Beechcraft Bonanza 35 J-S Middle V-Tail (1958-1964)

This page's specifications describe the Model S35, approved 3 January 1964, serials D-7140 and D-7310 through D-7976 — 668 airframes, the last and most powerful model before the V35 took over the type-certificate section in 1965. The six models that came before it on this certificate (H35, J35, K35, M35, N35, P35) are in the Variants table with their own figures.

This page sits on TCDS 3A15, not A-777. A-777 covers only the nine straight-35 models built through 1956 (see beechcraft-bonanza-35-early); H35 (approved December 1956) is the model 3A15 places directly ahead of J35 on its own cover page:

H35, J35, K35, M35, N35, P35, S35, V35, V35A, V35B, ...

This page's scope was widened from "J35-S35" to "H35-S35" for exactly that reason — H35 belongs on this certificate, not on A-777, and giving it a home here avoids leaving it stranded between the two pages.

3A15 gives each model its own block. Counting eligible serials:

H35 introduced this certificate's first direct-drive, single-rating engine (Continental O-470-G, 240 hp, no takeoff/continuous split — unlike the geared E-series engines on the sibling early-35 page). J35 is the first fuel-injected Bonanza (IO-470-C). N35 is where 80-gallon TOTAL / 74-usable tanks first became available, as an option, and the same option carries through P35 and S35 (37 usable per side, 74 total — the same system the V35B and 36-series later make standard). S35 is the first 285-hp Bonanza and the first with an optional 6th seat.

Why S35, not H35, is stored. No model holds a production majority. S35 is chosen because it is the most-developed, highest-production single model on this span (668 of 3,111 eligible airframes across the seven models — the largest single block), it shares its Continental IO-520 with the V35B that succeeds it, and it has independent press coverage by name (Aviation Consumer's 2001 article discusses the S35's stretched cabin specifically). Full reasoning: raw/tcds/cert-bonanza-h35-s35-3a15-rev100-2026-09-08.md.

Why this remains one page. Step 1 of the splitting rule fires on none of it. Step 2: gross weight 2,900-3,300 lb is a 13.8% spread (under 15%); the horsepower range (240-285) and the seat-count option (4 to 6) mirror exactly how beech-a36-bonanza and beech-v35-bonanza already handle an optional extra seat pair without splitting.

No cruise speed, fuel burn, range, climb rate, service ceiling or stall speed is stored on this page. These are 1957-1964 airplanes that predate the GAMA-format POH. 3A15's own equipment list confirms Beech issued retrofitted 1987 POHs for every model on this page (e.g. Item 403(al): "Model S35 POH and FAA Approved AFM as revised March 1987 or later"), but that document was not located in this research pass. Aviation Consumer's period coverage is entirely about the fuel-system history, the S35's cabin stretch, weight-and-balance behaviour and ADs — it states no performance figure for any model here. AOPA's Bonanza fact sheet covers only the 1968 E33, 1968 V35A and 1977 A36.

What IS stored is the certificate's own limits, bracketed knots per runbook rule 24: Vne 195 kt, Vno 165 kt, Va 132 kt, Vfe 113 kt (all S35). The Variants table above carries the earlier models' own, lower figures — Vno rises from 152 kt (H35) to 165 kt (S35) across the span, and Va from 123 kt to 132 kt.

The S35's sixth seat is nominal, not practical, per Aviation Consumer: "Theoretically, the S-model was a six seater. But not really. It's just not practical to stuff passengers back there, unless they're lightweight kids." That is why the page stores seats: 4 with seats_max_certified: 6, the same convention beech-v35-bonanza uses.

Not computed on this page. useful_load_lbs requires empty_weight_lbs, which was not sourced (see validator_exempt). The Variants table gives each model's certificated gross weight and usable fuel, which a reader can combine with an actual weight-and-balance sheet for a specific airframe.

• Flight Training (2): Complex, high-performance, insured accordingly.
• Backcountry (2): Low-wing retractable, not built for unimproved strips.
• Business Travel (7): The 285-hp S35 is a genuine cross-country performer; earlier models in the low 200s hp are less so.
• Aerobatics (1): V-tail structural history counsels against pushing this airframe outside normal-category limits.
• Cross-Country (9): The type's natural mission, and this is the fastest, longest-legged block before the V35B.
• Cargo Hauling (3): Four-seat cabin (nominally up to six on S35), 270 lb structural baggage limit.
• Local Fun Flying (8): Widely regarded among Bonanza owners as the "best-flying" era of the V-tail — light, well-harmonized controls before the gross-weight and cabin-length increases of the V35B/36.
• Surveying (4): Low wing, retractable gear, fast — not built for this mission.

Same pattern as the early-35 page: panels range from largely original round gauges with a single added GPS/ADS-B source, up to a full glass retrofit on well-invested examples. The American Bonanza Society is the primary technical resource for panel-upgrade guidance on this era.

Per runbook rule 32, the certificate's silence on these is not evidence they don't exist:

• IO-520 conversions for the lower-powered H35/J35/K35/M35 airframes, bringing them to S35-equivalent power.
• Tip tanks, extending range beyond the optional 74-gal system.
• Speed modifications (gap seals, vortex generators).

No specific STC number or verified performance delta was confirmed against an FAA record in this pass, so none is recorded in stc_variants — the modifications are real and described in prose only.

• Parts: good — Textron Aviation and the American Bonanza Society both actively support this era.
• Mechanic familiarity: common for retractable-gear generally; V-tail ruddervator system is type-specific.
• Engine overhaul: $49,000 (IO-520) per reference/engine-overhaul-pricing.md; the earlier IO-470 models on this page's Variants table would use the IO-470 tier instead (~$48,000, matching the sibling early-35 page).

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 are subscription gated; Trade-A-Plane returned HTTP 403.

Every model on this page prices above the sibling early-35 page (G35 at $69,000-$150,000), consistent with the certificate's own progression of rising horsepower and gross weight across the run.

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

• AD 95-04-03 (current) — wing front spar carry-through frame, 500-hour repetitive inspection.
• AD 94-20-04 R2 (current) — the defining V-tail ruddervator AD.
• AD 93-24-03 — rudder forward spar assembly and centre hinge (does not apply to any V-tail per the FAA's own title, which names only 33- and 36-series models — a V-tail has no rudder forward spar).

Common problems, per Aviation Consumer: Continental cylinder cracking on aging engines, aged magnetos on infrequently-flown airframes, and the same 28%-of-accidents gear-up landing rate the whole V-tail line carries.

Per GA Insurance Underwriting. Same V-tail premium and new-to-type dual-instruction expectations as the early-35 page. No hull-value-specific quote sourced this pass; typical_hull_insurance_annual_usd left unset rather than carried forward unsourced.