Bringing Home the "New" Plane...

[flight2000]

So, I officially sold the Mooney ('67 M20E) on August 26th (see the thread in the classifieds for that update) and was planeless for a whooping 4 days....

I flew out to St. Louis last Tuesday and completed the deal for our "new" 1968 E33A, did the transition training with an awesome CFII and then completed the trip back to Reno. Total of 15 hours of flight time between the transition training and trip back to Reno, all done over 3 days.

Some photos from the trip back that had me dodging some rain showers near Scottsbluff, NE and then enduring the mid-afternoon bumps all the way across WY, UT, and NV. I really hate those...

Total flight time coming west was 8.9 hours and covered 1,395 NM's with two fuel stops (KGRI and KEVW). That was fun, but lonely doing it by myself...

Cheers,
Brian

Stuck between layers....


Rain near Scottsbluff, NE. Great way to knock 90% of the bugs off the wings...

12,000 feet over Wyoming.

Great Salt Lake giving off some really funky reflections...

More of the Great Salt Flats.


Some of the mountains around Elko, NV.

Tucked into bed back in KRNO.

 

[N659HB]

Beauty. Hope to own a v-tail version one of these days.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

Nice....

 

[flight2000]

Beauty. Hope to own a v-tail version one of these days.

Thanks! I originally had my sights set on three V tails (2 V35A's and 1 V35B) but they all sold the day I inquired or were already in contract. It's hard to find really good Bonanza's because they sell rather quickly or never make it to market via the normal ads (sell by word of mouth). This one was posted for two days when I made the offer and had 5 other offers right after mine. Best advice I can give is be ready to find one that meets your mission and move on it quickly.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[N659HB]

Thanks! I originally had my sights set on three V tails (2 V35A's and 1 V35B) but they all sold the day I inquired or were already in contract. It's hard to find really good Bonanza's because they sell rather quickly or never make it to market via the normal ads (sell by word of mouth). This one was posted for two days when I made the offer and had 5 other offers right after mine. Best advice I can give is be ready to find one that meets your mission and move on it quickly.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks for the tip.

 

[mscard88]

Love V-tails! Pretty Bo, congrats.

 

[eman1200]

that is a sexy beast.

 

[Timbeck2]

She's a beauty Brian, congratulations.

 

[GRG55]

She's a beauty Brian, congratulations.

 

[hindsight2020]

Reminds me of the flight home when I bought the Arrow. Long day, but a great way to start off the ownership tachometer on the new bird. It also helps you get acquainted with the fuel flows and power settings where she feels right.

What kind of performance did she give ya on the trip? Did it meet your expectations of what she's advertised to be able to do?

 

[ircphoenix]

That is a beautiful aeroplane. Gotta send us some photos of the interior too!

 

[flight2000]

What kind of performance did she give ya on the trip? Did it meet your expectations of what she's advertised to be able to do?

She was cruising along at 12,000 feet giving 170 KTAS while burning 14.2 gph. A little lower at 8K I was seeing 175 KTAS but fuel flow was a little higher @15.4 gph. That's what I was expecting and loved every minute of it. Useful load is 1,177 and no issues with CG for any load I'll be carrying.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Twin_Flyer]

Beautiful plane... Congratulations on finding it... I remember my flight home. It was great, however, not as lonely as yours. My wife insisted on making the trip with me to pick it up....

Enjoy it and post some interior shots...

 

[edo2000]

Congrats. Lovely airplane. A friend had a Debonair, I always wanted one.

 

[3 in the green]

Awesome!! Congrats! Beautiful machine.

 

[Skywalker]

Congrats to your new plane. Have fun! Oh, the pictures look like you already had fun flying her home!

 

[frfly172]

Nice,congrats.

 

[DesertNomad]

Very nice. I'm happy over on the West side, but I wish they would resurface our ramp.

 

[Scott@KTYR]

Congrats on a great plane!

 

[flight2000]

Very nice. I'm happy over on the West side, but I wish they would resurface our ramp.

You got that right. I looked over there when I first arrived last year and decided to pay the extra for the East side. They just resealed the entire ramp back in June. I was also able to move into a smaller hangar after two came open. Might check with Chad to see if the other one is still available.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[flight2000]

For those that requested more photos, I'll post some interior photos when I get over to the airport tonight. Got family in town this weekend.

Here's two from the panel though. I do need to make some minor changes to clean things up a little more and also install a GTX 335 transponder.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[MickYoumans]

Beautiful plane. Looks like it is in great shape. Congrats.

The 33's are one of my favorite planes. When AOPA gave away the Debonair, it was their only give away plane that I wanted to win so bad. I would love to own one, but the reality is that it is more plane than I really need for the flights I make.

 

[RyanB]

Great looking bird, congrats!

 

[GRG55]

Beautiful plane. Looks like it is in great shape. Congrats.

The 33's are one of my favorite planes. When AOPA gave away the Debonair, it was their only give away plane that I wanted to win so bad. I would love to own one, but the reality is that it is more plane than I really need for the flights I make.

There's no such thing as too thin, too rich or too much airplane
Perish the thought.

 

[yakdriver]

They do really nice 4 point rolls and Cuban 8s.