page 45 - American Bonanza Society

www.bonanza.org
On the Cover: Beechcraft of the Month
1975 V35B
N4089S
By Dwight Mulch
I
am a latecomer to aviation. My first airplane ride
was in 1978 at the age of 22 in a Lockheed 1011.
My first general aviation flight was in a Cessna 190
at age 27. Even with that I didn’t catch the aviation
bug. What drove me to become a pilot was that my job
often took me away from home, and I would miss my
daughter’s activities while away on business. So to
shorten my business travel time I learned to fly. This
permitted me to build a business and still allowed
time to be a father.
I bought my first plane in 1985, a 1966 Cessna 150,
N8040F, and received my private pilot’s license in that
plane in 1986. While I flew the C150 for several years, I
would occasionally rent a C172 or C182 for the experience
of flying larger planes. My second airplane was a Cessna
177 Cardinal, N34445, in which I earned my instrument
ticket. I flew this aircraft 800 hours. In 2006 I stepped up
to a retractable gear aircraft and bought a 1968 Piper
Arrow. While this airplane gave RG experience, my business
began to grow and I desired a faster, roomer, longerranging.
I was strongly considering a Cessna 210 when
one of my friends who owned a V-tail suggested I look at
a Bonanza. It wasn’t long before I decided the flying
qualities of the Bonanza were what I was looking for.
That’s when I found N4089S , a 1975 V35B.
N4089S had been located on my home field of KBRL
(Burlington, Iowa) but had recently been moved to KPIA
(Peoria, Illinois) by the broker. When I mentioned to my
local FBO manager Daniel Wolford of Jet Air, Inc. that I
wanted to purchase a Bonanza, he quickly sprang into
action and put the deal together, trading my Piper Arrow
and some cash for the V35B. Within a few weeks of leaving
Burlington, N4089S returned in March of 2010.
16 AMERICAN BONANZA SOCIETY MAY 2013