Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita , Kansas . It is still being produced by Beechcraft , and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history . More than 17 , 000 Bonanzas of all variants have been built . Design and development . At the end of World War II , two all - metal aircraft emerged , the Model 35 Bonanza and the Cessna 195 , that represented very different approaches to the premium - end of the postwar civil aviation market . With its high wing , seven - cylinder radial engine , fixed tailwheel undercarriage and roll - down side windows , the Cessna 195 was little more than a continuation of prewar technology ; the 35 Bonanza , however , was more like the fighters developed during the war , featuring an easier - to - manage horizontally - opposed six cylinder engine , a rakishly streamlined shape , retractable nosewheel undercarriage ( although the nosewheel initially was not steerable , or castering ) and low - wing configuration . Designed by a team led by Ralph Harmon , the model 35 Bonanza was a relatively fast , low - wing monoplane at a time when most light aircraft were still made of wood and fabric . The Model 35 featured retractable landing gear , and its signature V - tail ( equipped with a combination elevator - rudder called a " ruddervator " ) , which made it both efficient and the most distinctive private aircraft in the sky . The prototype 35 Bonanza made its first flight on 22 December 1945 , with the first production aircraft debuting as 1947 models . The first 30 – 40 Bonanzas produced had fabric - covered flaps and ailerons , after which , those surfaces were covered with magnesium alloy sheet . The V - tail design gained a reputation as the " forked - tail doctor killer " , due to crashes by overconfident amateur pilots with high - level skills outside aviation , fatal accidents , and in - flight breakups . " Doctor killer " has sometimes been used to describe the conventional tailed version as well . In 1982 the production of the V - tail Bonanza stopped but the conventional - tail Model 33 continued in production until 1995 . Still built today is the Model 36 Bonanza , a longer - bodied , straight - tail variant of the original design , introduced in 1968 . All Bonanzas share an unusual feature : The yoke and rudder pedals are interconnected by a system of bungee cord s that assist in keeping the airplane in coordinated flight during turns . The bungee system allows the pilot to make coordinated turns using the yoke alone , or with minimal rudder input , during cruise flight . Increased right - rudder pressure is still required on takeoff to overcome torque and P - factor . In the landing phase , the bungee system must be overridden by the pilot when making crosswind landing s , which require cross - controlled inputs to keep the nose of the airplane aligned with the runway center line without drifting left or right . This feature started with the V - tail and persists on the current production model . The twin - engine variant of the Bonanza is called the Baron , whereas the Twin Bonanza is a different design and not based on the original single - engine Bonanza fuselage . In January 2012 the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued an airworthiness directive grounding all Bonanzas , Twin Bonanzas and Debonairs equipped with a single pole style yoke and that have forward elevator control cables that are more than 15 years old until they could be inspected . The AD was issued based on two aircraft found to have frayed cables , one of which suffered a cable failure just prior to take - off and resulting concerns about the age of the cables in fleet aircraft of this age . At the time of the grounding some Bonanzas had reached 64 years in service . Aircraft with frayed cables were grounded until the cables were replaced and those that passed inspection were required to have their cables replaced within 60 days regardless . The AD affected only Australian aircraft and was not adopted by the airworthiness authority responsible for the type certificate , the US Federal Aviation Administration . The FAA instead opted to issue a " Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin " ( SAIB ) requesting that the elevator control cables be inspected during the annual inspection . QU - 22 Pave Eagle . The QU - 22 was a Beech 36 / A36 Bonanza modified during the Vietnam War to be an electronic monitoring signal relay aircraft , developed under the project name " Pave Eagle " for the United States Air Force . A reduction geared Continental IO - 520 engine was used to reduce its noise signature , much like the later Army - Lockheed YO - 3A . These aircraft were intended to be used as unmanned drones to monitor sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and report troop and supply movements . When the project was put into operation in 1968 , however , the drones were all flown by pilots of the 554th Reconnaissance Squadron . Six YQU - 22A prototypes ( modifications of the Beech 33 Debonair ) were combat - tested in 1968 , and two were lost during operations , with a civilian test pilot killed . Twenty - seven QU - 22Bs were modified , 13 in 1969 and 14 in 1970 , with 6 lost in combat . Two Air Force pilots were killed in action . All of the losses were due to engine failures or effects of turbulence . ( 1947 – 1948 ) , main production with Continental E - 185 - 1 engine , 1500 built Variants . Model 40 . The Beechcraft Model 40A was an experimental twin - engined aircraft based on the Bonanza . Only one prototype was built in 1948 . It featured a unique over / under arrangement of two 180 hp Franklin engines mounted on top of each other and driving a single propeller . The plane had a different engine cowl from a standard Bonanza , and the nose gear could not fully retract , but otherwise it greatly resembled the production Bonanzas of the time . Certification rules demanded a firewall be fitted between the two engines , however , thus stopping development . The status of the prototype is unknown . Parastu . This is the standard F33 ( 1970 ) variant of the Bonanza which has been reverse engineered by Defense Industries Organization of Iran and is being manufactured without a license . Operators . Civil . The Bonanza is popular with air charter companies , and is operated by private individuals and companies .