Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.
Today’s Top Pick is a 1960 Beechcraft Bonanza N35.
There are a lot of pilots out there who have been flying Cessna 172s, Piper PA-28s, and other models that they probably trained in and flew for their private pilot check rides. Climbing into one of these familiar and forgiving airframes may be a comforting experience, but pilots are always looking for more, especially when it comes to cross-country speed.
I went through this phase a few years ago. After a decade of flying my aero club’s 172P on ever-longer trips, I began to look at other aircraft on the ramps at our destination airports. There seemed to be so many high-performance models, and I could not help doing the math and considering how much shorter the duration of our trip would have been in a faster airplane.
Flying from New Jersey to midcoast Maine, for example, took about four hours in the 172—about half the time it takes on a good day in the car. Switching to one of the powerful, low-wing, high-performance models with retractable gear would get us there in a third to one-quarter of the time of driving, I figured. More often than not, the airplane I used for comparison was a V-tail Bonanza.
The aircraft for sale today is exactly the type I pined for over the years before crossing paths with the Commander 114B I wound up buying. The Bonanza is a wonderfully fast, comfortable, and harmoniously handling machine. As much as I love the Commander—Annie is her name—I still sneak peeks at V-tails on the ramp and park next to them whenever possible. It is hard to resist their midcentury charm.
This 1960 Bonanza has 5,180 hours on the airframe, 827 hours since overhaul on its 260 hp Continental IO-470-N engine, and 15 hours since new on its Hartzell Top Prop. The aircraft received new Lord engine mounts in 2023 and is equipped with a Hartzell Engine Technologies alternator conversion, Airwolf oil filter kit, E-Z Heat engine heater, and new engine hose kit and left-hand muffler and shroud in 2023.
The panel includes a Garmin GNS 530W WAAS GPS/nav/com, Garmin GI 106 CDI, Garmin GMA 347 audio panel, King KX 175B nav/com, Narco AT-50A transponder, Garmin G5 electronic flight instrument, uAvionics tailBeacon, and an Insight GEM G4 graphic engine monitor.
The Bonanza’s list of additional equipment continues with Cleveland wheels and brakes, 6.50-8 main gear tires and tubes, Whelen LED strobe, overhauled nose gear strut, replacement gear motor in 2016, and resealed right main strut seal in 2025.
Pilots interested in a high-performance single with a nice dose of midcentury stylishness, and who might have binge-watched Mad Men, should consider this 1960 Beechcraft Bonanza N35, which is available for $109,000 on AircraftForSale.
If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use our airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.
- FLYING Magazine: Air Compare: Beechcraft A36 Bonanza vs. Bonanza V-tails
- FLYING Magazine: Used Airplane Report: Bonanza vs. Baron
- Plane + Pilot: Beechcraft Bonanza, 1947
- Plane + Pilot: Beechcraft V-35 V-Tail Bonanza
- The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Piper Aztec
- AVweb: E-35 Bonanza Restoration