G is for Garmin

So why are we flight-testing another Bonanza? Simple; because the G36 is different, in fact very different. It has been fitted with the most modern navigation system of any Bonanza in history. Actually, make that any production light aircraft in history. Big words, but it’s true. The G36 is effectively an A36 – the previous model – fitted with a second, independent alternator and electrical bus and, more importantly, a glass cockpit with a fully integrated autopilot and flight director.

GPS Dinosaur

If like me you’re a bit of a GPS dinosaur (well I am when not earning a crust as a commercial pilot) then I realise that words like fully integrated, autopilot and flight director are in danger, at best, of sending you to sleep. But, actually, there’s a lot of interesting technology at work here. The G36 has the same basic capability as a VLJ or modern jet airliner – and considerably more capability than some of the older ones. As a benchmark I’d say that anything in the commercial world more than 10 ten years old would be put in the shadow by this light aircraft. Integral to the G36 is Garmin’s large screen G1000 navcom system. Unlike other manufacturers, Beech held out on the inevitable glass screen upgrade of their aeroplanes until Garmin’s new GFC 700 autopilot was also available. I remember one of BA’s bosses when asked about the A380 saying that they never buy the Mk.1 version of anything. In fact Garmin’s first and only autopilot was built by a team of workers rumoured to be poached from Bendix/King. Nevertheless there were delays and the aircraft development ended up as a 4-year process before the G36 became available in 2005.

The system is fully integrated because the control panel for the navigation functions also operates the flight directors and commands the autopilot. There are plenty of aeroplanes out there where you have to do everything twice – for instance change the heading selected on the autopilot and then change the heading selected on the flight director so that its command bars agree with what the aeroplane is actually doing. Not so with the G36 – that’s what ‘fully integrated’ means. Between the two G1000 screens is a long, vertical selector and control panel. This functions in the same way as the panel on a smaller Garmin GPS navcom. The ‘master’ G1000 is selected at the bottom of this panel; the operating pilot can use then G1000 on their side plus the centre panel to control the aircraft and its autopilot. OK, enough of all that.

What’s it like to fly?

If you haven’t been near a Beech product before you would be impressed by this aeroplane’s build quality. Bonanzas (and Barons) are literally hand-built and take an inordinate time to put to together. It’s one of the main reasons why they are so expensive. The cabin is a proper six-place affair with club seating for the four in the back plus two roomy seats for the pilots. Entry is gained to the cockpit via a big meaty door on the right, and the cabin via an even bigger opening on the same side. With a Cherokee 6 the cabin door is on the opposite side. The cockpit is beautifully appointed and finished. The ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ logic doesn’t seem to apply in here – I could see that the aircraft is the result of a gradual development from the ’68 model with which I could compare on the day. The most obvious differences between the G36 and the slightly earlier A36 – apart from the whopping great glass screens of course – is the addition of two new switches at the bottom left of the main panel; one for the extra battery bus and one for the extra alternator. The new electrical system is dual and redundant; there is no connection between the two buses during normal operation, so that a single catastrophic fault can’t bring both sides down at the same time. This aircraft also has A/C. How cool.

Engine starting is standard stuff. I taxied out to the holding point without touching the throttle; such was the residual thrust from that 300 horse power, six-pot monster sitting snugly inside the Bonanza’s distinctive cowling. My first surprise of the day came when I pushed a rudder pedal. The pedals are inter-linked with the ailerons, so that the control column turns the same direction as the pedal. It’s an archaic system for old aeroplanes and lazy pilots. Pedal forces were relatively light for what can load up to be a pretty big, heavy aeroplane. On the day of the test owner Peter Sowery had just flown in from Belgium using 30 gallons off of a maximum 80 gallon tankage. We now had two adults in the front seats plus the owner’s two young children in the back. The Bonanza is for practical purposes a ‘four plus two’ aeroplane, with a useful load of 1133lbs – it can’t do six adults and full fuel. Payload with all 80 gallons on board is 689lbs.

The engine run-up and pre take off checks were gone through by Peter as I lined up on the westerly runway at Peterborough Conington.

The weather was acting up (situation normal for the UK) with 25-35kts of wind at 45 degrees to the runway. I was ready on the rudder as I opened the throttle smoothly. We surged ahead and I almost immediately had to put in a dose of right rudder to counteract the result of a crosswind from the left and torque of the propeller. This meant that the control column now wanted to turn to the right. I wanted it to the left, to keep the left wing down. And so I had to fight the springs in the system – see why I don’t like linked controls? As we swiftly accelerated and the rudder became more lively I needed less of it, and the situation calmed down. At some speed Peter called rotate – I wasn’t looking because I wanted to keep head-up and concentrate on the centre line. I pulled back and we left the ground cleanly. A quick dab on the brakes to stop the wheels and then I selected wheels up.

Hmmm, nice! In the air, in my hands I suddenly had a really nice flying machine; very light in roll and much less pitchy than the good old Cherokee 6. A little cut back in power at 500ft to ‘25 square’ – that’s 2500rpm and 25 inches manifold – and we were still roaring skywards at 1000fpm and 120kts. The Bonanza’s relatively thin wings and high wing loading meant that we were cutting through the turbulence at low level. I kept the climb going, staying out of the towering cumulus all around us for passenger comfort, very aware of the fact that the children in the back had tucked into a very large burger and chips before take off – I didn’t want them spraying it out around the interior of their daddy’s $650,000 flying machine. We levelled off above the clouds at 6000ft over Peterborough. I had inched the throttle forward periodically on the way up to maintain the manifold pressure and left it at that – still 25 square – to let the ASI nudge up to max cruise speed. It settled at 162kts, 172kts true. The old A36 manages about the same. The linear fuel flow scale to the left of the map showed 16.7 US gallons per hour: divide one by the other and you get as near as damn it 10mpg.

Despite our modern navigation systems we still spent a few minutes more than we should have trying to locate the camera ship, despite all three aircraft holding directly over the airfield, albeit at different heights to ensure separation. In the end nothing beats the Mk1 eyeball.

Might take a nap

It’s a good yardstick for control harmony as to how easy an aeroplane is to fly next to a camera ship. The Bonanza gets a nine out of ten. In the air that control inter-link wasn’t in evidence at all, I like to think because my feet were instinctively reacting to my roll inputs. I remembered an old man in the Cayman Islands looking at a docking cruise ship. “Here they come again” he said. “The overfed, the newly-wed and the nearly dead.” That’s probably not respectful of Bonanza’s customer base but I have to say I was feeling rather corpulent, lazy even. This aircraft was flying itself – I was just along for the ride.

As an experiment I took my feet off the rudder pedals. Yep, sure enough I was still making perfectly balanced turns with hands alone. Or I could give up altogether and switch the autopilot on. Maybe take a nap. It was like flying an Airbus.

The autopilot operation was absolutely seamless of course. The little muscles in its system – the servos – are intelligent: they actually have their own microchips so they know how much to pull or push to react to a particular demand from the autopilot. Owner Peter uses his Bonanza extensively for business in connection with his company Aero-Sense (which provides cleaning products, de-icing fluid, paint stripper and other liquids for the aerospace industry). He is absolutely thrilled with the level of sophistication and ease of operation of the G36.

Experimenting with slow flight later, I was surprised that the G36 Bonanza was so docile for such a high performance machine. The stall was benine and occurred at 64kts clean, 61kts with flap, qualifying it for commercial single pilot operation in the USA. At the top end of the speed range the ailerons were still light – very unusual for an American aeroplane – and the elevators not too sensitive. This Bonanza has a yaw damper to keep the rudder under control – the aeroplane was easy to fly with it on or off.

In the circuit

The biggest deal with something as fast as a Bonanza is energy management on the descent and approach. What I didn’t want to end up with was to have to pull the throttle back too much and end up with a shock-cooled engine. I found that setting ‘18 square’ with the manifold and rpm was a nice compromise combined with a 1000 fpm descent. This slotted me into the circuit very effectively and I was quickly back below the 156 knot gear/flap limiting speed. I flew downwind at 120kt, base at 100kt, finals at 90kt and over the hedge – slightly fast because of the wind – at 85kt. I managed to get a reasonable touchdown – into-wind wing slightly down and still fighting those control springs with cross-controls.

Nevertheless, a very, very nice aeroplane. I can understand why they’re so popular, despite the purchase price.

I have a friend who happens to be in the market for a 4-6 luxury tourer. He has researched the G36 and its competition including visits to the factories where they are built.

He didn’t feel particularly comfortable flying the Cessna (Columbia) 400 and the useful load made it more like a three-seater. He thought that the Cirrus SR22, “A slightly inferior aeroplane”, with similar load-carrying to the Cessna 400. The G36 could carry more weight than both.

My friend compared the SR22 to a Porsche and the G36 to a Bentley. The Cirrus sales and support team he rated at 10/10 (the purchase comes with a two-day training course which, if you pass, also enables you to hire a Cirrus at any of its hire centres.)

He thought that the G36 Bonanza was a superior aircraft for similar money to the SR22 Cirrus. Against that he set the G36’s higher running costs, and poorer marketing effort, because besides the FSI training in the US, there is no training for a G36 in Europe. Also – get this – if you buy a Beech spare part you have to pay ‘rent’ for the time that it sat on the shelf in the depot!

In the end the choice my friend made was a G36. Having sampled one, I can see why.

Box outs

The GC700 Autopilot – high tech that reduces workload and makes navigation easy

This is the first new autopilot designed for a light aircraft in many years and it felt like it. The altitude captures, heading changes and VOR/LOC captures were smooth and progressive, never jerky – just like an A320 and better than the old B737 that I used to fly.
There are two basic vertical modes for climbs and descents; the first is called ‘FLC’ or Flight Level Change, which works just like in an airliner, the second is ‘VS,’ vertical speed. Once FCL is selected the aircraft will climb and descend at a given airspeed decided by the pilot – to change it the climb/descent buttons are pressed once for each knot change. With the VS button the autopilot climbs/descends at a given vertical speed. To change it hit the climb/descent buttons once for each 100fpm adjustment required. Another pitch mode is attainable via the ‘TOGA’ button aside the throttle. This stands for Take Off/Go Around and pressing it commands a 7 degree nose up pitch with full power selected on the throttle for a maximum performance climb away from the runway at take off or go around. This is all Airbus/Boeing stuff and it’s great to use.

What does a flight director do exactly?

A flight director gives the pilot guidance to put the aircraft in the correct pitch and roll attitude to obtain and maintain a desired flight path. An example would be to fly a heading and maintain an altitude until capturing the localiser of an ILS, and then capturing the glide slope. Thereafter the flight director would give bank and pitch information to maintain the localiser and glide slope. For instance, should the pilot descend too steeply, going beneath the glide slope, the flight director would show a fly up command, eventually commanding the correct pitch attitude to maintain the glide path. The more divergent the aircraft from its desired flight path, the greater the commands of the flight director.

There are two main styles of flight director: let’s call them the vee bar system and the dot and cross. For pilots new to instrument flying, the vee bar system is more intuitive. The aircraft symbol on the artificial horizon display is a flattened triangle. To obtain the desired flight path, the pilot simply rolls and pitches the aircraft so that the aircraft symbol is perfectly framed by the inverted vee bars of the flight director. The effect is to fly the aircraft symbol into the vee bars.

With the dot and cross system, lateral guidance is given by a vertical line on the artificial horizon display; vertical guidance is given by a horizontal line. These two lines form a cross where they overlap. To obtain the desired flight path the pilot rolls and pitches the aircraft so that the dot at the centre of the conventional aircraft symbol is at the centre of the cross formed by the two lines. It might be less intuitive but most pilots find that they can fly more accurately once they get used to it. The vast majority of commercial aircraft use the dot and cross system.

History

The first four-seat, high-performance Bonanza flew in 1946 and had the famous v-tail. However a large number of prangs quickly gave the original Bonanza a bad reputation. At one stage the aircraft was called the ‘doctor killer’. This wasn’t all the aircraft’s fault – its turn of speed couldn’t be handled by many private pilots at the time.

More than 17,000 bonanzas of all types have been built to date. Derivatives include an aerobatic version, and the T-34 Mentor, a military, two-seater with fore and aft seating.

SPECIFICATIONS

Beech G36 Bonanza

Dimensions

Wingspan 33ft 6 in
Length 27ft 7in
Cabin height 3ft 6in

Loading

Empty weight 2530lb
Mtow 3650lb
Useful load 1133lb
Fuel 80 usg

Performance

Cruise 174kts
Vne 205kts IAS
Stall (gear/flap) 61kts
Best climb 1230fpm
Take Off Distance 1913ft
Landing Distance 1500ft
Range @ 8000ft high speed cruise (174kt) (45min reserve) 714nm

Engine and Propeller

Continental IO-550-B 300hp, 1700hr TBO
driving three-blade constant speed propeller

Manufacturer

Hawker Beechcraft, PO Box 85 Wichita, KS 67201-0085.
Telephone 00 1 316 676 5034.
Web: www.hawkerbeechcraft.com