Bay Super V Bonanza

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Beginning in the late 1940s the United States aircraft company Bay Aviation (formerly Oakland Aeromotive) produced nine twin-engine conversions of the Beechcraft Bonanza called the Super "V" Bonanza. The basis of the conversion was the 1953 model C35 Bonanza with the original small V-tail surfaces. The Super "V" Bonanza may be considered the true Twin Bonanza as the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza is completely different (50% larger) than its smaller namesake.

[edit] Development

Little is known about the history of the Super "V" Bonanza. The aircraft is an extensive conversion of the 1953 C35 Bonanza. The internal airframe was strengthened considerably in the process. The airframe is so different from the original Bonanza that, rather than supplementing the original type certificate, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a completely new certificate for the Super "V". The program was in full swing in 1955, with Bay continuing to use the small-tail variant even after Beech enlarged the control surfaces on its production models. Bay felt the aft fuselage of the new Bonanza was not strong enough for their purposes.

The Beechcraft Heritage Museum owns a Super "V" Bonanza (N3124V). Harold Bost purchased N3124V from the Oregon Aviation Museum, in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and donated it to Bonanza Baron Museum in October, 2004. The FAA Registry lists it as manufactured by Pine Air. In photographs its airframe appears identical, except for larger tail control surfaces, to that of the Super "V" (N551B) owned by the Warbirds of the World Flying Museum in New Mexico. The larger tail of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum airplane may be because the aircraft was damaged in a landing and rebuilt by George Felt of Felt's Flying Services with parts from a 1958 J-35 Bonanza.