A2A Simulations BONANZA ACCU-SIM V35B, Manual

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www.a2asimulations.com ACCU-SIM V35B BONANZA ::: A2A SIMULATIONS
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FOR SIMULATION USE ONLY
overall weight would sit on the main undercarriage. This
arrangement facilitates easier rotation on takeoff, better
braking after touchdown, lighter steering on the ground and
promotes less wear on the nosewheel system itself.
Additionally, Bonanza sits relatively higher off the ground
for its wingspan than other similar tricycle retractable air-
craft. Beech engineers wished to design good landing char-
acteristics into Bonanza; a fast aeroplane that was a bear to
land would not do, not even amongst the ex- military pilots
whom Beech expected would primarily be flying Bonanzas
and who, surprisingly, turned out to be largely ex- bomber
and transport pilots. Most ex- fighter pilots apparently had
enough of the “joy of flying” - see footnote 3. Beech engi-
neers’ idea was that a shorter undercarriage would put the
wing so low to the ground that it would be deep into ground
effect
8
upon landing
When an aeroplane is in ground effect, airspeed tends
to decrease more slowly and the aeroplane tends to float
just above the runway for a time, complicating the flair and
touchdown and making the exact moment of touchdown
more difficult to anticipate. Beech’s engineers believed that
by lengthening Bonanza’s undercarriage, the consequences
of ground effect would be diminished and landings would
therefore be far more predictable. The fact is, however, that
a few inches, more or less, makes little difference in this
matter. Bonanza floats along in ground effect pretty much
the same as other similar low- wing aircraft do, and does so
particularly when the approach and landing airspeed is a bit
on the higher side (which Bonanza’s clean airframe makes
all the more likely.)
P
ersonal side note: There
was a Cessna 195 on floats
(coincidentally in the same colours
as the one in the above photo but whose
home was certainly not such a bucolic
environment, to be sure) based at a
seaplane base near my home where I first
learned to fly at the age of 12. That C- 195
was not used for instruction, of course –
that big Jacobs radial cost a bunch to run
and maintain. It was used for morning
and afternoon commuter flights in and
out of New York City. I flew their two
Luscombe Silvaire 8A floatplanes (one
at a time) that went for $16.00 per hour
with an instructor. One day when I was
just hanging around the base, there was
an empty seat on a scheduled flight. The
C- 195’s most kindly pilot asked me if I
would like a ride in the “old girl.” My big
grin was answer enough. I sat up front
with the pilot with three passengers in
the wide back seat. If there had been a
fourth passenger, he or she would have
sat up front where I was. I recall that the
dual control wheels were both attached
to a single, large “V” yoke. Takeoff was
a thrilling, hard push- back into my seat
and it was a short, fast ride to the city, all
at very low altitude (airspace regulations
in the area of then Idlewild, now Kennedy
International Airport were not nearly as
restrictive as they are today.) We passed
(just) over the 59th Street Bridge (now
the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge) and
landed in the East River at NY Skyports
Seaplane Base (now Midtown Skyport) at
the end of East 23rd Street. On the way
back, with just the pilot and me on board,
I had an opportunity to fly this aeroplane.
The pilot told me to just fly straight
and level. I remember that the 195 was
much easier to keep on an even track
than the lighter Luscombe which I was
familiar with. When we were near home
base, he took back control and climbed
to a respectable altitude whereupon he
returned control to me and said, “Do
what you like, but no aerobatics.” For
the next 15 minutes or so I steep turned,
chandelled, lazy eighted, and generally
wrung the 195 out as much as I was
then able. All that power and speed and
the heft of this aeroplane was a new
experience for me. I remember that it was
a responsive, satisfying, solid and overall
enjoyable aeroplane to fly.