I just found out a friend of mine perished a few weeks ago when his 1967 V35A Beech Bonanza "augured-in" with one other passenger aboard.?ÿ The crash report isn't?ÿfinal yet, but weather may have played a factor.?ÿ Heading back to El Reno AP from Texas the plane?ÿdiverted to an AP west of their destination to avoid weather.?ÿ Radar showed some erratic maneuvers and the plane dropped off the screen.
My buddy was a life-long and high time pilot.?ÿ In 2006 a tornado destroyed?ÿthe hangar that housed his twin-engine '66 Beechcraft Baron?ÿG58.?ÿ I remember a lot of fun afternoons in that Baron.?ÿ Although the damage was minimal he sold the Baron after that.?ÿ The guy that bought it flew it out of there.?ÿ That was when he purchased the V35A.?ÿ It was quite a performer also.?ÿ We marveled at its "state of the art" heads-up?ÿGPS display and how accurate it was in locating the runway numbers.?ÿ
The Bonanza had?ÿthe distinctive?ÿ'V-tail' config.?ÿ It also had picked up the moniker "doctor killer" because of its propensity to drop out of the sky while being piloted by low-time pilots.?ÿ The V-tail has long been thought to be the reason for a surprising number of crashes that couldn't quite be explained.
Rick laughed when we talked about it at that time.?ÿ He did admit the V-tail required some special attention in certain situations, but nothing a seasoned high-time pilot couldn't handle.?ÿ He's logged a lot of time on its Hobbs these last 12 years.?ÿ
An eerie prophetic conversation to have had with someone that apparently spun one into the ground.?ÿ We'll miss your laugh Mr. Mullaney. ??ÿ
The forked tail Doctor killer is what we called it.
It is a real handful on a gusty crosswind landing. With the high side rudder and aft stick one ruddervater is doing both elevator and rudder because the other one is in the neutral position. As far as cruise, though, it's not different from any other high performance single engine retract. I think the safety record among similar airplanes is about the same. Low time Doctors with lots of cash gravitatated towards the Bonanza but they would've been just as dangerous in any other high performance single engine retract.
I went flying with the old grizzled Chief Pilot in his C320 one day, he did things with that airplane I don't think you are supossed to do.
Sorry to hear about your friend. At least you can still cherish the memories.
Condolences. We're all headed some where, it just sucks when people depart unexpectedly even more.
