Douglas Paterson wrote:


I doubt I have "all" the facts--will I ever? But, I did rule out the
Bonanza for essentially three reasons:

1) The throw-over yoke. That's just downright weird--and, especially my
first time out, I'm deliberately avoiding weird. "Baby steps."
\


Weird? Not hardly. Leaves lots of room for the wife and if you just
gotta have dual controls you can get one on ebay. They take a minute to
swap out.



2) The reversed controls. Weird again.


Uh, what? I turn left and go left.




3) Cost. Based on your post, I guess you'd disagree with this one. Seems
like everything I read, though, indicated that the Bos are pricey to buy and
pricey to maintain.

Nope. First off a Bonanza doesn't break. Not like the tin cans your
looking at. That's the first thing I noticed, however that makes the
plane a little heavier. I really hate weight but that's the trade off.
To compare to the 182 I had doing the same test the Bo with two seats
in, myself and 40 gallons only needs an extra 100 feet of runway, 550
feet vs 450. Lands and gets stopped in same distance. The real beauty
is once you're in the air it will far outclimb your 182/Cherokee, which
is really what you're looking for, right, being there in Colorado?