Beechcraft Bonanza 35 V-tail (Early)

This page's specifications describe the Model G35, approved December 1955, serials D-15002, D-4376 and D-4392 through D-4865 — 476 airframes, the last and most-developed of the nine models on FAA TCDS A-777. The straight-35 V-tail Bonanzas that came before it (35, A35, B35, C35, D35, E35, F35, 35R) are in the Variants table with their own certificate figures.

A-777 covers exactly these nine models and no others — verified against the FAA's own model list, which reads on the certificate's cover page:

35, A35, B35, C35, D35, E35, F35, G35, 35R

All nine are 1947-1956 airplanes. This matters because three other Bonanza pages in this catalogue previously cited A-777 for airplanes it does not cover — H35 (1957) is on TCDS 3A15 instead, and this is the first Bonanza page in the re-sourcing project whose representative variant genuinely does belong on A-777.

The Model 35 first flew 22 December 1945 and was approved 25 March 1947 — Beech's all-metal, retractable-gear, V-tail answer to a postwar market full of fabric-covered taildraggers. Walter Beech's team chose the V-tail primarily to save weight; the tradeoff for that choice became the subject of a four-decades-long airworthiness-directive story that the ADs section below covers with the FAA's own numbers.

TCDS A-777 gives each model its own full block. Counting eligible serials:

No model holds a production majority (Model 35's 1,500 is the largest single block, 31% of 4,867). G35 is stored as the representative variant because it is the last, most-developed, and best-attested model on the certificate — see the reasoning recorded in full in raw/tcds/cert-bonanza-35-early-a777-rev62-2026-09-08.md.

The 225-hp E-225-8 was optional, not standard, on D35, E35 and F35. A-777 Item 111(b) states the E-225-8 replaces the E-185-11 "in Model E35 or F35 only" as a factory option, and Item 111(d) records a further aftermarket approval to fit it to Models 35 through D35 and 35R. G35 is the first model where 225 hp is the standard, as-delivered engine. A D35, E35 or F35 offered today as "225 hp" may genuinely carry the option — but the base airplane on this certificate is 205 hp through F35.

Why this is one page and not nine. docs/CATALOG-SPLITTING-RULE.md Step 1 fires on none of it (same engine count, same engine class, same seat count, same retractable gear, same certificate). Step 2's thresholds: gross weight 2,550-2,775 lb is a 8.8% spread (35 Normal Category to G35); horsepower 165-225 continuous-to-takeoff is a wider spread but the certificate itself frames it as one progressively-updated design rather than distinct models requiring separate pages. The Variants table carries every model's own figures, so nothing is hidden behind one averaged row.

No cruise speed, fuel burn, range, climb rate, service ceiling or stall speed is stored on this page, and that is a finding, not an oversight. These are 1947-1956 airplanes that predate the GAMA-format POH; A-777's own equipment list (Item 404(q)) confirms Beech issued "Model G35 Pilot's Operating Handbook and FAA Approved AFM as revised March 1987 or later" — i.e. a retrofit handbook exists, thirty-plus years after production, but it was not located in this research pass. Aviation Consumer's period coverage (ac35-vtail-aviationconsumer-2026-09-07.md) is entirely about ownership, ADs and the fuel-system history — it states no performance figure for any model on this certificate. AOPA's "Beechcraft Bonanza" fact sheet covers only the 1968 E33, 1968 V35A and 1977 A36, none of which sit on A-777.

What IS stored is the certificate's own limits, in bracketed knots per runbook rule 24: Vne 176 kt, Vno 152 kt (139 kt on 35 through D35 — the certificate raises it at E35), Va 113 kt, Vfe 104 kt. The certificate states no basis qualifier (CAS/IAS) for this era, so the figure is recorded as the certificate's own number without conversion, and that is stated here rather than assumed.

Not computed on this page. useful_load_lbs requires empty_weight_lbs, which was not sourced (see validator_exempt) — inventing an empty weight to back into a payload table would be exactly the fabricated-precision failure this catalogue is being re-sourced to remove. The Variants table above gives each model's certificated gross weight and fuel capacity, which a reader can combine with an actual weight-and-balance sheet for a specific airframe.

• Flight Training (2): Complex, high-performance, and insured accordingly; a type-transition or advanced endorsement airplane, not a primary trainer.
• Backcountry (2): Low-wing retractable with a propeller close to the ground; not built for unimproved strips.
• Business Travel (6): Genuinely IFR-capable and fast for its era, but the earliest models (35/A35 at 165 continuous hp) are the least powerful airplanes in the whole Bonanza line.
• Aerobatics (1): Utility category on some serials, Normal on others; the V-tail's structural history (below) makes this the wrong airplane to push.
• Cross-Country (7): The Bonanza's original mission, and the reason the type still has a following eighty years later.
• Cargo Hauling (3): Four seats, 270 lb baggage, no more.
• Local Fun Flying (7): The airplane the "sports car of the sky" reputation was built on.
• Surveying (4): Low wing, retractable gear; not built for slow-flight observation work.

Panels vary enormously by owner investment on an airframe this old: many fly with substantially original round-gauge panels and a single added GPS/ADS-B source for legal compliance; a full IFR glass retrofit (GTN stack, G5/GI-275 primary instruments, GFC autopilot) is a five-figure project on an airplane worth a fraction of that. The American Bonanza Society is the type's primary technical resource for panel-upgrade guidance.

None of these are on the type certificate — a TCDS never lists an STC, and its silence is not evidence the modification doesn't exist (runbook rule 32). Widely documented on this airframe:

• Engine upgrades to IO-470 or IO-520 power, offered by several STC holders (D'Shannon Aviation among them), commonly cited as the single most transformative modification available for an early V-tail.
• Tip tanks, adding both fuel and, on some STCs, gross weight.
• Speed modifications (gap seals, vortex generators) worth a few knots.

No specific STC number, holder, or dated performance delta was verified against an FAA record in this pass, so none is recorded in stc_variants — per rule 32, the modifications are real and are described in prose, but a number without a verified STC citation does not belong in the structured table.

• Parts: good — Textron Aviation (successor to Beech) still supports the type, and the American Bonanza Society is an active technical and parts resource.
• Mechanic familiarity: common for retractable-gear experience generally; the ruddervator system and the era's electric gear are Bonanza-specific.
• Engine overhaul: $48,000 per reference/engine-overhaul-pricing.md (Continental geared six, national specialty-shop tier).

Asking prices, 8 September 2026, from Controller.com per-model facets (raw/market/market-bonanza-vtail-early-middle-2026-09-08.md). Vref and the Aircraft Bluebook were tried first per runbook rule 27 and are subscription gated; Trade-A-Plane returned HTTP 403.

No priced listings currently exist for Model 35 or A35 — both returned "0 Listings" on Controller as of this date, consistent with a very small surviving, currently-flying fleet of the lowest-powered, oldest models on this certificate. G35 itself returned three listings, two priced: $69,000 and $78,000.

This is a materially thinner market than the V35B, F33A or A36 pages in the same family — expected, given these are 70-79-year-old airplanes with the least horsepower in the Bonanza line.

From the FAA Dynamic Regulatory System, recorded in raw/tcds/faa-ad-bonanza-33-35-36-2026-09-07.md:

• AD 95-04-03 (current) — Beech 33/35/36 wing front spar carry-through frame: inspect, reinspect at intervals not to exceed 500 hours.
• AD 94-20-04 R2 — the defining V-tail ruddervator AD: repetitive inspection of fuselage bulkheads in the tail, ruddervator balancing. Aviation Consumer's period coverage frames the decade this AD was issued as the turning point in the type's structural-failure record: "the number of in-flight airframe breakups dropped to hearteningly low levels" afterward, against "240 V-tails since 1947" broken up before it.
• AD 2002-21-13 — supersedes portions of AD 94-20-04 specifically for the earliest models (35, 35R, A35, B35): inspection and modification that, when completed, removes the operating limitations, including rebalancing the ruddervators to a revised specification.

Common problems, per Aviation Consumer: control-cable and rod wear, landing-gear component and rigging issues, and magnesium-component corrosion found "during the thorough inspection required ... as part of the tail-brace installation." The same article records 188 gear-up landings in a 668-accident, six-year study window (28%) across the whole V-tail line — not specific to this page's models, but a standing training point for the type as a whole.

Per GA Insurance Underwriting. V-tail Bonanzas carry a premium over straight-tail equivalents (F33A, A36) reflecting the type's structural history, and new-to-type pilots should expect a dual-instruction requirement (commonly 10-25 hours) regardless of total time. No hull-value-specific quote was sourced for this pass; typical_hull_insurance_annual_usd is left unset rather than carried forward from the old page's unsourced figure.