Beech 35-33
Debonair N674V (c/n
CD-106)
In 1959 Beech
introduced what was essentially a conventially tailed Bonanza, known as
the
Debonair. In
fact, it was so akin to the former type that it retained, at least for
several years,
the same model number
35, with a sub series of 33. It wasn't until the E model of 1967
that
the "35" bit was dropped and at that time the E33
was renamed Bonanza. It was originally
devised for a couple of reasons. One was
that many folks didn't trust the new fangled V-tail
and wanted a conventional
fin and rudder arrangement. The other was that they were right!
The V-tail initially experience a failure rate some
24 times that of converntially tailed machines.
FAA directives ordered the V-tails to be
strengthened and the problem was taken care of.
This shot of an early
Debonair was taken at Hawthorne Municipal Airport in August of 1962.