Silhouette traced from a photo of the closest sister model, the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, by ZLEA · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tradewind · Turboprop
Turbine Bonanza (A36 conversion)
A turbine engine swap for the six-seat Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, sold as an aftermarket conversion.
One of the cheapest ways into a turbine single, and a fast, climb-happy Bonanza for one or two people. With full fuel it carries the pilot plus one or two passengers, the cabin is unpressurized, and conversion support now rests with one small company.
Buy it if
You fly yourself, usually alone or with one passenger, on trips under about 600 nm, and want a turbine engine, jet fuel, strong climb and 200-plus knots in a familiar Bonanza airframe.
Skip it if
You regularly carry three or more adults with bags, want a pressurized cabin, need legs beyond about 500 nm with passengers, or want factory support and quick resale.
Biggest compromise
Weight. The conversion adds 40 gallons of tip-tank fuel and raises maximum takeoff weight to 3,833 lb only when those tips hold fuel.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$498K
typical asking · $449K–$500K
What it costs per year
$227K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
1,065 nm
About 100 nm with four adults and IFR reserves; about 585 nm with two with passengers
How fast
210 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
4
4 typical, 5 maximum, plus pilot
Pilots needed
1
One pilot; no type rating needed, but turbine transition training is strongly advised.
Price
What one costs to buy
Typical asking price
$497,500
Where asking prices sit
Low
$449K
Typical
$498K
High
$500K
Most asking prices fall inside this band.
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Three US asks run $449,000–$499,900, close to late-model piston A36 prices. One is near engine overhaul, a cost the buyer inherits.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
Turbine Bonanza (A36 conversion) · This aircraft
$498K
The least expensive here; next up is the P210 Silver Eagle (turbine conversion).
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel rises as you fly more. One professional pilot, recurrent training, hangar, insurance and subscriptions and databases stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
Partial estimate- One professional pilot$120,25053%
- Recurrent training$3,7852%
- Hangar$20,9009%
- Insurance$18,2508%
- Subscriptions and databases$1,6961%
- Fuel$61,85127%
One professional pilot is the biggest single cost at 53% of the total.
The JetGrade
58 out of 100 — Well below its class
Peer group: Cessna P210 Silver Eagle (conversion), Piper PA-46 JetPROP DLX, Piper Meridian (PA-46-500TP), Daher / Socata TBM 700A
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on running costs, weakest on range & payload.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-04.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Depends on weight or weather
Out of reach
0 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.4 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Four adults only lightly loaded; two aboard easily
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Not with four; one stop with two aboard
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · Not with four; one stop with two aboard
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · Not with four; one stop with two aboard
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Not with four; two stops with two aboard
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Not with four; three stops with two aboard
Lineage
What came before and after
What changed from the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza (piston)
- Continental piston engine replaced by a 450 shp Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250 turboprop
- Nose lengthened 21 inches, with a small forward baggage bay
- Two 20-gallon tip tanks raise usable fuel to 114 gallons
- Maximum takeoff weight rises to 3,833 lb with fuel in the tip tanks
- Three-blade reversing propeller and heated engine inlet added
- Maximum speed limit cut to about 167 knots indicated
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
Turbine Bonanza (A36 conversion)
- JetGrade
- 58
- Price
- $498K
- Cost per year
- $227K
- Range
- 1,065 nm
- Speed
- 210 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 7″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1986–now
← Before
Beechcraft A36 Bonanza (piston)
Not yet graded
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 63
- Price
- $1.28M
- Cost per year
- $418K
- Range
- 1,000 nm
- Speed
- 260 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2000–2015
Alternative
P210 Silver Eagle (turbine conversion)
- JetGrade
- 61
- Price
- $765K
- Cost per year
- $275K
- Range
- 900 nm
- Speed
- 215 kt
- Seats
- 5
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1992–now
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 63
- Price
- $1.05M
- Cost per year
- $347K
- Range
- 1,000 nm
- Speed
- 260 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 1998–now
- Piper Meridian (PA-46-500TP) instead: Pressurized cabin and about 260 knots, at roughly two to four times the asking price and nearly double the fuel burn.
- Cessna P210 Silver Eagle (conversion) instead: A related Rolls-Royce 250 turboprop conversion on a pressurized Cessna 210, for buyers who want to fly high without masks.
- Piper PA-46 JetPROP DLX instead: A pressurized Malibu with a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop, for buyers who want turbine power and a cabin that flies high.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
1 × Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250-B17F/2 · 450 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Engine hot section · 1,750 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 3,000 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,500 hr
- Annual inspection every 12 months
Rolls-Royce sells its pay-per-hour plan to helicopter operators; owners of this airplane usually set money aside for overhaul.
Known issues
Small support base
The original converter closed; conversion parts and manuals now come from Soloy, one small company.
Hot starts damage turbines
A hot start can crack turbine wheels; one in-flight engine failure was traced to earlier hot starts.
Fuel planning margin
About 25 gallons an hour against 114 gallons gives roughly four hours; one fatal accident followed fuel exhaustion.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 9 checked
Engine parts and overhaul shops are plentiful because the same engine family powers many helicopters. Conversion-specific parts and manuals come from Soloy Aviation Solutions, now owned by NorthPoint Aviation in Minnesota.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Cruises at 200–215 knots in the mid-teens, about 50 knots faster than a piston A36 Bonanza.
- Burns about 24–27 gallons an hour, roughly half the fuel of a TBM 700 or Piper Meridian.
- Reversing three-blade propeller and climb rates up to about 2,500 feet per minute suit short runways.
Limitations
- Full-fuel payload is about 440 lb after the pilot in a lightly equipped example, and less in heavier ones.
- Unpressurized: best speeds come at 15,000–17,000 ft, where everyone aboard needs supplemental oxygen.
- The original converter closed; conversion parts and manuals now come from one small company, Soloy.
The Turbine Bonanza is a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, the six-seat piston single built from 1970 to 2005, with its Continental piston engine replaced by a Rolls-Royce (originally Allison) 250 turboprop. Soloy and Allison certified the first version in 1986 with a 420 shp engine. Tradewind Turbines of Amarillo, Texas, bought the program in 1989 and made the 450 shp 250-B17F/2 the standard engine, which is why the airplane still carries the Tradewind name. The conversion applies to 1979-and-later A36s and adds a nose 21 inches longer, two 20-gallon tip tanks and a three-blade reversing propeller. Only a few dozen were converted.
Pilot's take
We would treat it as a fast two- or three-seat airplane that happens to have six seats. The turbine changes the experience: smooth power, quick climbs and a reversing propeller for short runways. The discipline changes too. Starts need close attention to temperature, because hot starts can damage the turbine, and fuel planning needs margin, since roughly four hours of endurance goes quickly at low altitude where the burn rises. Weigh the actual airplane before planning trips, plan oxygen for the mid-teens, and get turbine transition training before flying it alone.
Who this is for
An experienced Bonanza owner-pilot who flies mostly alone or with one passenger, values turbine smoothness and quick climbs over cabin size, and can budget for an engine overhaul and a thin resale market.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the Turbine Bonanza (conversion).
Your earlier questionsOwners
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