How many Bonanzas had been delivered by the end of 1947?

Short answer

Beech built more than 1,000 Bonanzas in 1947. The Model 35 had received its airworthiness certificate on 25 March 1947, and production began that same year. Before the model even left the factory, the company had already received hundreds of orders.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

How many Bonanzas had been delivered by the end of 1947?

V Tailed Beechcraft Bonanza

From prototype to certification

The Model 35 Bonanza prototype made its first flight on 22 December 1945. The aircraft received an airworthiness certificate on 25 March 1947. Production began that same year. In 1947 the company introduced its first basic new design in ten years, the Model 35 Bonanza. Beech received hundreds of orders for the new design even before it left the factory, confirming the existence of pent-up demand for private aircraft.

More than a thousand aircraft in the first year

Despite building more than 1,000 Bonanzas throughout 1947, the light aviation market failed to keep fully employed the workforce Beech had assembled during the war.

What those early aircraft were like

The first 30-40 Bonanzas produced had fabric-covered flaps and ailerons. The design featured an easier-to-handle six-cylinder horizontally opposed engine of 185 hp (138 kW). Over the following decades, more than 18,000 Bonanzas of all variants and more than 6,000 twin-engine derivatives have been built.