Q - American Bonanza Society

After Dad finished restoring his 1953 035 to like-newcondition in 2001 , I was inspired to get my license to fly andstarted lessons on October 15. On December 31 , with 42 hoursin a Cessna 1 72. I got it. Soon after thaI, Itransitioned to flyingDod's Bonanza. Wow! It was like getting out of a go-cart andinto a Cadillac and I knew I had to have one of my own.Last January my wife Carol and I were ready to start lookingfor our own Bonanza. I spent every evening seorching theInternet. In late February a 1957 H35 listed for sale inStockton, California, caught my affention. The engine and prophad just been overhauled. I called an airplane broker friend,Eric Miguez, and he found out it was still for sale.It took some effort, but we got the deal done, and on April4 Eric flew it home to McKinney, Texas. With the help of anotherfriend, Ensen Hopper, I was able to rent a hangar next toDad's. We celebrated with a barbecue and everyone from theairport stopped by to see the newest V-tail on the field. I tookit flying for 30 minutes before rolling it into the hangor.Later in the week I did some minor work on it with ChuckRoberts-an IA. Bonanza owner and all-oround good guy. Bythe first of May I decided my H35-like any 47-year-old airplane-neededsome more work. But the only thing I plannedon changing was the carpel, and then I was going to fly it fora while. Famous lost words ...hen we pu lled out the oil-soaked carpetwhich had been damaged by a broken oi lline (undoubtedly the reason for the engineoverhaul), we discovered the floorboardswere soaked as well and needed to bereplaced. Then one thing led to another. .. and before I knew it.we were in the middle of a full interior restoration.Mom. Dad and I own and operate a General NutritionCenter. While I worked at the store during the day. Dad wasworking on the airplane at the airport. Then when he came towork at the store at night, I would go to the airport and workuntil midnight or one in the morning. On Sundays we wouldwork together.I wanted to update the radios on the left side of the panel,and within a week we had the whole panel out! Then MomNew floorboardsSmaller front spar cover with headset jocks installed.Page 8723 www.bonanza .org ABS November 2004