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Bonanza F33, F33A, F33C - 1970
The 225 hp F33 for for 1970 introduced a few nicities like a quick opening cowl, but the 285 horse F33A was produced in two versions with no model designations to differentiat them. The 1970 version was your basic straight-tail Bonanza with a big motor, but the 1971 version got the long cabin of the contemporary Bonanza which moved the aft bulhead back 19 inches. This gave room for two full sized seats in the rear and the large cargo door. The aerobatic version of the airplane continued for one more year, 1970, but only five were built, making the aerobatic Bonanza one of the more sought after airplanes of the breed.

The F33A continued to be produced until 1994 with the predictable escalation of prices.

Bonanza G33 - 1972
The little 225 hp airplane that started out as the Debonair had a 260 hp I0-470-N put under the cowling and was produced for two more years before Beechcraft decided it didn’t make sense to be producing two airplanes which were so similar in every way, including price. With the bigger engine came a new, roomier interior and all the other appointments given the “real” Bonanzas.

Model 36 Bonanza
By 1968 Cessna and Piper had both built airplanes which were aimed at supplying a heavy hauler for those serious about moving a lot of cargo and people. The Cessna 206/107 line and Piper’s Cherokee Six series were making good money and Beechcraft wanted a piece of that pie. Their initial effort was to simply move the bulkhead back 19” on an E series fuselage and stretch it 10”. Then they repositioned the fuselage on the wing, moving it 10” forward, which make it possible to load all six seats with 170 pound passengers and still be in the CG envelope. The first two years, 1968/69, they tried to market the airplane as a stripped down, utility airplane, as it’s huge side door and spacious cabin seemed to point in that direction for their marketing department. But they were wrong. The market didn’t want a Beechcraft without Beechcraft luxury. If they wanted a truck, they would buy something else, but the market saw the airplane as simply an extension of the line that gave them a true limosine. Beechcraft responded by going back to what they know best and put all of the well known Bonanza touches back in the machine.

The airplane started with the 285 hp Continental of all the other Bonanzas but, in 1984, received 300 horses and was turbocharged in 1979. The airplane has proven to have terrific marketing legs because it has remained in continuous production since it was introduced.

Summary
What can be said about an airplane that, in one form or another, has been in continous production since 1947? Not even the omnipresent C-172 can make that claim. If one thing can be said, it would have to be that Beechcraft proved that, even in the toughest times, quality sells and, on the few occassions they tried to cut their quality, as with the initial Debonairs and 36’s, sales faltered. They have carved out a niche at the very top end of the single-engine market that isn’t likely to be taken over by anyone. Period!

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