Bay Super V

Bay Super V
A 1962 Bay Super V
Role	utility aircraft
National origin	United States of America
Manufacturer	Bay Aviation
Designer	David G. Peterson
First flight	1956
Introduction	1960
Number built	14
Developed from	Beechcraft Bonanza

Beginning in the late 1950s the United States aircraft company Bay Aviation (formerly Oakland Airmotive) produced nine twin-engine conversions of the Beechcraft Bonanza called the Super "V" Bonanza. After production was shifted to Canada in 1962, five more aircraft were built for a total production run of fourteen. The basis of the conversion was the early Model 35 Bonanza with the original small V-tail surfaces. The Super-V competed with Beechcraft's own Travel Air twin-engine Bonanza derivative.

History

Development

The Super-V is an extensive conversion of the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. Serial number records indicate the aircraft chosen for conversion range in production dates from 1947-1950.^[1] The original conversion was developed by David Peterson as the "Skyline Super-V" in 1955-56, assisted by W.D. Johnson, and the rights to the conversion were acquired by Oakland Airmotive on July 2, 1958. Oakland Airmotive became Bay Aviation Services on July 8, 1960.^[2] The main wing spar was strengthened considerably in the process.^[3] The airframe is so different from the original Bonanza that, rather than supplementing the original type certificate, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a completely new certificate for the Super-V.^[4]

Rear view of the Super V used in a 1960 global circumnavigation by Chuck Banfe.

Oakland Airmotive intended to produce converted planes starting in 1960, but never progressed beyond manufacturing and installing Super-V conversion kits on customer-supplied Bonanzas.^[2] Ed Gough was the President.^[3] FAA type certification was granted in June 1960.^[2][4] Production drawings, bills of material, etc. were prepared and there were several conversions in the pipeline. Flying Magazine published a story on the Super V in October 1960^[3] and the marketing efforts were reaching a peak, with a Super-V (Registration N617B) completing a successful circumnavigation of the globe.^[5]

This Super-V was flown by Chuck Banfe around the world in 1960.

The cost of a standard conversion was priced in 1960 at US$22,500 (equivalent to $180,000 in 2015), not including the cost of the donor aircraft.^[3]

The Super-V was initially certificated with the carburetor-equipped Lycoming O-360-A1A engines.^[4] Although the engines were intended to be fuel-injected, as on David Peterson's developmental prototype, the engines on the prototype did not meet FAA approval.^[2] As a preliminary first step towards true fuel injection, the O-360-A1C engine was adopted in August 1960, which eliminated the possibility of carburetor icing.^[2] The type certificate was later revised to include the A1C engine variant, and flight testing with O-360-A1C engines was not completed until early 1961 at SFO.^[4][6]

Early accidents

The sales manager, Kenneth Bellamy, was killed in a crash fifteen miles southeast of Brighton, Colorado, while demonstrating the Super V to a potential buyer, Don Vest, founder of Vest Aircraft Company on September 14, 1960. A crop-duster pilot, John Curry, was also killed in the crash. It was believed that Vest was at the controls of the Super-V at the time of the crash.^[7][8]

The Super-V belonging to Southland Corporation, a distributor for Bay Aviation Services, crashed on August 12, 1961, near Ardmore, Oklahoma, with at least one survivor.^[2]

Shifting production

It is likely the relatively high cost of the Super-V conversion and competition the Beechcraft Travel Air, a factory-built twin-engine aircraft of comparable role and size, resulted in low demand for the Super-V. This, coupled with workmanship issues and early crashes,^[2] led to the rapid dissolution of Bay Aviation. Bay Aviation became Lawrence Properties in 1962.^[2]

Production was transferred to Fleet Aircraft in 1962 with some detail improvements to fulfill existing orders.^[9] A separate type certificate was issued for planes manufactured by Fleet in Canada, this time with O-360-A1D engines.^[10] The production rights were sold again to Mitchell Aircraft in 1963.^[11] The current type certificate holder is KWAD Company.^[4][10]

Specific aircraft

The Super-V serial number consists of the Super-V serial number (in the format SV###) accompanied by the donor plane serial number (D####).^[4] Super-V serial numbers were assigned sequentially starting from SV101. Serial numbers as high as SV117 are known to exist; SV101 was later rebuilt into SV116, and SV110 and SV111 were skipped, hence known production is fourteen aircraft.^[11] Of the fourteen, nine were built by Bay Aviation (of which five have been destroyed, two still hold current registration, and two have unknown disposition) and five were built by Fleet Aircraft (of which two have been destroyed, one still holds current registration, and two have unknown disposition).

• SV101 was initially registered as N617B, the plane which successfully circumnavigated the globe in 1960.^[5] SV101 was subsequently rebuilt into SV116.^[11]
• SV102 - no specific data known, but known to be destroyed.
• SV103 - no specific data known, but known to be destroyed. Both SV102 and SV103 were known to be lost by the time production shifted to Fleet/Canada in 1962.^[11] One of these may be the aircraft lost in the fatal September 14, 1960 demonstration crash near Brighton, Colorado. The other may be the demonstrator aircraft belonging to Southland Aviation (a Bay Aviation distributor), which crashed on August 12, 1961 near Ardmore, Oklahoma.^[2]
• SV104 was registered as N104SV [S/N D1731-SV104] and was substantially damaged in a nonfatal April 28, 1968 accident in California during a wheels-up landing due to mechanical failure of the nose gear.^[12] Its FAA registration was cancelled in 2013.^[13]
• SV105 was registered as NC462B, N462B and N57W [S/N D1479-SV105] and subsequently was destroyed in a nonfatal April 11, 1964 accident in Maryland during a wheels-up landing due to pilot error.^[14] In 1965, registry number N549B was issued to airframe serial number D-1479. Prior to the destruction of the aircraft it was operated by James William Bullock, Astro Inc. (Aeronautical Sales, Training, and Research Organization). There is some confusion about this airframe since there is photographic evidence that N549B is a Bay Super V,^[15] but the FAA registry states N549B is an unmodified single-engine Bonanza.^[16]
• SV106 is registered as N4530V [S/N D-1356SV-106] and is under private ownership.^[17] It sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on May 22, 1973.^[18] As the airworthiness certificate is dated to March 1961, N4530V is likely to be one of the later certificated types.
• SV107 was registered as N514B [S/N SV107D1538]^[19] and was destroyed in a fatal April 11, 1973 crash in Texas; after one engine failed, the pilot lost control while trying to avoid power lines.^[20] This aircraft was part of a three-way lawsuit between the plane's owner, Bay Aviation, and Bay's local distributor in 1962.^[2]
• SV108 was registered as N430MD [S/N SV108-D-2250];^[21] it was destroyed in a fatal November 16, 1971 crash in New Hampshire, when both engines failed upon fuel starvation. The crash was attributed to pilot error (not multi-engine rated, fuel mismanagement).^[22] The last registered owner was Don Yenko of Yenko Chevrolet fame.^[23]
• SV109 is registered as N3124V [S/N SV-109-D549]. It is owned by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum.^[24] Harold Bost purchased N3124V from the Oregon Aviation Museum, in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and donated it to Bonanza Baron Museum in October, 2004. The FAA Registry lists it as manufactured by Pine Air, with an airworthiness certificate dated to 1970, well after the closure of Bay Aviation.^[25] In photographs its airframe appears identical, except for larger tail control surfaces, to that of SV113 (N551B). The larger tail of SV109 may be because the aircraft was damaged in a hard landing on August 27, 1964^[26] and rebuilt by George Felt of Felt's Flying Services with parts from a 1958 J-35 Bonanza.^[27]

Pine Air Super V N3124V (SV109) at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee

• SV110 - number not used.^[11]
• SV111 - number not used.^[11]
• SV112 was initially registered as N249C [S/N SV112-D-1243].^[11][28] It would later be registered as N2115K, which was destroyed in a fatal February 19, 1976 crash in Mississippi precipitated by a stall during evasive maneuvers.^[29]
• SV113 is registered as N551B [S/N SV113-D-1569].^[30] It was profiled in EAA Sport Aviation^[31] and may be the last Super-V to be converted in California, as this serial number is specifically excluded from the Fleet type certificate.^[10] N551B is currently owned by the Warbirds of the World Flying Museum in New Mexico.
• SV114 was registered as N4559V [S/N SV114-D-1388].^[11] It was deregistered in 2013.^[32]
• SV115 was registered as N1T [S/N SV115-D-422]^[11] and sustained substantial damage in a nonfatal February 26, 1964 crash in Maryland, caused by deflation of the nosewheel strut.^[33] It was subsequently assigned registration N772MD [S/N SV115D-422], which was damaged in a nonfatal March 29, 1975 collision with fenceposts^[34] and subsequently destroyed in a fatal May 30, 1975 crash.^[35] Both incidents were attributed to fuel starvation leading to engine flameout.
• SV116 was rebuilt from SV101 and registered as N174SV [S/N SV116D-1640];^[11] it was destroyed in a fatal July 5, 1966 crash in Pennsylvania, precipitated by a stall.^[36][37]
• SV117 was registered as N457B [S/N SV117-D-1474].^[11] It was deregistered in 1981.^[38]

Specifications

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961–62^[39]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Length: 25 ft (7.6 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 9.5 in (9.995 m)
• Height: 6 ft 6.5 in (1.994 m)
• Empty weight: 2,120 lb (962 kg)
• Gross weight: 3,400 lb (1,542 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 100 US Gallons (379 L)
• Powerplant: 2 × Lycoming O-360-A1C air-cooled flat-four engines, 180 hp (130 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 218 mph (351 km/h; 189 kn)
• Cruise speed: 196 mph (170 kn; 315 km/h) (65% power)
• Stall speed: 65 mph (56 kn; 105 km/h) flaps down
• Range: 1,400 mi (1,217 nmi; 2,253 km)
• Service ceiling: 23,000 ft (7,010 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,550 ft/min (7.9 m/s)

See also

Related development

• Beechcraft Bonanza
• Beechcraft Travel Air
• Beechcraft Baron

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Beechcraft Twin Bonanza
• Cessna 310
• Let L-200 Morava
• Piper PA-23
• Piper PA-34 Seneca

Related lists

• List of civil aircraft

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bay Super V.