Beechcraft has long had a reputation for building to a specification, as opposed to a price, and the A36 is no exception to this fine tradition. Indeed, the attention to detail is quite exceptional, and Bob took obvious delight in pointing out some of the very well thought-out features. For example, there is a small vertical plate at the end of each wing to stop the wing tip strobes dazzling the pilot. However, the pilot does need to know that both the strobe lights and nav lights are working, so Beech has thoughtfully drilled two small holes in each plate so that the correct operation of the lights can be confirmed. "But" I hear you mumble, "surely the strobe lights are very bright while the nav lights are quite dim, which means that you really need the two holes to be two different sizes". Well, you're right, and Beech has indeed drilled holes that are two different sizes!

Another feature that I really appreciated (being an aviator of the old school) is that the cowling hinges open good and wide on both sides of the engine. There is an increasing tendency for modern aircraft to be quite tightly cowled and to only offer quick access to the oil dipstick. Well, call me a bluff old traditionalist, but I quite like to have a good poke around the engine bay before flight, and I've pulled enough birds nests out of engine bays to justify my caution! I also appreciated the rigid stay that braces the cowlings open so full marks all round to Beech for the Bonanza's cowling. And as we've got the cowlings open, I guess this would be an opportune moment to mention the Bonanza's engine. It is a Teledyne-Continental IO-550-B air-cooled flat-six, which produces 300hp and spins the three-blade constant-speed Hartzell propeller at 2,700rpm. In fact this particular

'Special Edition' engine is built especially by Continental for Raytheon, and is built to much higher tolerances than a standard IO-550.. For example, Bob told me that all six cylinders are balanced to within 2 grams while the industry standard is nearer to 14 grams for opposing pistons only. The crankshaft is balanced to within 12 grams as opposed to 21 grams and as I was soon to find out, the net result is possibly the smoothest flat six I've ever flown behind.

In common with the rest of the aircraft, the undercarriage is extremely well made and also extremely sturdy. In fact, the same undercarriage is also used on Beech's B58 Baron light twin, an aircraft that it is almost a ton heavier! The rest of the airframe was equally well made and contained no real surprises, although my attention was caught by the large, triangular leading edge vortex generators mounted on the outboard sections of the wing. I imagine that these must energise the airflow and help to keep the ailerons functioning at very high angles of attack.

The wing is slightly unusual in that it uses two main spars. Consequently it is extremely strong and in fact it is approved for up to +4.4G. The wing uses a rather old-fashioned aerofoil and therefore is quite thick. Each wing contains a 30 Imperial gallon tank in its leading edge, and both the leading and trailing edges taper towards the tip. The fuel tank filler necks incorporate useful markings for various fuel levels, and this is quite an important feature. In common with all aeroplanes in this class, it is very easy to overload a Bonanza. However, unlike the F33 Bonanza, it is more difficult to reach an aft C of G.

Another very nice feature that Bob pointed out was that as soon as you open the large double-doors on the starboard side not only do the interior lights come on automatically but also a small, cleverly-situated light illuminates the step by the door.

Before leaving Steve in the back and making my way to the only seat I'm ever really interested in, I checked out the passenger cabin. Bob had already alluded on more than one occasion to the A36 being the 'Cadillac of the Air', and a brief look at the passenger accommodation made me realise why. The A36 can seat six in club-style seating, and the wide, extremely plush leather seats, rich hardwood panelling and fold-out table all combine to give the cabin an air of opulence. The seats can be easily removed and their arrangement reconfigured so that all six seats face forward. Finally, if the aft two seats are taken out, a well-designed cargo net makes it possible to carry up to 400lb in the aft cabin complete with a rail for clothes hangers and even a hat shelf. Just the thing for one's butler to ensure one's outfits are transported in pristine condition... don't you know. In fact, as you've probably guessed, when you say 'suit' I generally think 'flying suit', so while the cabin was very interesting, it was not as interesting as the pilot's seat. This is as sumptuous as the passenger seats and offers a good range of vertical adjustment the rudder pedals also adjust. I liked the three-point inertia reel seatbelts, and I was particularly taken by the amount of stowage room available for the pilots. As well as a good-sized storage pocket by the pilot's sidewall and a glove compartment in the instrument sub panel, there is also enough room for two flight cases between the front and middle seats.

With all the doors shut, the cabin temperature was rapidly beginning to rise in the heat of the midday Florida sun, so Bob quickly ran me through the engine start-up procedure, which was as standard for a fuel-injected aero engine. The big Continental growled into life instantly, and having noted that the oil pressure was rising nicely and the engine idling smoothly at 1,000rpm Bob leant across the panel, and with the air of a successful conjuror, flicked a switch. Ah, bliss! With a muted hum, the air conditioning unit came on line and the cabin temperature quickly dropped to a much more pleasant level. You know, I could get used to this! I then flicked the avionics master switch 'on' and while we waited for the Bonanza's awesome avionics suite to commence initialisation and run through its automatic 'self-test' procedure, I began to acquaint myself with the controls and instrument panel.
As you'd expect from an aircraft that has been in production for more than 50 years, the control and instrument layout is pretty well perfect. Although the panel relies heavily on analogue presentations, it is so well designed that it benefits from a very uncluttered look. As usual, the six primary flight instruments are located directly in front of the pilot, with a very neat vertical column of five engine gauges just to the right. From top to bottom these display engine manifold pressure, rpm and fuel flow, with the bottom two gauges showing (respectively) exhaust gas and cylinder head temperatures, plus oil pressure and temperature. A comprehensive annunciator panel built into the glare shield backs up these instruments.

The centre stack of avionics is dominated by a Garmin GNS-530 and a GNS 430 GPS-driven Nav/Comms of which more later topped off with a very powerful Bendix/King KFC 225 autopilot. This is slaved to a three-axis flight control system and also incorporates a vertical speed hold mode and an altitude alerter. At the base of the avionics stack we find dual fuel gauges, an ammeter, an alternator load meter and a bus voltmeter. The power control quadrant is mounted on a large centre pedestal, which also carries the pitch trim wheel and indicator, aileron trim knob and indicator, and cowl flap control. I was slightly surprised to note that no rudder trim was fitted, but Bob assured me that it wasn't necessary.
One thing that really caught my eye was the TOGA (Take Off Go-Around) button mounted on the throttle, as it was the first time I'd ever seen one of these fitted to an aircraft in this class. Apparently, pressing the button automatically commands six degrees nose-up on the Flight Director if the aircraft is being flown manually. If the autopilot was engaged prior to this, it would automatically disconnect.

The undercarriage selector, flap switch, parking brake and fuel shut off valve all fell nicely to hand, as did the plethora of circuit breakers which are logically arranged with avionics breakers located beneath the co-pilot's panel and the other system breakers to the left of the pilot's elbow. The comfortable control yoke is festooned with buttons, which control numerous functions, including pitch trim, autopilot interrupt and disconnect, Stormscope clear, transponder ident (instead of reaching for the transponder!), OAT and compass lights, and radio transmit. Another extremely useful feature is the ability to play back the previous minute's worth of incoming radio transmission by simply pressing a button on the control yoke.

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