BEECH E33C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The E33C is the aerobatic Debonair: an E33A strengthened for aerobatics, with a quick-release door, shoulder harnesses and a restricted aerobatic weight below the 3,300 lb normal-category maximum. Beech built very few, and the C-suffix Bonanzas are the only certificated aerobatic aircraft the company made in the straight-tail Debonair line.
For an owner the aerobatic certification is worth something specific and limited: it permits a defined list of manoeuvres at a reduced weight, and it means the airframe was built to higher load factors than an ordinary E33. That is genuinely valuable and it is also why these aircraft have often been flown harder than their siblings, so the airframe inspection matters more than usual — spar, control surfaces, and any history of over-g. The 285 hp IO-520 is the same engine as the E33A and everything else about ownership reads like a Debonair.
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- BEECH E33C
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What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-B |
| Horsepower | 285 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1968 |
| Production end | 1969 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 174 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 520 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 53 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,225 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,150 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,382 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,082 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,918 lb |
| Usable fuel | 50 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16 gal/h |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a complex or high-performance single.
| Fuel (burn × price) | hourly | $119/h | $11,856/yr |
| Engine reserve (overhaul ÷ TBO) | hourly | $3,412/yr | |
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | not counted | |
| Insurance | fixed | $3,500/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $3,000/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
Not in the totals: Maintenance reserve, Rental rate (for rent vs own). We have no reliable default for these lines; enter your figure to include them.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $150,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $270,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,700 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $48,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $68,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 24 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 20 |
| Median year built | 1968.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 4 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 20 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 20 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 20 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 1.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.2 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 204 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 148.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30