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.
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 to 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 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]
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. Ed Gough was the President. FAA type certification was granted in June 1960. Production drawings, bills of material, and other documentation was prepared and there were several conversions in the pipeline. Flying magazine published a story on the Super V in October 1960 and the marketing efforts were reaching a peak, with a Super-V (Registration N617B) completing a successful circumnavigation of the globe.[5] The cost of a standard conversion was priced in 1960 at, not including the cost of the donor aircraft.
The Super-V was initially certificated with the carburetor-equipped Lycoming O-360-A1A engines. 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. 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. 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.[6]
The Insul-8 Corporation of San Carlos, California, organized a new aviation division that provided all parts (except engines) for the conversion to the Super-V Aircraft Corporation of San Francisco International Airport. Super-V conversion centers operated under franchise from the Super-V Aircraft Corporation. Tirey L. Ford, Jr., was president of both the Insul-8 Corporation and the Super-V Aircraft Corporation.[7] [8]
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.[9] [10]
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.
It is likely the relatively high cost of the Super-V conversion and competition from 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, led to the rapid dissolution of Bay Aviation. Bay Aviation became Lawrence Properties in 1962.
Production was transferred to Fleet Aircraft in 1962 with some detail improvements to fulfill existing orders.[11] A separate type certificate was issued for planes manufactured by Fleet in Canada, this time with O-360-A1D engines.[12] The production rights were sold again to Mitchell Aircraft in 1963.[13] The current type certificate holder is KWAD Company.
The complete Super-V serial number consists of the converted Super-V serial number (in the format SV###) accompanied by the Beech donor plane serial number (D####). 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. 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).
| Super-V S/N | Beech S/N | Built | Converted | Destroyed | Final Registration | Other Reg | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SV101 | data-sort-value=1640 | D-1640 | N617B | This plane model successfully circumnavigated the globe in 1960. Subsequently, rebuilt into SV116. | |||||
| SV102 | data-sort-value=1982 | D-1982 | N8409A | Destroyed during a September 14, 1960 demonstration crash near Brighton, Colorado.[16] | |||||
| SV103 | data-sort-value=1249 | D-1249 | N4442V | NC4442V | Registered to Southland Aviation (a Bay Aviation distributor). It subsequently crashed on August 12, 1961, near Ardmore, Oklahoma.[17] Both SV102 and SV103 were known to be lost by the time production shifted to Fleet/Canada in 1962. | ||||
| SV104 | data-sort-value=1731 | D-1731 | N104SV | N104S | Substantially damaged in a nonfatal April 28, 1968 accident in California during a wheels-up landing due to mechanical failure of the nose gear.[18] Its FAA registration was cancelled in 2013.[19] | ||||
| SV105 | data-sort-value=1479 | D-1479 | N549B | NC462B, N57W | Damaged in a nonfatal April 11, 1964 accident in Maryland during a wheels-up landing due to pilot error.[20] 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,[21] but the FAA registry states N549B is an unmodified single-engine Bonanza.[22] | ||||
| SV106 | data-sort-value=1356 | D-1356 | N4530V | NC4530V | Under private ownership.[23] It sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on May 22, 1973.[24] As the airworthiness certificate is dated to March 1961, N4530V is likely to be one of the later certificated types. | ||||
| SV107 | data-sort-value=1538 | D-1538 | N514B | NC514B | Destroyed in a fatal April 11, 1973 crash in Texas; after one engine failed, the pilot lost control while trying to avoid power lines.[25] [26] This aircraft was part of a three-way lawsuit between the plane's owner, Bay Aviation, and Bay's local distributor in 1962. | ||||
| SV108 | data-sort-value=2250 | D-2250 | N430MD | N8723A | 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).[27] [28] The last registered owner was Don Yenko of Yenko Chevrolet fame.[29] | ||||
| SV109 | data-sort-value=549 | D-549 | N3124V | NC3124V | Owned by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum.[30] 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.[31] 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[32] and rebuilt by George Felt of Felt's Flying Services with parts from a 1958 J-35 Bonanza.[33] | ||||
| SV110 | N/A | Number not used. | |||||||
| SV111 | N/A | Number not used. | |||||||
| SV112 | data-sort-value=1243 | D-1243 | N2115K | NC4438V, N4438V, N177M, N249C, N68JS | Destroyed in a fatal February 19, 1976 crash in Mississippi precipitated by a stall during evasive maneuvers.[34] [35] | ||||
| SV113 | data-sort-value=1569 | D-1569 | N551B | NC551B | It was profiled in EAA Sport Aviation[36] and may be the last Super-V to be converted in California, as this serial number is specifically excluded from the Fleet type certificate. N551B is currently owned by the Warbirds of the World Flying Museum in New Mexico.[37] | ||||
| SV114 | data-sort-value=1388 | D-1388 | ? | N4559V | NC4559V | Presumed not airworthy in 1976, deregistered in 2013. Airframe sold in 2018 for restoration.[38] | |||
| SV115 | data-sort-value=422 | D-422 | N772MD | NC3018V, N1T, N9935R, N147V | Sustained substantial damage in a nonfatal February 26, 1964 crash in Maryland, caused by deflation of the nosewheel strut.[39] It was subsequently damaged in a nonfatal March 29, 1975 collision with fenceposts[40] and later that year destroyed in a fatal May 30, 1975 crash in Omak, Washington.[41] Both incidents were attributed to fuel starvation leading to engine flameout. | ||||
| SV116 | data-sort-value=1640 | D-1640 | N174SV | N617B | Rebuilt from SV101; it was destroyed in a fatal July 5, 1966 crash in Pennsylvania, precipitated by a stall.[42] [43] | ||||
| SV117 | data-sort-value=1474 | D-1474 | ? | N457B | NC457B | Deregistered in 1981 and presumed scrapped.[44] | |||