G is for Garmin

The Hawker Beechcraft Bonanza G36

Looking at the two beautiful Bonanzas parked nose to nose on the ramp, it is hard to believe that 43 years separate the two. I struggled to believe how similar they were – with many parts being exactly the same on both aircraft. Even things like the nose gear leg, and the way that the cabling for the nose wheel light is bonded to it – no change, in four decades. It’s ironic that at the Beech factory there have been three generations of the same families working on the same production line.

In some ways Beech’s philosophy could be said to have been ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ – they are unique among light aircraft manufacturers in having the persistence to keep on knocking out essentially the same aircraft year after year. The previous record holder for the longest aircraft in production was the Beech 18, but now both the Bonanza and its twin-engined cousin, the Baron have far surpassed it. As a counterpoint, Beech is also famous for producing various models of the same aircraft. With some companies this can be a bit of a cop out – not many people would agree that changing the paint scheme and interior is an excuse for changing the model number.