Jump to content

Bonanza ends up in a tree near a Florida airport.


Recommended Posts

It's obvious, isn't it? The dog bit the pilot as soon as he went to touch those automated controls!

 

Not much airspeed left when he did that landing, I'll wager! Reminds me of the old fella caught on video landing his Cessna in a tree in the Connecticut car park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How you would get a plane into a tree with so little apparent damage is a mystery to me?. I thought the twins were the doctor killers and usually involved loading and assymetrical power handling issues (recency and training) . The Beech was always strong and well built. The yawing oscillation(s) of the Vee tail was more of an idiosynchrasy than a risk factor. Nev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't like it either, but it's no worse than some twins particularly with tip tanks when all's full. A stabilising yaw damper is probably needed to stop it fully in both instances or a longer tail moment arm might reduce it. It's a mass, inertia and directional stability thing. I prefer the conventional tailed types but many show a similar thing in the pitching plane as well .Nev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the Bonanza was first introduced in 1947, most pilots transitioning into the Bonanza were flying an Aeronca Champ or Cessna 140, or something similar. There was a huge leap in aircraft capability, and the intricacy of the systems of the airplane, at the time. They became much more complex airplanes, and so there were a lot of accidents initially. Part of the reason for the “doctor killer” name is that doctors — and other professionals, like lawyers — were able to afford a Bonanza when it was first introduced. It was the top of the heap as far as single-engine airplanes was concerned. And so we ended up with a lot of professionals in these airplanes. In general aviation aircraft, there are often going to be people who are flying airplanes for which they are not properly trained or they try to fly them in an environment for which it is not certified and capable of withstanding. And so we ended up taking a class of people epitomized by physicians, putting them into a high-end airplane epitomized by the Bonanza, and every now and then, when there’s a crash, there’s a pretty good correlation between those two categories. The Doctor Killer

 

And everyone knows that a doctor or lawyer won't listen to what the Common Man tried to tell them.

 

Not only was it a doctor killer, it was the plane that killed the music The Day the Music Died - Wikipedia

Edited by old man emu
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Machtuk

When the Bonanza was first introduced in 1947, most pilots transitioning into the Bonanza were flying an Aeronca Champ or Cessna 140, or something similar. There was a huge leap in aircraft capability, and the intricacy of the systems of the airplane, at the time. They became much more complex airplanes, and so there were a lot of accidents initially. Part of the reason for the “doctor killer” name is that doctors — and other professionals, like lawyers — were able to afford a Bonanza when it was first introduced. It was the top of the heap as far as single-engine airplanes was concerned. And so we ended up with a lot of professionals in these airplanes. In general aviation aircraft, there are often going to be people who are flying airplanes for which they are not properly trained or they try to fly them in an environment for which it is not certified and capable of withstanding. And so we ended up taking a class of people epitomized by physicians, putting them into a high-end airplane epitomized by the Bonanza, and every now and then, when there’s a crash, there’s a pretty good correlation between those two categories. The Doctor Killer

 

And everyone knows that a doctor or lawyer won't listen to what the Common Man tried to tell them.

 

Not only was it a doctor killer, it was the plane that killed the music The Day the Music Died - Wikipedia

Well said, saved me having to explain the "Doctor Killer" tag?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I learned to fly in a Musketeer, and later moved to a Warrior when my school changed its fleet. They had a PA-28R Arrow on the line which was privately owned and cross-leased. Before you could fly the Arrow, there was a school requirement that you had to be checked out on one of the school's Bonanzas. That's how I came to get endorsed on the V-tail Beech.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The term was applied also to the twin range when most doctors flew twins, but often not frequently enough to be really competent. There were 2 versions of the Baron and also a twin Bonanza...Twins are an extra complexity when assymetric management is added. Weight and balance management also featured in a lot of incidents/accidents with these types of aircraft. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the aircraft, and they are not exceptionally FAST. Just a bit faster and slightly more complex than most usually fly, as they are considerably more expensive to rent/own. Nev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really want one of those Bonanza trees! Or better yet, a Caravan tree!

Well, if we can choose the fruit, I'd like an orchard of Spitfire and Stearman trees, perhaps with the occasional Ryan and P-38 Lightning for variety...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...