By Joe Rymer, EAA 760858
This piece originally ran in the July 2025 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
From an early age, I was always interested in any type of flight and ultimately dreamed of owning my own aircraft someday. I fondly remember as a young boy biking out to the local airport just to watch airplanes take off and land. I became the local “kid” who’d wash airplanes just for a free ride. The passion grew and I started flight training in the early ’70s, in my early teens, and continued on throughout the years, always thinking about my next adventure and when that next flight could take place. Of course, I had my favorite aircraft, which over the years were many, but the one constant was the V-tail Bonanza. The overall look of the aircraft and performance stood out to me on several levels, and the dream of owning one someday continued. Stepping forward a few decades, it finally became possible for me and my wife to start looking in earnest. We acquired N2970B in July 2007 after many years of flying the typical “well-used” rental aircraft from the local FBOs.
As we became her new guardian, it became apparent that Marilyn needed a lot of love from her new owners. She was not in the condition that she is in today, but that is part of the adventure in proper aircraft ownership. She has been with us for nearly two decades, and each year we have continued to improve her both mechanically and esthetically. Technically a D35, Marilyn is considered an early “E-series” model Bonanza, and as such, her maintenance has been a little challenging from time to time as we have restored her.
We used Poplar Grove Airmotive in Illinois for all of the work on our engine, which has been converted to a Continental 225-8 E series from the original 185-11 engine, and we used Stockton Propeller in California for the complete propeller overhaul. All the landing gear was completely gone through and rebuilt to new factory tolerances. Many of the flight controls have been either replaced or rebuilt along the way, and the airframe was recently completely chemical-stripped, primed, and painted with the Sherwin-Williams Jet-Glo base coat, clear coat system. The majority of the interior work was completed by me over several years, as I’ve restored and showed many antique and custom cars in my past but must admit this was my first aircraft in attempting this level of restoration. Also, many modifications were made along the way to allow for increased performance, as well as a more improved ramp appeal. Without going through a very extensive and long list of all the details and specific work performed to date, suffice it to say that she is basically as new as we could possibly make a 1953 D-model Bonanza.
With any aircraft ownership, the sometimes-constant maintenance of it becomes a challenge in not having the aircraft become a hangar queen. A couple of times it became close to that while awaiting parts availability, as well as shops that were simply backlogged and/or challenged in many different ways during our restoration process. The main interruption along our timeline was when COVID-19 hit. It just seemed like our progression came to a halt and was going nowhere, but we endured and struggled through all the obstacles associated with that event (along with other aircraft owners throughout the country) and kept the movement forward.
My wife and I met Jeff Deaton, EAA 739258, and his wife one year at SUN ’n FUN as he was showing his award-winning 1954 Bonanza, N3214C, which has won many different awards at both at SUN ’n FUN and Oshkosh. Our friendship continues to this day, and, most importantly, through his mentorship and guidance along the way, my goal of following his earlier path in making our Marilyn a grand champion award winner was realized at this year’s SUN ’n FUN event. It took us many years of dedication and continued efforts to achieve this status, but we remain very proud of our accomplishment and thankful for all the people who helped us along the way.
Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers
We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->