The An-2 (Russian nickname: "Annushka" or "Annie"; "kukuruznik") was designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau beginning in 1946.Its remarkable durability, high lifting power, and ability to take off and land from poor runways have given it a long service life. The An-2 was produced up to 2001 and remains in service with military and civilian operators around the world.

The An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in forestry and agriculture. However, the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants of the type have been developed; these include hopper-equipped versions for crop-dusting, scientific versions for atmospheric sampling, water-bombers for fighting forest-fires, flying ambulances, float-equipped seaplane versions and lightly armed combat versions for dropping paratroops. The most common version is the An-2T 12-seater passenger aircraft. All versions (other than the An-3 and the An-2-100) are powered by a 750 kW (1,010 hp) nine-cylinder Shvetsov ASh-62 radial engine, which was developed from the Wright R-1820. The An-2 typically consumes 2.5 l/min (0.66 US gal/min; 0.55 imp gal/min).

For details of development, design and the numerous variants, click here.

The Aquila A 210 is a two-seat reinforced plastic light aircraft produced in Germany from 2002. It remains in production in 2010.

The marketing name A 210 is usually used to refer to Aquila's light side by side two seat aircraft, though its official engineering and certification name is Aquila AT01. Design work started in 1997 and the first flight was made in March 2000.

The A 210 is entirely built from carbon and glass fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP and GFRP). CRFP is used for the more highly stressed members, spars, frames and stringers, GFRP for shells and control surfaces, the latter with GFRP/polyurethane sandwich construction. The low wing has straight tapered inboard sections with increasing sweep outboard and winglets at the tips on production examples. It has a laminar flow section and 4.5° of dihedral. The ailerons are balanced and the inboard single slotted Fowler flaps have two positions.

The A 210 is powered by a Rotax 912 flat four engine driving a two blade propeller. The cabin has uninterrupted transparencies fore and aft, with a slender fuselage behind. The canopy is forward hinged. The tailplane is set just above the fuselage and the fin is swept. A small ventral fin doubles as a tail bumper. The A 210 has a fixed tricycle undercarriage. Its mainwheels are fitted with hydraulic brakes and mounted on spring steel legs from the fuselage. The nosewheel has rubber suspension and is steerable; speed fairings are fitted on all wheels.

German certification was achieved in 2001 and deliveries began the following year. It gained US certification in 2003. Early sales were to clubs, mostly as training aircraft. Most have been sold in Europe and overall 120 have been built by late 2010.[1] 110 appear as Aquila AT01 on the civil aircraft registrations of European countries excluding Russia in 2010.

Variants

Aquila A 210
Original model
Aquila A 211
Conventional instrument panel
Aquila A 211GX
Glass cockpit model

The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of America. 1,604 high-wing Taylorcraft Auster monoplanes were built during World War II for the armed forces of the UK and Canada, primarily for the role of Air Observation Post (AOP).

The name changed to Auster (after the Roman name for the south wind) on 7 March 1946, when production shifted to Rearsby aerodrome, all in Leicestershire. All designs were evolved from the early Taylorcraft with a sprung skid or tailwheel beneath the fin (except for a low-wing aircraft called the "Agricola" designed for aerial farming work; only nine of these were completed). When the company was merged into Beagle Aircraft in June, 1961, the high-wing design was developed still further as the Terrier and, with a nosewheel, the Airedale.

There are far too many models and variations to be included in this profile. This link is to the Auster company wiki pge. This page lists the multitude of models, with links to separate pages of details and specifications for a majority of them.

The specifications below are for the J5 model which is depicted in the heading photo above.

The Auster B8 Agricola was a commercially unsuccessful British agricultural aircraft designed for the aerial topdressing market which opened up in New Zealand in the early 1950s.

Constructed of fabric over a corrosion-proofed steel frame, the design featured a large high-lift low-set monoplane wing, external control cables, fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a somewhat angular fuselage. It had an aft cabin that could seat two passengers, a hopper over the centre of the wing which could hold 750 kg of superphosphate in the topdressing role, or 654 litres of spray as a crop duster. The pilot sat forward of the hopper over the wing leading edge, a position which gave a good field of view compared with the American practice of placing the pilot behind the hopper, though this view was somewhat restricted by the extensive canopy joinery and bulky rear decking.

The Agricola's handling was generally described favourably, particularly its slow speed performance and controls, while its rugged and simple construction allowed for easy maintenance and repair. The aircraft was utilitarian rather than attractive; one website has short-listed the Agricola in a competition for the ugliest aircraft of all time. The type was first flown in 1955.

It was out-competed in its target market by the PAC Fletcher and attempts to sell the type for aerial application work in Britain, Australia and Europe met with little success. Only nine were made before production ceased. Of these ZK-BXO, is the sole survivor. Restored by John Stephenson of Whitianga, it was operated for many years by him as both a historic aircraft and personal transport. BXO was sold to the UK in 2005 and re-registered as G-CBOA. In March 2016, the aircraft was once again sold to New Zealand.

Designed by Stelio Frati, the Nibbio is a conventionally laid out, cantilever low wing monoplane, seating four in two rows. It is a scaled-up version of Frati's successful two seat F.8 Falco. The Nibbio has a wooden structure and is mostly plywood skinned with fabric overall, though the rear control surfaces have only fabric covering. The single spar wing, which is straight tapered and square tipped carries electrically operated split flaps and has 5° of dihedral.

The fuselage is a two-part monocoque structure, bolted together. The rear surfaces are tapered and straight edged; the elevator has a flight adjustable trim tab. Forward, the upper fuselage line merges into that of the cabin glazing over a baggage space behind the rear bench seat. The front seats have dual control. Cabin access is via a starboard side door. The Nibbio is powered by a 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming O-360 air-cooled four cylinder horizontally opposed engine, fed fuel from one fuselage and two wing tanks. It has an electrically retractable tricycle undercarriage with hydraulic brakes and a steerable nosewheel. The main legs are wing mounted and retract inwards.

By 2010 only two Nibbios remained on the European civil aircraft registers, one in Italy and one in the UK.

It is the only all-new light aircraft that was designed and entered series production in the United States in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Design work by Christen Industries began in 1985. The aircraft is one of the few in its class designed with the benefit of CAD software. The prototype first flew in 1986, and certification was awarded the following year.

With more than 650 aircraft sold between its introduction and 2008, the Husky was one of the best-selling light aircraft designs of the period.

The Husky features a braced high wing, tandem seating and dual controls. The structure is steel tube frames and Dacron covering over all but the rear of the fuselage, plus metal leading edges on the wings.

For more details, including the 6 variants, click here.

The Avid Aircraft Magnum is an American two-seat homebuilt cabin monoplane which was designed and sold as kits by Avid Aircraft of Caldwell, Idaho.

The Magnum is a high-wing strut-braced monoplane with a welded steel tube fuselage, the wings have aluminium spars and wooden ribs covered with Ceconite. The Magnum was sold without an engine and was designed for a range of Lycoming engines from 115 to 180 hp (86 to 134 kW), for example the Lycoming O-235, O-320 or the O-360. The enclosed cabin has side-by-side configuration seating for two with an option for an additional seat in the baggage area for two children or a small adult. It has a fixed conventional landing gear with a tailwheel and some are fitted with floats.

By 2010 the aircraft was back in production by the Airdale Flyer Company of Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The Airdale version includes some modifications, including enlarged landing gear, plus optional tricycle landing gear.

The Avro 641 Commodore was a British single-engine five-seat cabin biplane built by Avro in the mid-1930s for private use. 

After building the three seat Avro 639 Cabin Cadet, Avro then designed a larger, five seat cabin biplane, the Avro 641 Commodore. The Commodore had a similar steel tube structure to the Tutor, with heavily staggered single bay wings and a spatted undercarriage. The first Commodore was delivered to its owner on 24 May 1934.

Only six Commodores were built, with one being sold to the Maharajah of Vizianagram. This was found to be unsuitable for Indian conditions and was returned to Britain and scrapped.[2] Two were sold to private owners in Egypt and were later taken over by the Egyptian Army Air Force.

The two Commodores that remained in service in England on the outbreak of World War II were impressed into service with the Royal Air Force and the Air Transport Auxiliary. One crashed fatally in 1941, with the last being struck off charge in 1942.

The Ayres Thrush, formerly the Snow S-2, Aero Commander Ag Commander, and Rockwell Thrush Commander, is an American agricultural aircraft produced by Ayres Corporation and more recently by Thrush Aircraft. It is one of the most successful and long-lived agricultural application aircraft types in the world, with almost 2,000 sold since the first example flew 68 years ago. Typical of agricultural aircraft, it is a single-seat monoplane of conventional taildragger configuration. Originally powered by a radial piston engine, most examples produced since the 1980s have been turboprop-powered.

The Thrush, designed by Leland Snow, first flew in 1956 and before long was being produced in series as the S-2 by the company he founded, Snow Aeronautical. In 1965, the corporation and all of its assets were purchased by the Aero Commander division of Rockwell, which put it into production alongside the CallAir A-9 that it had also acquired, branding both unrelated (though similar) machines as "Ag Commanders". When Rockwell dropped the Aero Commander brand, the S-2 was renamed the "Thrush Commander".

In 1977, Rockwell sold off the production rights to the aircraft and the production facility at Albany, Georgia, which were purchased by Ayres Corporation, a firm which had been built on retro-fitting turboprop engines to Thrush Commanders. On June 30, 2003, Ayres' assets were purchased by Thrush Aircraft, the current producer of the aircraft.

The S-2 and its several variants have been purchased by agricultural spraying operators in many countries. Large numbers are operated in the United States and Australia, while other countries using the type include Costa Rica, France, Guyana, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Ayres developed a special anti-narcotics crop-spraying version of the Turbo-Thrush for the United States Department of State. This version, known as the Narcotics Eradication Delivery System (NEDS) featured an armored cockpit and engine to protect against hostile ground fire. Nine were sold to the Department of State between 1983 and 1985. Ayres also attempted to market a militarized version as the Ayres Vigilante, intended for the Close Air Support role, but this failed to attract customers. IOMAX USA of North Carolina, which had previously modified Air Tractor AT-802 agricultural aircraft as reconnaissance/attack aircraft, has developed the Archangel attack aircraft modeled on the S-2R-660. The United Arab Emirates has ordered 24 Archangels, with delivery from June 2015.

Two Thrush 510Gs were modified to perform a counter-insurgency role by the Austrian company Airborne Technologies at the direction of Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater, but in the absence of an export license the aircraft have not been used operationally.

For details of the 24 variants, click here. Specifications below are for the Thrush Commander 600 variant.

The aircraft configuration - two open cockpits in tandem, the parasol wing, and the fixed tailwheel undercarriage - hearkens back to designs of the "Golden Age" of aviation in the 1920s and 30s. However, the Duce was an all-new design by former Boeing engineer Jerry Bakeng, the aesthetics of which were acknowledged with the Outstanding New Design Trophy at the 1971 EAA fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Two hundred sets of plans had been sold by 1979. The fuselage construction is of welded steel tube with the forward part skinned in metal and the rear in fabric. The wings are constructed of wooden ribs and spars with fabric covering and are removable for transport or storage.

Rights to the Deuce were purchased by the Bakeng Deuce Airplane Factory in March 1999 and the spelling of the aircraft's name was changed at this point.

Plans and parts were still available in 2007, although the rights have changed hands in the intervening years.

A biplane derivative, the Double Duce was also available at one time.

For more details, click here.

The aircraft is supplied as a kit or as plans for amateur construction.

The Bearhawk was designed as a personal project by Barrows to carry aircraft engines for delivery as freight. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin that is 42.5 in (108 cm) wide and accessed by doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage is made from welded steel tubing covered in doped aircraft fabric, while the wings are made from aluminium sheet. Its 33 ft (10.1 m) span wing employs a NACA 4412 mod airfoil, has an area of 180 sq ft (17 sq m) and mounts flaps.

For more details, including four variants, click here. A new model not included in the link is the 2 place tandem Bearhawk LSA.

The Airedale was a four-seat, high-wing braced monoplane with a fixed, tricycle undercarriage, mainly of steel tube construction and fabric covered. It was originally designed as the Auster D.8 which was a modified tricycle version of the Auster D.6. Although similar in many respects, the Airedale was not based on the earlier Auster C.6 Atlantic design,[2] of which a single aircraft was built and flown in 1958 (registration G-APHT). The first three D.8 airframes were in construction when Beagle Aircraft bought the Rearsby-based Auster company in 1960. At this stage Beagle began introducing a series of major modifications to the D.8, which included moving the pilot's door aft and adding a second door on the right, widening the rear cabin, lengthening the rear fuselage and adding a swept fin, as well as many minor changes. Following the first flight of the 1st prototype G-ARKE, seven further development and pre-production aircraft were flown. As changes continued, these eight aircraft were repeatedly modified and rebuilt; these modifications continually added extra weight to the aircraft, and costs spiralled. Concerns about the weight, when it was suggested that "the increase in weight was resulting in a 2-seater aircraft", were ignored by the design team. A total of 43 Airedales were built.

For more information on the design and development of the Airedale, click here.

The Pup was designed as a single-engined all-metal two-seat aerobatic aircraft or a four-seat touring aircraft. The Pup was more spacious than its direct competitors and was more of a "pilot's aeroplane"; it was a more complex design to manufacture and was also corrosion proofed throughout (usually then only an option on US-built competitors). For these reasons it was correspondingly more expensive to build, yet was sold at a competitive price. Its maintenance requires more care (i.e. expense) and its early days were troubled by issues with the doors and spares availability.

Beagle Aircraft Ltd chose to build the Pup following a market survey which demonstrated a global requirement for a modern, all-metal 2–4 seat training/touring aircraft to replace aging Tiger Moths and Pipers used by flying clubs. American manufacturers were already fulfilling this demand with the Cessna 150 and 172 and the Piper Cherokee.

Variants.

Pup Series 1 (Pup 100)

Powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Rolls-Royce Continental O-200A engine

Pup Series 2 (Pup 150)

Powered by a 150 hp (110 kW) Lycoming O-320-A2B engine

Pup Series 3 (Pup 160)

Powered by a 160 hp (120 kW) Lycoming O-320-D2C engine

Bulldog (Click here for separate profile)

Military training version, 2 prototypes only built by Beagle

The Beagle A.61 Terrier is a British single-engined monoplane built by Beagle Aircraft.

The Auster Aircraft Company purchased a large number of former British Army Auster aircraft during the late 1950s. These were Auster AOP.6, T.7 and T.10 aircraft which were updated and modified with de Havilland Gipsy Major 10-1-1 engines. Initially two versions were offered for sale in the civilian market from 1960:

Auster 6A Tugmaster – a utility and glider towing aircraft

Auster 6B – a three-seat luxury version. When the company became part of Beagle Aircraft.

In 1960, the Auster 6B was renamed the Beagle A.61 Terrier 1.

In 1962 the Beagle A.61 Terrier 2 was introduced with a greater span tailplane, wheel spats and a metal propeller.

The Terrier was not an economic success for the manufacturer as it was found that more man-hours were spent on rebuilding each aircraft after its military use than were spent in building the new aircraft for the Army. It was also out-dated as, by 1961, most competing manufacturers were introducing new designs which were all-metal, with tricycle undercarriages and powered by more modern engines such as Lycoming or Continental (e.g. the Cessna 150 and the Piper Cherokee). However the Terrier has found many adherents among vintage light aircraft owner pilots. Examples of the type were purchased by owners in the United Kingdom, Eire, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden. 23 Terriers were registered in the UK in 2013.

Production

Terrier 1
Eighteen Terrier 1 conversions were built. The first conversion flew 13 April 1961 from Rearsby.
Terrier 2 (Specifications below)
Forty-Five Terrier 2 conversions were completed at Rearsby. A small number of airframes were converted subsequently to this standard by other companies.
Terrier 3
One Terrier 3 powered by a 160 hp Lycoming O-320-B2B engine was essentially complete at Rearsby when Terrier production was stopped in 1966. In 1967, an incomplete Terrier 2 was modified to this standard by British European Airways engineering apprentices and registered G-AVYK.

The prototype Bulldog flew on 19 May 1969 at Shoreham Airport. The first order for the type was for 78 from the Swedish Air Board. Before any production aircraft were built, Beagle Aircraft ceased trading and the production rights for the aircraft, with the Swedish order, were taken over by Scottish Aviation (Bulldog) Limited. All subsequent aircraft were built at Prestwick Airport by Scottish Aviation, and later by British Aerospace.

For details of operational history and variants, click here.

The Beck-Mahoney Sorceress is a racing staggerwing biplane originally designed by the father and son team of Lee and Seldon Mahoney with later improvements accomplished by pilot Don Beck.

The aircraft is notable as being the first biplane to exceed 200 mph (320 km/h) on a race pylon course and also held the distinction of being the most successful racing biplane in history, until Tom Aberle's Phantom, which has won eight Reno Gold championships since its introduction in 2004. It was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum after its last race, where it is currently housed in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

A reverse-stagger biplane, Sorceress represents the state of the art at the time of its design and remains one of the great design classics of air-racing within the United States.

Lee Mahoney, the designer, had experience in airframe construction with composite materials, metal-to-composite bonding technologies, and computational fluid dynamics, applying his experience to design Sorceress, and achieve success with several noteworthy design features, including: Use of engine exhaust air flow forms a Coandă effect-bonded laminar flow over the fuselage, increasing rudder efficiency by several orders of magnitude. Mahoney had originally designed the fuselage so that a fin would not be necessary - the fuselage would have ended with a rudder, but his partners however preferred a more conventional treatment, giving Sorceress one of the smallest conventional fins of any racing biplane to date. The aerofoil sections of the wings are designed as mirror image 'vanes' of symmetrical section - they interfere with each other's flow in a manner which provides very high efficiency in turns, whereas one vane-set/wing begins to lose efficiency, the other gains more, allowing for extremely high lift in turns with minimal loss of velocity Sorceress gains a great deal from composite bonding, with one of the first airframes to demonstrate almost perfect streamlining combined with very great strength; the wing interplane struts are for show only, Sorceress being capable of flight without them, but racing rules require them.

For details of results and records. click here.

It remains one of the world's most popular homebuilts with thousands of plans sold and hundreds of examples completed to date.

Jim Bede designed the BD-4 to be the first real "kitplane" in the world. The design was based on a high-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional design, able to be fitted either with a tailwheel or a tricycle undercarriage. When building the plane, it was also possible to choose between a two-seat or four-seat version.

For details of the design and variants, click here. More extensive specifications here.

Created in the late 1960s by US aircraft designer Jim Bede and introduced to the market primarily in kit form by the now-defunct Bede Aircraft Corporation in the early 1970s.

The BD-5 has a small, streamlined fuselage holding its semi-reclined pilot under a large canopy, with the engine installed in a compartment in the middle of the fuselage, and a propeller-driving engine - or jet engine in the BD-5J variant - mounted immediately to the rear of the cockpit. The combination of fighter-like looks and relatively low cost led to the BD-5 selling over 5,000 kits or plans, with approximately 12,000 orders being taken for a proposed factory-built, FAA-certified version. However, few of the kit versions were actually completed due to the company's bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, and none of the factory built "D" models were produced, as a result of the failure to find a reliable engine for the design.

In total, only a few hundred BD-5 kits were completed, although many of these are still airworthy today. The BD-5J version holds the record for the world's smallest jet aircraft, weighing only 358.8 lb (162.7 kg).

For more details on the development of the BD-5 and its 10 variants, click here.

Specifications below are for the piston engined BD-5B with extended wings.

BD-5 Propeller driven

BD-5J Jet powered.

At the height of the Great Depression, aircraft executive Walter H. Beech and airplane designer Ted A. Wells joined forces to collaborate on a project to produce a large, powerful, and fast cabin biplane built specifically for the business executive. The Beechcraft Model 17, popularly known as the "Staggerwing", was first flown on November 4, 1932. During its heyday, it was used as an executive aircraft, much as the private jet is now, and its primary competition were the Waco Custom Cabin and Waco Standard Cabin series of biplanes.

The Model 17's unusual negative stagger wing configuration (the upper wing staggered behind the lower) and unique shape maximized pilot visibility and was intended to reduce interference drag between the wings (although it was later found to have negligible effect). The fabric-covered fuselage was faired with wood formers and stringers over a welded, steel tube frame. Construction was complex and took many man-hours to complete. The Staggerwing's retractable conventional landing gear, uncommon at that time, combined with careful streamlining, light weight, and a powerful radial engine, helped it perform well.

In the mid-1930s, Beech undertook a major redesign of the aircraft, to create the Model D17 Staggerwing. The D17 featured a lengthened fuselage that improved the aircraft's handling characteristics by increasing control leverage, and the ailerons were relocated to the upper wings, eliminating interference with the flaps. Braking was improved with a foot-operated brake linked to the rudder pedals.

Number built: 785

For details of the operational history and numerous variants, click here.

The line includes the Model 19 Musketeer Sport, the Model 23 Musketeer, Custom and Sundowner, the Model 23-24 Musketeer Super III the retractable gear Model 24-R Sierra and the military CT-134 Musketeer.

The Musketeer line was in production from model years 1963 to 1983, during which time a total of 4,366 were produced.[ The type certificate for the Musketeer family of aircraft has been owned by Hawker Beechcraft since March 26, 2007.

Landing gear

The main difference between the Musketeer line and other similar light aircraft is the Musketeer's landing gear. While the competitive Cessna 172s use spring-steel main gear, the Piper PA-28 Cherokees use oleos and the Grumman American AA-5s use fiberglass-sprung main gear, the Musketeer family use a trailing idler link gear system with a compressed rubber puck suspension system. This gives the aircraft quite different landing characteristics compared to the competition; light touchdowns are often accompanied by the idler links skipping and producing a landing that is less-graceful than anticipated. Nevertheless, with practice, smooth landings are easy to accomplish.

As a result of this type of landing gear design, Beechcraft did not design or offer wheel fairings for the fixed gear models. Several aftermarket manufacturers have designed and tested wheel fairings for Musketeers.

For more details of the various members of the family, and a summary of the variants, click here, and here.

Specifications below are for the Model 23 Musketeer III.

Model 19 Musketeer Sport

Model 23 Musketeer

Model 24-R Sierra

Despite large demand for the V-tailed Model 35, there were many potential buyers who considered this tail unit to be a gimmick that might present problems. To meet their needs, Beech introduced the Model 33 Debonair, following a first flight on 14 September 1959. With a conventional tail unit, and with a slightly lower-powered engine, the Debonair seated a pilot and three passengers. It represented a lower-cost version of the Bonanza, and was built and marketed in parallel until production of the Debonair, as such, ended in 1966, by when almost 1,200 had been built.

The Model 33 Debonair was produced in four-seat versions with a 225-hp Continental, six-cylinder engine. It had a simplified interior and less elaborate equipment than the Model 35. In 1961, the aileron and elevator trim tabs were improved; larger rear windows and a restyled cabin interior with bucket seats were featured.

Offered by Beechcraft in 1964 for European sale was a Debonair beefed up with a stronger empennage, horizontal stabiliser, rudder cables and vertical stabiliser to meet British requirements for a three-turn spin.

In 1966, the option of a 285-hp powerplant was added.

In 1967, the Debonair name was dropped and the subsequent aircraft, now a part of the Bonanza family, were simply designated E33, F33 and G33. During these years all model numbers ending in “A” featured the 285-hp Continental. All others retained the 225-hp engine.

For more details, click here.

The specifications below are for the 1963 Debonair B33.

At the end of World War II, two all-metal light aircraft emerged, the Model 35 Bonanza and the Cessna 195, that represented very different approaches to the premium end of the postwar civil-aviation market. With its high-wing, seven-cylinder radial engine, fixed tailwheel undercarriage, and roll-down side windows, the Cessna 195 was little more than a continuation of prewar technology; the 35 Bonanza, however, was more like the fighters developed during the war, featuring an easier-to-manage, horizontally opposed, six-cylinder engine, a rakishly streamlined shape, retractable tricycle undercarriage (although the nosewheel initially was not steerable, but castering) and low-wing configuration.

Designed by a team led by Ralph Harmon, the model 35 Bonanza was a relatively fast, low-wing monoplane at a time when most light aircraft were still made of wood and fabric. The Model 35 featured retractable landing gear, and its signature V-tail (equipped with combination elevator-rudders called "ruddervators"), which made it both efficient and distinctive. The prototype 35 Bonanza made its first flight on December 22, 1945, with the first production aircraft debuting as 1947 models. The first 30–40 Bonanzas produced had fabric-covered flaps and ailerons, after which those surfaces were covered with magnesium alloy sheet.

Three major variants eventually comprised the Bonanza family:

Model 35 Bonanza (1947–1982; V-tail)

Model 33 Debonair (1959–1995; later renamed Bonanza, a Model 35 with a conventional tail)

Model 36 Bonanza (1968–present; a stretched Model 33);

Separate profiles are available for the Model 33 and Model 36.

Model 35 Bonanza (1947–1982; V-tail)

A cantilever low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, including the distinctive tail unit, the Model 35 has an enclosed cabin providing seating for a pilot and three or four passengers. From the outset the Model 35 has had retractable tricycle landing gear, but the original version had only a swivelling nosewheel: a steerable unit was introduced on the Model A35 in 1949. An optional feature throughout the years has been a landing gear safety system of Beech design. Named 'Magic Hand', this ensures that the wheels cannot be retracted accidentally on the ground, or a landing made with the wheels up. As first flown, power was provided by a 138kW Continental E-185-1 flat-six engine, but a variety of standard and optional powerplants have been installed during the long production run. When the company announced that full-scale production was to begin in March 1947, it already had a backlog of around 1,500 orders.

The Bonanza was introduced as a production model in 1947 and was labeled the Model 35. The first Bonanza 35 was delivered in 1947. In 1947, 1,299 were built. Powered by a Continental 165 hp, the top speed was 184 mph and cruise 175 mph. Subsequent aircraft were designated A35, B35, C35, etc. until the S35, after which the letter V was placed in front of the model number and the lettering process began all over again. Early models were fitted with 185-hp engines and seated four persons. In 1952, the C-model appeared with enlarged tail surfaces and a 205-hp engine. The 225-hp Continental was first used in 1954 with the E35. The H35 utilized a 240-hp engine and the J through M models were fitted with 250-hp Continentals.

The specifications below are for the V35B model. For details of all models in the series, click here.

Bonanzas have a unique "throw-over" control yoke. For training purposes, a double yoke can be fitted.

The single-engine Model 36 Bonanza was introduced in 1968 to compete with Piper’s Cherokee Six and the 200-series from Cessna. The A36 was developed by lengthening (0.25m) the fuselage of the Model 33, and using the same wing, landing gear and Continental engine of the Baron family, and the tail unit of the Model 33. Six seats were available, and with club-seating arrangements and a foldout table, it became a flying office. In 1975, the A36 outsold all other Bonanza models for the first time.

With a longer cabin and wide double doors, the Bonanza A36 offers greater utility and convenience without sacrificing performance and economy. In 1977 the A36 was offered with factory-installed electric trim, formerly available only on aircraft equipped with an autopilot. The A36 accounted for 50% of the total Bonanza production in 1977, and that percentage increased in 1978. Beech added a turbocharged version of its Bonanza A36 in mid-1979. The aircraft is certified to a maximum operational altitude of 25,000 feet and has approximately the same takeoff distance as the A36. Power is supplied by a 300 hp Continental engine, which conforms to the minimum horsepower concept introduced on the Baron 58P and 58TC in 1977. The A36TC has a gross weight of 3,650 pounds, which is 50 pounds more than the standard A36. A shortened three-blade propeller reduces tip speed, increases ground clearance, and reduces noise.

Standard features on late models of both the normally aspirated and turbocharged versions are an extended rear compartment for up to 70 pounds of baggage, bringing the baggage total to 470 pounds with four seats occupied; 15-degree approach flap setting; and optional propeller anti-icing.

In 1982, Beechcraft replaced the A36TC with the B36TC Turbo Bonanza. The new design mated the longer Baron wing to the Model 36 fuselage, and fuel capacity was increased from 74 gallons to 102 gallons. Service ceiling for the A36TC and B36TC remained at 25,000 feet. Production of Model 36 Bonanzas totalled some 3,390 by early 1989. The final year of production for turbocharged Bonanzas was 2001. The B36TC’s production run ended in 2001.

Beginning in 2005, the six-seat Beech came to market with an all-glass panel.

For details and specifications of the five models of the Bonanza 36, click here.

Specifications below are for the 2009 Bonanza G36.

Double doors and club seating of the Be36

The Skipper was conceived with the design goals of creating a low cost primary trainer with an emphasis on ease of maintenance and low operating costs.

Though the aircraft first flew with a standard tail configuration, by the time it entered production, a T-tail configuration had been adopted, giving it an appearance very similar to its close competitor, the Piper PA-38 Tomahawk introduced in 1978.

Like the Cessna and Piper trainers which were its primary competition, the Skipper utilizes the Lycoming O-235 engine and features side-by-side configuration seating.

The Skipper wing utilizes a GA(W)-1 airfoil, specifically developed for low-speed aviation applications, based on 1970s NASA research. The aircraft was certified for intentional spins.[3] While it is an all-metal design, the Skipper incorporated a number of innovative construction techniques, including tubular spars and aluminum honeycomb construction with metal-to-metal bonding, a technique inherited from the Musketeer family. The flaps and ailerons are actuated by torque tubes, rather than cables. The landing gear is mounted to the fuselage/wing junction, but has a 5.17 ft (2 m) wide wheelbase, giving it a "spraddle-legged" appearance on the ground.