HANDS ON
original panel, including the ‘piano key’
switches. It also has enough modern
touches to do what I need it to do. The
cabin is large and comfortable, and I bought
a set of sheepskin seat covers from Sporty’s
that look and feel great.” Patty will keep the
panel, but sent the airplane to Sarasota
Avionics to install a JPI engine monitoring
system and to upgrade the autopilot with a
three-axis S-TEC.
I know what some of you are thinking:
“Patty Wagstaff needs an autopilot like
Vincent van Gogh needs a paint-by-numbers
set.” But unlike a seven-minute air show routine in the Extra, those long cross-country
trips can be a lot less fatiguing when the
“electronic first officer” handles the interminably boring stretches. Especially if you’re
feeding macadamia nuts to the parrot sitting
on your shoulder.
For now, Patty’s Bonanza flies without
a panel-mounted GPS, though she does
have a portable Garmin 796 navigator
mounted to the arm rest. That should pro-
vide all the navigation power she needs
(plus weather, terrain, charts, etc.). “I’m
legally current to file IFR,” she said, “but I
almost never do. I can get most anywhere I
need to VFR, because I always allow
myself plenty of time. I watch the weather
carefully for days in advance of any trip,
and plan accordingly.”
One accessory Patty wants to add is one
of the best aids to safe navigation—more
gas. The K35 came from the factory with
auxiliary fuel tanks in the wings for a total
of 70 gallons of fuel. (Patty had to replace
the leaky bladders in hers—the only post-
purchase surprise she encountered.) At 12
gallons per hour, that translates to about
four hours’ endurance with adequate
reserves. Patty considers 20 gallons to be
the lowest she’ll allow her fuel state to
reach. A set of tip tanks is probably her
next purchase, and she said she’s already
talked with Scott Erickson at Bonanza
mod specialist D’Shannon Aviation about
adding the 40 gallons of fuel to her capac-
ity— 20 gallons per side. “I performed at an
air show in El Salvador where there was a
group of Bonanza pilots who had flown in.
Lots of V-tails, and they all had tip tanks. I
plan to fly my Bo to Central America, and
110 gallons is a good margin.” Tip tanks
also permit an increase in maximum gross
weight for Patty’s model.
Patty also installed an impressive array
of Whelen LED navigation lighting, includ-
ing strobes and landing lights. “They light
me up like a Christmas tree, and draw very
little electrical power,” she said. “Advances
in LED technology have been great for air-
craft lighting.”
The Bonanza also serves another valu-
able role for Patty. Her friend and crew
member for her air show business, Tim
Fowler, is a 400-hour pilot, and she’s giving
him the opportunity to fly the Bonanza to
build time. Tim is based nearby in Ocala,
Florida, and also helps with taking care of
the airplane. For an even more practical role,
Patty is pursuing approval to fly with the
side windows removed to use the Bonanza
as an aerial photo platform.
One connection that will be important to
Patty going forward is the American
Bonanza Society. Arguably the largest and
most comprehensive of all the “type clubs,”
ABS is an invaluable aid when it comes to
advising on maintenance issues, locating
parts, and maintaining safe operating proce-
dures in Bonanzas (and Barons) of every
vintage. “Like many aircraft owners, a lot of
the technical stuff I really don’t care about,
until I need to. Then it’s nice to know [the
support] is there.”
One of Patty’s favorite parts about flying
the Bonanza is…taxiing. “I’m so happy to be
back in a Beechcraft. And this one is so
pretty, when I taxi past a group of old-tim-
ers, I get lots of thumbs-ups, smiles, and
waves.” An avid horsewoman (“Airplanes
require a lot less maintenance than horses,”
she said), Patty recently flew her Bonanza to
Palm Beach for a horse show. She said, “I
parked the little V-tail among all the corpo-
rate jets on the ramp—GVs and GIVs—but
everyone was looking at my beautiful
Bonanza. That’s really sweet.”
Mark Phelps, EAA 139610, is an aviation writer living
in New Jersey. He is the former editor of EAA’s Vintage
Airplane magazine and the owner-pilot of a 1954
Beechcraft Bonanza.
