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.
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. 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. The main wing spar was strengthened considerably in the process. 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.
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, etc. were 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.
The cost of a standard conversion was priced in 1960 at US$22,500 (equivalent to $182,000 in 2016), 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.
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Wikipedia