go down. Get the airspeed
right over the fence and it's easy to land and uses very little runway to
boot.

Welcome to the Bo club, enjoy your new bird.

Congrats to you.

I just received my high performance endorsement today. I bought into a
Cessna 206 about three weeks ago. I don't have the retracts, but the
extra hp, cowl flaps, constant speed prop, and just plane much bigger
plane have taken a lot to get use to. Actually, I'm still not use to
it, but, this is just the license to learn and get better.

All the best, and remember... If you don't like it, go around!