Beechcraft Bonanza 33

Overview

The Beechcraft Bonanza 33 is a single-engine, four-to-six-seat retractable-gear piston aircraft built by Beech Aircraft (later Raytheon, then Hawker Beechcraft) from 1959 to 1995. It is the straight-tail member of the Bonanza family, sharing the V-tail Model 35’s fuselage and wing but substituting a conventional vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer. The line opened as the Debonair (Model 35-33 through D33) with a 225 to 260 hp Continental IO-470, was renamed Bonanza with the E33 in 1967, and matured into the F33A of 1970 to 1995, powered by the 285 hp Continental IO-520-BB. Certificated under FAA Type Certificate 3A15, the F33A carries a 3,400-pound maximum takeoff weight, 74 gallons usable fuel, and a book cruise near 172 knots.

The Bonanza 33 suits an owner who wants Bonanza handling and build quality without the V-tail’s distinctive rudder-elevator mixing. The cabin seats four as standard and accepts optional fifth and sixth seats on later serials, in the original narrower Bonanza fuselage rather than the stretched club cabin of the six-seat A36. It shares type certificate 3A15 with its V-tail sibling, the V35B, and with the larger Model 36. Buyers commonly cross-shop it against the Cessna 210, the Piper Cherokee Six, and the Cirrus SR22 when weighing speed, useful load, and cabin size against acquisition and maintenance cost. Choose the Bonanza 33 when you want a fast, conventionally-tailed Beechcraft single with proven IO-520 power and you do not need the A36’s larger six-seat cabin.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Continental IO-520-BB, 285 hp. The representative F33A pairs the 285 hp fuel-injected six with a 1,700-hour TBO, giving the airframe roughly 172-knot cruise on about 13 to 16 gallons per hour depending on power setting.
• Conventional empennage. The straight tail removes the V-tail Bonanza’s coupled yaw-pitch behavior, which lowers the transition workload for pilots moving from conventional-tail aircraft and simplifies some inspections.
• Beechcraft cabin and build. The 33 shares the Bonanza fuselage, control feel, and door layout, so it delivers the family’s ride and finish in a four-to-six-place configuration.
• Single type certificate with the V35B and 36. Sharing TCDS 3A15 with the rest of the family means a deep parts ecosystem, broad type-club support through the American Bonanza Society, and well-documented airworthiness data.

Trade-offs

• Cabin size versus the A36. The 33 seats four as standard and up to six with the optional seats, but in the original narrower Bonanza cabin; buyers who need the larger stretched six-seat club cabin step up to the A36.
• Retractable-gear cost and discipline. The electric landing gear adds inspection, maintenance, and insurance cost over fixed-gear singles, and gear-up risk requires currency and procedure discipline.
• IO-520 overhaul reserve. A standard-shop overhaul runs near $50,500, which at the 1,700-hour TBO adds roughly $30 per hour in reserve before fuel and routine maintenance.
• Older airframes. With production ending in 1995, every example is at least three decades old; corrosion history, logbook continuity, and prior damage matter more than headline specs.

See Also

• Beechcraft V35B Bonanza – the v-tail sibling on the same type certificate. Compare
• Beechcraft Bonanza A36 – the stretched six-seat step-up in the family. Compare
• Cessna 210 Centurion – a faster six-seat retractable single cross-shopped on speed and load. Compare
• Piper Cherokee Six – a fixed-gear six-seat hauler weighed against cabin room over speed. Compare
• Cirrus SR22 – a modern fixed-gear single cross-shopped on avionics and parachute over legacy handling. Compare