Allison 36 Turbine Bonanza

Overview

The Allison 36 Turbine Bonanza is the original Soloy / Allison turbine conversion of the Beechcraft A36, STC-certified in 1986. The prototype, a 1979 A36, replaced the airframe’s Continental piston engine with a 420 shp Allison 250-B17C free-turbine engine driving a three-blade Hartzell propeller. Tradewind Turbines purchased the STC in 1989 and later upgraded the conversion to the 450 shp Allison 250-B17F/2; Soloy Aviation Solutions reacquired the STC in 2016 and is the current STC holder.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Turbine reliability on a familiar airframe. The A36 cabin, panel, and handling are preserved while the firewall-forward replaces piston-engine complexity, mixture management, and 100LL dependence with a single power lever and Jet-A.
• Performance step over piston A36. The conversion delivers roughly 200 to 215 KTAS in cruise at the mid-teens, against the naturally-aspirated A36’s 169 KTAS, with comparable fuel burn around 24 GPH at altitude.
• Bonanza ownership profile. Service infrastructure, parts, type-club support, and resale market for the underlying A36 airframe remain among the strongest in general aviation.

Trade-offs

• Acquisition cost. Turbine conversions carry six-figure premiums over comparable piston A36s; the price differential rarely closes through fuel-cost savings alone at typical owner-operator hours.
• Unpressurised at turbine altitudes. The conversion does not pressurise the airframe, so high-cruise altitudes still require supplemental oxygen and reduce the practical block-speed advantage on shorter legs.
• Specialist support. STC support has changed hands twice (Soloy to Tradewind to Soloy); owners depend on a smaller pool of qualified maintenance and a finite installed base for parts knowledge.

See Also

• Beechcraft A36 – the piston-engined airframe the conversion is built on; same cabin, lower acquisition and complexity. Compare
• Beechcraft Bonanza B36TC – the turbocharged-piston route to high-altitude performance on the same airframe family. Compare
• Beechcraft G36 – the modern factory-production Bonanza; current avionics and support, piston powerplant. Compare
• Piper M500 – pressurised single-engine turbine cross-shop; same Jet-A operating model with higher acquisition cost and more cabin. Compare
• Socata TBM 700 – pressurised single-engine turbine in the speed step-up; substantially more capable and substantially more expensive. Compare