Aircraft model
BEECH F33
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The F33 is the odd one out of the Debonair line: the 1970 model year with the 225 hp Continental IO-470-K, sold alongside the 285 hp F33A that everybody actually bought. Only a small number were built before Beech dropped the 225 hp engine entirely, which makes this the rarest of the straight-tail Bonanzas and the one most likely to be mistaken for an F33A in an advertisement.
The 225 hp engine is the whole story. It makes the aeroplane cheaper to run and materially slower and less capable than the F33A, and at resale the market prices it as a lesser aircraft rather than as a rarity. As an owner's proposition it is a Debonair: beautifully built, lovely to fly, with the Beech parts-price problem that catches out people moving from Cessnas and Pipers, and a maintenance requirement that rewards a shop that knows the type.
Compare with…
Put BEECH F33 side by side with up to two other models.
- BEECH F33
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-470-K |
| Horsepower | 225 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1970 |
| Production end | 1970 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 160 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,800 ft |
| Climb rate | 930 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 51 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,300 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,200 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,270 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 970 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,050 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,780 lb |
| Usable fuel | 50 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $125,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $210,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $42,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $58,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 20 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 14 |
| Median year built | 1970.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 2 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 1.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 38.47 · 74 models in class.
- Severity: class median 16.67.
- Access: class median 1,823.
- Support: class median 96.
- Liquidity: class median 17.67.
- 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.