Chill Out In A Cool Old Bonanza - Dairy Queen Style
Friday, April 9, 2010 at 10:15PM 
Hey, after doing all that thinking and drawing to create the Empress 400 Retro Airliner concept, I needed some ice cream, and it was Dairy Queen to the rescue! I really did go have a mint Oreo Blizzard (my fave) from the local store, which has nothing to do really with this pic, but it sure tasted good.
I was at a different Dairy Queen somewhere about a year ago, don't remember where (somewhere in northern Indiana) and they had this late 40’s or early 50’s Beech Bonanza picture hanging on the wall. I thought, wow, you don’t see an old Bonanza with an ice cream cone painted on the side and hanging in a random Dairy Queen every day! So I grabbed a quick pic with my phone and then forgot about it. Today I stumbled across that pic again and decided it was interesting enuf to share. I must say, I’m a sucker for airplanes with interesting advertising on them, especially old ones.
Looks like maybe someone who owned some DQ stores in Arkansas and Louisiana also spent time dragging a V-tail thru the sky. I looked for some additional info on the internet but didn’t find any. It’s not really all that special, but I always enjoy seeing a little slice of the past, especially when airplanes and ice cream are involved!
UPDATE: 12.31.14... 28 sightings now! I think it's really cool that so many people have seen this picture at a DQ and then wind up finding the post here on AirPigz as they chase their curiosity about the image. Keep 'em coming : )
UPDATE: 12.28.13... Just received a comment informing me that this Diary Queen Bonanza pic is also on the wall of a DQ in Wichita KS, just over a mile from the Beechcraft factory! How awesome is that?! It's been very interesting learning of the various locations the pic has been seen, and I love it that people are finding this post when they're looking for info on the airplane pic they've noticed at a DQ : )
UPDATE: 6.9.13... I eventually figured out that I captured the pic in this post at the DQ in Nappanee, Indiana. So, with the comment received today with another one spotted in Alabama, we've learned of at least 7 of those sweet ole Bonanza pix around the country. I'm sure there are many more, hopefully more comments are on the way.
Here's the locations that have reported:
Nappanee, IN
Glen Rose, TX
Carmel, IN
Mukwonago, WI
Branson, MO
Pecos, TX
Semmes, AL
Tampa, FL
Firestone, CO
LaGrange, KY
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Fairfield, TX
Hiawassee, GA
Ellis, TX
Wichita, KS
Portland, CT
Lynn Haven, FL
Oakville, Ontario Canada
Levelland, TX
Aberdeen, WA
Elenboro, WV
Charlottesville, VA
Thomaston, GA
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
Abbortsford, BC Canada
Lindale, TX
Stockbridge, GA
Columbus, GA
Reader Comments (99)
There's a copy of the picture on the DQ wall in Glen Rose, TX.
Anybody know anything about the former N2865V? The number has since been reassigned to a PA-28.
AlaskaPA12- Very interesting about there being a copy of the pic in Texas... thanx for sharing that.
There's also one on the wall of the men's restroom at the DQ in Carmel, IN.
This picture is also on the wall in the DQ in Mukwonago, WI!
Keith and david- thanx for the info on more DQ locations with this picture!
Just sitting in DQ in Branson Mo same picture here.
Roger- Thanx for the info on another picture sighting!
Same picture in Pecos Texas
Also on the wall in Semmes, AL. Love them older Bonannzas. Mine was a '56 G35 model - appropriately registered as N5635G.
And one on the wall here in Tampa, FL. The names on the plane - Darrell Hon and Charles Fire developed the Arkansas and Louisiana Dairy Queen Company which was the precursor to the modern DQ.
And one on the wall here in Tampa, FL. The names on the plane - Darrell Hon and Charles Fite developed the Arkansas and Louisiana Dairy Queen Company which was the precursor to the modern DQ.
That pic is on the wall in a DQ in Firestone, CO. I found the picture neat too, and found this post when I googled the N number!
stevec with Tampa FL and Terry with Firestone CO - thanx for sharing those locations as well! I think it's really cool how there are people like me out there... when we see this pic on a DQ wall, we turn to the internet to learn more about it : )
Same picture is posted on the wall in LaGrange, Kentucky. Coincidentally, I also tried to learn more about this Bonanza, but I've come up empty handed. Thanks for sharing your picture!
Also a pic of this plane on the wall of a DQ in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
This Bonanza pic is on the DQ wall here in Fairfield,Texas also,wonder where that aircraft is now?????
There is one of these vtail Bonanza fotos at the DQ in Hiawassee, Ga. , too.
PS: N2SU has also been reassigned...it used to be an AA5 Travler s/n 33.
Phil
If you look up the tail number n2865v it say it was built in May 16 1979 not the 50's
Just saw the same picture in the main dining room wall of a Dairy Queen in Ellis, TX yesterday. Had to do a double take when I first saw it. Was a nice bit of nostalgia to find.
There is also one on the wall in Wichita, KS about a mile and a half south of the Beechcraft plant where it was built.
Thanx to all the additional mentions of locations for this cool Bonanza pic, especially to M. Sells for the info on the one in Wichita!
Portland, CT
I saw this Bonanza photo on the wall of a DQ in Lynn Haven, FL. The registration number now belongs to a Piper airplane built in1979, which tells me that the Bonanza in the photo either crashed, was destroyed on the ground or was sold for parts, or that it was sold and transferred to a foreign country and the U.S. registration number was cancelled.
The Dairy Queen in Oakville, Ontario Canada has the photo of their Beech Bonanza on the wall.
I guess I'm part of a "club" now! Lol I just saw same pic in a DQ in Levelland, TX. Love them old black and white pictures.
Saw the picture in a DQ in Aberdeen,WA this week.
There's one in Elenboro WV
There's a picture of N2865V in Charlottesville, VA.
Same photo in Thomaston, Georgia! Does anyone know what happened to the aircraft? I've researched the N number & the NTSB files & can't find anything.
Photo also hung in DQ in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
It's in Abbotsford BC Canada as well....just next door to Chilliwack.
Pic is also in Lindale Tx at store on I20 an 69.
Also at Stockbridge Georgia just off of interstate 675 exit 2 or interstate 75 exit 228
I saw this Bonanza at DQ in Columbus Ga. on Macon Rd.
Spotted at DQ in Tuscaloosa, AL--home of the Crimson Tide
Saw a picture of the old V-Tail Bonanza at the DQ in Missoula Mt. Today.
This picture is also on the wall of the Dairy Queen in Baraboo, WI. It is captioned "DQ takes flight. Fort Smith, Ark. 1950s."
Saw this pic at the dairy queen in Fairfield Texas today
Spotted in Shreveport DQ, also...
Also in Clarence NY.
Hey there. Great story. And myself being in aviation as well had to check the N number.
Also a picture hanging in Tatum tx. Just south of Longview tx. Blue skies and tailwinds.
Same pic on the wall of the entrance at the DQ in Monett, MO. Plaque says only that it was from the 50's and mentions Arkansas and Louisiana, as a previous poster indicated.
This aircraft belonged to Charles Fite, one of the original founders of Dairy Queen. If you are a scale modeling enthusiast, watch for a build article of this aircraft in a major modeling magazine...hopefully in 2015.
Its actually N2965V and is a 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza V33, it had its airworthiness cert pulled in 74 and again in 77. It is owned by a private resident in Vegas. A user posted it was involved in a minor crash in 79? it has/had a continental E185 series motor the cert on flight aware said 120mph. That photo is many DQs throughout the country. Being a commercial pilot it caught my attention as well. The photo was hard to make out the reg #. It stated it was taken KFSM, fort smith, AR. Not much info out there through casual searches.
That old Bonanza is also on the wall in Sun City, Arizona, where the average resident could have watched its maiden flight.
Spotted on the wall at a DQ in Houston, TX!
11130 FM 1960 West
Houston, TX 77065
The tail number is clearly N2865V.
Add Strongsville, Ohio.
hanging on the wall of the DQ in Milton-Freewater Oregon
Add Warrenton, MO to the list. Sitting under it right now!
Add Calvert City KY